Founding Principal Backend Architect (Rust)

Travoom • Austin, TX

8d

About The Position

OleOle is building a global, real-time social and messaging platform for sports fans — from the ground up, natively in Rust.

This is not a feature role and not a task-driven role.

We are looking for a senior backend engineer who has owned systems before and is comfortable making foundational architectural decisions that will not be rewritten later.

You will design and evolve the backend architecture powering public conversations, real-time messaging, video, commerce, and token-based incentives for millions of users worldwide.

This role is hands-on, but judgment matters more than output volume.

Requirements

• 7–12+ years of professional backend engineering experience
• Proven ownership of backend systems in production
• Strong, real-world Rust experience (async systems, not experiments)
• Deep understanding of PostgreSQL data modeling and performance
• Experience designing APIs and explaining tradeoffs clearly
• Experience building or evolving systems that had to scale
• Ability to reason about architecture without hiding behind buzzwords
• 7-12 years of software engineering experience (preferably at early-stage startups or high-growth platforms)
• 4+ years of experience working in Rust in production environments, ideally on scalable web or blockchain-native backends
• Strong experience designing modern, scalable backend architectures from scratch — including authentication, real-time messaging, microservices, APIs, caching, and database design
• Proficiency with Rust frameworks like Actix, Axum, Tokio, or Rocket

Nice To Haves

• Experience with real-time systems (feeds, messaging, streaming)
• Experience with high-write or high-fanout workloads
• ETL / data pipelines
• Media or video delivery systems
• Token, wallet, or crypto-adjacent systems (non-blockchain core)
• Experience with WebAssembly, gRPC, or GraphQL is a plus
• Passion for decentralization, crypto, Web3, and building products that empower users
• Comfortable working without product managers, defining scope, and leading engineering direction
• Bonus: experience with blockchain integration, tokenomics, or building in no-fee marketplaces
• Understanding of football and international sports a huge plus

Responsibilities

• Designing and owning core backend architecture in Rust (async-first)
• Defining service boundaries, data ownership, and evolution strategy
• Designing scalable APIs (REST and/or GraphQL) for mobile and web clients
• Modeling and operating PostgreSQL as a long-term source of truth
• Architecting real-time systems (feeds, messaging, event-driven workflows)
• Making tradeoffs around consistency, latency, and scalability
• Working with DevOps while retaining backend architectural authority
• Reviewing critical code paths and preventing premature complexity
• Helping shape the backend team as the company grows

Benefits

• Founding engineer-level equity and token allocation
• Deferred salary until funding is secured
• All current team members are working on a deferred compensation basis — we lost our funding two months ago and made the decision to build while we raise. This comes with real risk. Closing funding could take two months or it could take five — but we’re committed to this vision and we’re looking for someone who’s equally passionate and resilient.
• Long-term ownership and technical leadership
• A mission-driven, elite team with deep experience in sports, media, crypto, and startups
• You’ll be one of the first engineers — which means maximum influence and upside.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees