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

Fortanix•Santa Clara, CA

14h•$200,000 - $250,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Fortanix is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to join their Confidential Computing Management team. This is a high-impact, hands-on technical leadership role focused on designing, building, and owning core platform services for secure, distributed systems at scale. The engineer will shape architecture, lead critical design decisions, and build foundational microservices that are secure by design, highly reliable, and scalable. The role involves working at the intersection of security, distributed systems, and modern infrastructure, solving complex problems where performance, security, and scale are critical. Fortanix is a leader in data-centric cybersecurity for hybrid multicloud environments, offering solutions for data exposure management, advanced cryptography, encryption, and confidential AI. The company has received multiple awards and recognition from industry leaders and is recognized as a Great Place to Work.

Requirements

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)
Strong programming experience in Rust (will also consider C/C++, Go, or similar systems-level languages)
Deep understanding of service architecture, API design, and system design
Hands-on experience with Kubernetes and containerized environments
Hands-on experience with Cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
Hands-on experience with CI/CD and production deployment pipelines
Experience working in Linux environments, including debugging and performance tuning
Familiarity with data storage systems (SQL/NoSQL, distributed storage, caching)
Strong inclination toward building secure, reliable, and maintainable systems
Experience with or interest in Confidential computing / Trusted Execution Environments (Intel SGX, AMD SEV, Nitro Enclaves, etc.)
Experience with or interest in Security infrastructure (key management, encryption, secure storage, access control)

Nice To Haves

Experience with performance-critical systems or systems programming
Exposure to secure AI / privacy-preserving systems
Background in infrastructure platforms or developer platforms

Responsibilities

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