Staff Software Engineer, Rust

SmartThings • Minneapolis, MN

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

SmartThings is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to serve as a hands-on technical owner and leader for the Hub Applications team. The team builds software, primarily in Rust, that runs on SmartThings hubs and keeps them connected to the cloud. Its systems support local device execution, reliable hub-to-cloud data flow and synchronization, core hub architecture, configuration and system management, and release quality and observability.

The engineer will set technical direction for one or more Hub Applications domains, lead complex cross-team initiatives, and guide architecture for reliable, scalable hub software. The role requires expert Rust knowledge, including work with resource-constrained devices and existing C code. The engineer will partner with firmware, security, cloud, and product teams; mentor engineers at all levels; and help define responsible AI-assisted development and operations practices. The role also includes observability, incident response, and participation in on-call rotations supporting production firmware delivery and hub connectivity.

This is a hybrid position requiring three days per week in the Minneapolis office. The base compensation range is $139,000 to $198,000, with a 20% annual target bonus.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• At least 8 years of production software engineering experience, with a demonstrated track record operating at Staff-level technical leadership capacity.
• Expert-level Rust proficiency, including ownership and lifetimes, async and multithreaded concurrency, error handling, and performant, memory-efficient coding for resource-constrained devices.
• Strong systems programming experience on embedded Linux or similar constrained environments, including production debugging of crashes, memory issues, and performance problems.
• Experience designing for unreliable networks, including offline operation, state reconciliation, retry and backoff behavior, and graceful recovery.
• Strong knowledge of AI development tools and practices.
• Proven ability to lead architecture and design reviews, set technical direction across teams, and develop simple solutions to complex problems.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration experience with firmware, cloud, and product teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including translating technical strategy for technical and non-technical audiences.

Nice To Haves

• Experience interoperating Rust with C or C++ codebases, including incremental migration of legacy code.
• Experience with IoT connectivity protocols and standards such as Matter, Zigbee, Thread, or MQTT.
• Experience with embedded scripting runtimes or sandboxed code execution, such as Lua or WebAssembly.
• Experience with IoT fleet management, including staged rollouts, feature flags, monitoring, and lifecycle management at scale.
• Experience with observability tooling and release monitoring for large deployed device populations.
• Experience with CI/CD and automated validation for embedded software.

Responsibilities

• Own the long-term technical direction for one or more Hub Applications domains.
• Lead large, cross-team projects as the technical owner, from design through rollout.
• Guide architecture and design for local device execution, hub-to-cloud data synchronization, hub configuration, and software asset management, prioritizing stability, resilience to unreliable connectivity, and operational excellence.
• Serve as a Rust technical expert and set standards for writing, reviewing, and testing Rust for resource-constrained devices.
• Guide the evolution of existing code, including Rust integration with legacy C.
• Define how the team uses AI-assisted development and operational tooling, assess opportunities to improve velocity and quality, and set a vision for responsible AI adoption.
• Collaborate with firmware, security, cloud infrastructure, and product management to align technical direction with product requirements and business needs.
• Mentor engineers at every level, including senior engineers, and improve engineering practices across the organization.
• Participate in observability, incident response, and on-call rotations supporting production firmware delivery and hub connectivity.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, and mental health benefits.
• HSA with employer contribution.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Flexible spending accounts for health and dependent care expenses.
• 401(k) with a 5% employer match.
• Unlimited PTO.
• 12 paid holidays.
• Eight weeks of fully paid parental leave and eight additional fully paid weeks for childbirth recovery leave.
• Education reimbursement for eligible employees.
• Access to O’Reilly learning resources.
• Parking stipend for monthly garage costs.
• Onsite EV chargers.
• Weekly catered in-office lunches.
• Access to an onsite gym.
• Annual target bonus of 20%.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior