Staff Software Engineer - Rust and Distributed Systems (Bay Area, hybrid)

About Us:

In today's world, where data spreads across various clouds and devices, traditional security measures aren't enough. Businesses need a dynamic approach to defend against constant cyber threats and ensure agile data security. Fortanix leads the way in data-centric cybersecurity for hybrid multicloud environments, using advanced cryptography, encryption, and confidential AI solutions.

As data breaches become more frequent and traditional defenses fall short, we focus on data exposure management to keep your information safe. Our unified data security platform addresses vulnerabilities in hybrid multicloud environments, defends against threats, and makes it easier to discover, assess, and fix data exposure risks. Whether implementing a Zero Trust model or preparing for the post-quantum computing era, we help businesses worldwide protect their most sensitive data, wherever it is.

Our commitment to solving the world's toughest data security challenges has earned Fortanix multiple Cybersecurity Excellence and Innovation Awards, as well as recognition from industry giants such as NVIDIA, Microsoft, Intel, ServiceNow, and Snowflake.

Our team includes industry leaders and cryptography experts, creating a culture of trust, innovation and collaboration where every voice is valued. Recognized as a Great Place to Work, we're looking for passionate individuals to help us shape the future of data security and work towards a safer digital future.

What You'll Do

• Design and build distributed microservices that power Fortanix's confidential computing platform across hybrid and multi-cloud environments
• Own system architecture end-to-end—from service design and APIs to deployment, scaling, and production reliability
• Drive technical direction across services, ensuring they fit cohesively into the broader platform architecture
• Lead system design and API discussions, influencing how services interact across the platform
• Build with a security-first mindset, ensuring services are resilient, auditable, and safe by design
• Write high-quality, production-grade code (Rust, C/C++, or similar) and contribute to critical code reviews
• Partner closely with engineering, product, and infrastructure teams to deliver complex, cross-functional systems
• Mentor and guide engineers, raising the bar on system design, code quality, and engineering rigor
• Contribute to core components such as our Runtime Encryption® technology and confidential computing services

What Makes This Role Unique

This isn't just another backend role. You'll be:

• Building foundational systems, not just features
• Working at the intersection of security, distributed systems, and modern infrastructure
• Owning architecture decisions that shape the entire platform
• Solving problems where performance, security, and scale all matter at once

Core Experience

What We're Looking For

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, with strong backend and distributed systems expertise
• Proven experience designing and building microservices from scratch, and understanding how they fit into larger system architectures
• Experience owning end-to-end services (design, development, deployment, scaling, and operations)
• Strong experience with distributed systems concepts (scalability, reliability, fault tolerance, data consistency)

Technical Skills

• Strong programming experience in Rust (will also consider C/C++, Go, or similar systems-level languages)
• Deep understanding of service architecture, API design, and...