Nexus is seeking a Systems Engineer to join as a contractor and work at the core of our execution stack. You will contribute directly to the runtime behind our Layer 1 protocol and the high-performance engine that powers decentralized trading, designing, implementing, and optimizing all layers of the Nexus protocol stack.

What You'll Do

Design, implement, and optimize high-performance components in Rust, C++, or Go for Nexus's DEX engine and protocol runtime.
Design, implement, and optimize all layers of the Nexus protocol stack, including consensus, execution, and API/RPC servers.
Build low-latency pipelines for order execution, event propagation, and state updates.
Design and implement financial and trading primitives on the Nexus L1.
Optimize concurrency, scheduling, memory layout, and I/O paths for determinism and throughput.
Contribute to the evolution of execution abstractions that may be enshrined at the protocol layer.
Work with protocol engineers to ensure safety, composability, and consensus compatibility.
Investigate and resolve performance bottlenecks using profiling, tracing, and benchmarking techniques.
Help define standards for reliability, correctness, and high-assurance distributed execution.
For senior/principal candidates: drive system design decisions, shape execution architecture, and mentor others in performance engineering.

What We're Looking For

Very strong systems engineering ability: writing modular, maintainable code within a complex codebase where correctness and performance are critical.
Experience with Rust (or C++/Go with strong performance focus).
Understanding of high-performance or distributed systems (e.g., low-latency engines, runtimes, databases, OS-level concurrency).
Ability to think in terms of execution flows, concurrency models, resource lifecycles, and system invariants.
Interest in performance optimization and low-level profiling (CPU, memory, synchronization overhead).
Strong first-principles thinker with excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and communication ability.
Excellent communication skills in business English (spoken and written).

Nice to Have

Competitive programming experience (e.g., IOI, ICPC) or similar level of programming ability is a plus.
Experience building matching engines, databases, compilers, blockchain runtimes, or HPC systems.
Familiarity with lock-free concurrency, zero-copy data structures, or cache-aware design.
Exposure to protocol engineering, consensus systems, or transaction ordering.
Background in correctness-focused engineering (e.g., formal verification, static analysis).
Open-source contributions to systems-level projects.

Technical Stack

Rust
C++
Go

Team & Environment

Collaborate closely with protocol, cryptography, and product teams in San Francisco. You will be part of a high-performance engineering culture where ambition and deep technical work are expected.

Benefits & Compensation

Build the execution backbone of a Layer 1 blockchain and next-generation DEX engine.
Work on systems where your optimizations translate directly into global performance gains.
Grow from mid-level contributor to system owner — or drive execution architecture as a senior/principal.
Shape primitives designed to last — correct, performant, and potentially enshrined at the protocol level.
Join a high-performance engineering culture where ambition and deep technical work are expected.