Progress Software

Principal Rust Engineer - Language Runtime

Progress Software$170K — $210K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years of software engineering experience; 5+ years in production Rust for systems-level applications.
  • Proficient in C/C++, with capability to interact with large codebases.
  • Expertise in FFI, including Rust-C interoperability and memory ownership across boundaries.
  • Experience shipping shared libraries (.so/.dll) in production environments.
  • Hands-on experience integrating Rust with various build systems.
  • Familiarity with multi-platform development across Linux and Windows.
  • Strong problem-solving skills with a proven ability to work independently.
  • Excellent communication skills and experience mentoring teams.

Responsibilities

  • Integrate Rust into existing build systems to support shared libraries alongside C subsystems.
  • Define FFI architecture for seamless Rust and C integration, establishing Rust as a primary language.
  • Develop and test production-grade Rust libraries to replace legacy C implementations.
  • Lead architectural design for cross-platform systems and middleware improvements.
  • Oversee the validation process to ensure Rust implementations meet performance standards.
  • Act as the Rust code owner, guiding code standards and reviewing pull requests.
  • Lead the Rust Guild to foster knowledge sharing and upskill C/C++ engineers in Rust.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, alongside life and disability insurance.
  • 401(k) retirement savings plan with company matching and an employee stock purchase program with a favorable lookback.
  • Generous paid leave, including vacation, personal days, and parental leave.
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and well-being initiatives for mental and financial health.
Full Job Description
Join us as Principal Rust Engineer - Language Runtime and help us do what we do best: propelling business forward. This will be a hybrid role so working between your home office and our Burlington, MA headquarters.

We are building a production language runtime in Rust - compiler, virtual machine, wire protocol client, and application server. You will join as a long-term technical owner of this system, working alongside experienced platform architects and a second FTE Rust engineer.

In this role, you will:

Runtime & VM
  • Implement and optimize an async register-based virtual machine with cooperative scheduling and built-in function dispatch.
  • Translate language semantics from a reference C implementation into idiomatic, correct Rust.

Compiler
  • Extend a multi-stage compiler pipeline (lexer, parser, AST, IR, codegen).
  • Deliver new language features end-to-end with conformance and property-based tests.

Protocol & Data Layer
  • Extend a binary wire protocol implementation reverse-engineered from C source.
  • Own TLS, authentication, and connection pooling.

Async & Networking
  • Maintain a Tokio-based async runtime handling thousands of concurrent requests with shared state and admission control.
  • Contribute to HTTP, WebSocket, and gRPC server layers.

Engineering & Build
  • Manage a large multi-crate Cargo workspace - dependency hygiene, CI performance, and release engineering.

Team Enablement
  • Mentor senior engineers (20+ years platform experience) adopting Rust - teaching-oriented code reviews, pair programming, and progressive ownership handoff.
  • Document architecture decisions and maintain design docs as first-class deliverables.


Your background:
  • Overall 10+ years of Software Engineering Experience
  • 5+ years production Rust in systems software (runtimes, compilers, databases, or networking).
  • Compiler or language runtime experience - at least one of: parser, AST/IR, bytecode compiler, VM, or interpreter.
  • Async Rust at scale - Tokio, shared-state concurrency, cancellation safety.
  • Large multi-crate workspace fluency.
  • Ability to read large C codebases and derive correct Rust implementations.
  • Mentorship mindset - patience, clear communication, progressive handoff.
  • Long-term ownership orientation - multi-year commitment.
  • Excellent written and verbal English.
  • CS degree or equivalent (data structures, algorithms, OS, compilers)


Additionally, it would be beneficial if you have:
  • VM design - opcode dispatch, cooperative scheduling, register allocation.
  • Binary protocol reverse-engineering and zero-copy parsing.
  • Property-based testing (proptest, quickcheck).
  • Concurrent data structures - DashMap, Moka, lock-free patterns.
  • Axum / Tower / WebSocket server experience.
  • Developer tooling protocols (LSP, DAP).
  • Observability - tracing, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus.
  • Database connectivity - pooling, transactions, schema resolution.
  • Experience onboarding engineering teams into Rust.
  • AI-assisted development tools (Copilot, Claude).


Base Salary Range: $170,000 - $210,000
This position is also eligible to participate in our performance-based annual corporate bonus plan. Final base compensation is determined by a number of factors, including but not limited to job-related skills, education, demonstrable experience, and allowance for future and continued salary growth. We also offer a robust benefits package, with details below.

If this sounds like you and fits your experience and career goals, we'd be happy to chat.

What we offer in return is the opportunity to experience a great company culture with wonderful colleagues to learn from and collaborate with and also to enjoy:
  • Medical, dental, vision, life & disability, and financial benefits (including 401(k) retirement savings plan. Tuition Reimbursement program. Additional voluntary benefits including crucial illness/hospital indemnity, identity theft protection, auto & home insurance, legal, and pet insurance.
  • Competitive salary, bonus, and best-in-class Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP) with a 27-month lookback
  • Flexible paid vacation time, paid day off for your birthday, and company holidays. A variety of leave plans, including Parental Leave.
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and an employee well-being program focusing on physical, mental, and financial health.


Apply Now!

#LI-hybrid

About Progress Software

Progress Software Corporation is a global software company. The Company offers solutions in the development, deployment, integration and management of business applications on premise, in the cloud, on mobile devices, and on platforms. The Company operates through three segments: OpenEdge, Data Connectivity and Integration, and Application Development and Deployment. The Company's solutions are used across a range of industries, including government, financial services, and healthcare. The Company's technologies include Progress OpenEdge, Progress Corticon, Progress DataDirect Connect, Progress DataDirect Cloud, Progress DataDirect Bulk Load, Progress Easyl, Progress Rollbase and Progress Pacific. The Company also offers a range of services, including implementation, consulting, training, and customer support.
Learn more about Progress Software
Size
2,103 employees
Market Cap
$2.1 billion
Industry
Net Income
$79.7 million
Founded
2012
5 Year Trend
+5.6%
Revenue
$442.1 million
NASDAQ

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