Principal Software Engineer (Rust)

TL;DR

Principal Software Engineer (Rust): Introducing Rust into a mission-critical production database engine with an accent on memory safety, FFI architecture, and cross-platform systems programming. Focus on replacing legacy C implementations, designing async gRPC servers, and mentoring C/C++ engineers in Rust adoption.

Location: Hybrid Burlington, MA. Candidates must be local to the office; no relocation packages are provided.

Salary: $170,000 - $189,000

Company

hirify.global is a trusted provider of software that enables customers to develop and manage AI-powered applications and experiences.

What you will do

• Integrate Rust (Cargo) into a custom Make build system for Linux and Windows 64-bit.
• Define and standardize Rust ↔ C FFI architecture, including boundary design and memory ownership rules.
• Develop production-grade Rust libraries for compression (zstd), JSON parsing (serde_json), and Avro serialization.
• Architect a Rust-based platform systems layer to replace System V IPC with modern primitives.
• Build an async gRPC server using tonic, tower, and tokio to modernize data paths.
• Lead the Rust Guild and mentor senior C/C++ engineers in idiomatic Rust usage and patterns.

Requirements

• 10+ years of overall software engineering experience.
• 5+ years of production Rust experience in systems-level software (databases, OS, or network infra).
• Strong C/C++ background with the ability to navigate and interface with massive legacy codebases.
• Deep FFI expertise, including extern "C", cbindgen/bindgen, and shared library (.so/.dll) development.
• Proficiency in OS fundamentals: memory management, process synchronization, and multithreading.
• Must be based in or local to Burlington, MA.

Nice to have

• Experience with database internals (shared memory, buffer pools, WAL, concurrency control).
• Production experience with gRPC, tonic, and tower middleware.
• Knowledge of Apache Arrow, Parquet, Iceberg, or Avro ecosystems.
• NUMA-aware programming (hwloc) and custom memory allocator design.
• Experience with io_uring or the tokio runtime for systems work.

Culture & Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan and best-in-class Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP).
• Flexible paid vacation time, paid day off for birthday, and various parental leave plans.
• Tuition reimbursement program and employee well-being programs focusing on physical and mental health.