What Does a Rust Developer Do?
Rust developers develop software applications using the Rust programming language. Rust is relatively new and has gained popularity for its speed, memory safety, and low-level control. Web applications, system utilities, and network programming are among the projects for which these developers can work.
Individuals in this role should be proficient in both the Rust programming language and computer science principles in order to succeed as a Rust developer. Rust’s borrow checker and ownership model, as well as its ecosystem of libraries and frameworks, should be familiar to them. Moreover, these developers should be comfortable working in an Agile environment and collaboratively with other developers.
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National Average Salary
Rust developer salaries vary by experience, industry, organization size, and geography. Click below to explore salaries by local market.
The average national salary for a Rust Developer is:
$106,187
Rust Developer Job Descriptions
When it comes to recruiting a rust developer, having the right job description can make a big difference. Here are some real world job descriptions you can use as templates for your next opening.
Example 1
We’re looking for a senior software developer with proven Rust experience, working knowledge of Substrate, and general familiarity with blockchain technologies. In this position, you must understand decentralized, high-performance systems, analyze and optimize the platform’s performance, be able to run tests in a distributed environment, and have experience with security audits of third-party and internal solutions. You must also be interested in the Polkadot ecosystem, and design, research and develop blockchain-based solutions. As an ideal candidate, you have proven experience coding, developing, and testing software programs, preferably using the Rust programming language.
Typical duties and responsibilities
- Collaborates with management, relevant departments, and customers to identify end-user requirements and specifications
- Designs algorithms and flowcharts to create new software programs and systems
- Writes code based on specified requirements
- Tests, debugs, and deploying programs and applications
- Maintains and improves existing software
- Analyses user feedback to improve software performance
- Recommends improvements to existing software products
- Creates technical documentation
Education and experience
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science or a related field
- 3+ years of experience in coding and developing, preferably using the Rust programming language
Required skills and qualifications
- Experience within programming languages, such as C++, Node.js, React.js, Golang, or others
- Experience working with advanced data structures and algorithms
- Knowledge of secure coding practices
- Excellent debugging, profiling, and performance optimization skills
- Experience with multi-threaded programming
- Network programming skills
- Key-value store optimization skills
- Attention to detail
- In-depth knowledge of the software development life cycle
- Strong problem-solving and communication skills
Preferred qualifications
- Experience with blockchain technology
- Experience in Rust programming
Example 2
My Cybersecurity client is seeking a Senior Software Engineer with Rust Experience to join their engineering team. This team is responsible for building innovative solutions that protect the world’s most critical infrastructure.
Responsibilities
- Work closely within a small team to build features that support their solutions/products
- Develop production code to support new features and bug fixes
- Design and write automated tests that ensures integrity of their software
Requirements
- 4+ years of software development experience
- Experience with Rust Programming Language
- Experience working in Linux systems programming and networking protocols (deep understanding is a plus)
- Experience with network security is a plus, but not necessary
- Experience with RabbitMQ, Kafka, Apache, or similar
Example 3
We are seeking a Director of Product Marketing to help usher in the next wave of products and solutions. This is an essential role, not only for marketing, but for business insights, growth as well as developer advocacy. This position is highly visible across ABC Company and the ABC ecosystem and requires candidates with deep interpersonal and communication skills, verbal and written, with experience marketing emerging technology to businesses and developers around the world.
Responsibilities
- Build scalable backend systems, services, and APIs
- Design high reliable services that can withstand large fluctuations in traffic
- Benchmark performance, identify performance bottlenecks, and find ways to resolve them
- Write backend code that is fast, reliable, but also highly secure
- Maintain and evolve our quickly-growing test suite
- Collaborate effectively with other staff to solve complex problems
Requirements
- Minimum of 4 years work experience in a professional software environment
- Work experience with Rust and a solid foundation with C++ or Java
- B.S. in Computer Science, Math, or equivalent professional experience is acceptable
- DevOps knowledge
- Excellent communication skills in conversational and written English
- Passion for joining a fast-paced, early-stage startup
- Ability to write robust, highly efficient, reliable code
- Experience writing multi-threaded applications
- Have deployed software to a production environment
- Familiarity with Linux development and runtime environment
Example 4
We are in desperate need of hiring more Rust Developers and will speak with anyone who has a year or more of experience with Rust.
What you will be doing
Working within Polkadot Substrate’s latest architecture you will be helping us implement a new consensus engine in Rust. We have an existing consensus engine (Substrate 1.0.5) written in Python to use as a reference. Additionally you will be building tools for our live open source blockchain users such as RESTful API, mining pool, or command-line client. Debugging/fixing issues within our codebase.
What you need for this position
Need To Have
- 4+ years as a developer/engineer (any language)
- Rust
- Python (2+ years)
Nice To Have
- Polkadot Substrate
- C#
- .NET
- Ability to pick-out SDKs from code base
- REST API
- Experience with Docker images or Mining pools.
Candidate Certifications to Look For
- Rust: Building Reusable Code with Rust from Scratch. This course, offered by Udemy, is for C/C++, Rust & system developers, and programmers who want to learn how to code in Rust and re-use Rust code. The hands-on, practical course teaches candidates the basic syntax and concepts of Rust, how to define functions and create variables, & more. They’ll build and test their code using Cargo & RustDoc and become familiar with different forms of code reuse, loops, map, filter, and fold.
- Rust Programming Certificate. The International Institute of Technology offers a course in rust programming that includes a certificate of completion. The program provides candidates with the essential programming skills with Rust. Topics covered in the course include rust data types, variables, strings, operators, functions, and much more.
- Learn Rust by Building Real Applications. This online course is administered by Udemy and helps candidates learn about the fundamental concepts of Rust programming. They will learn and understand the rust programming language from the bottom up while working with memory safety. This course teaches candidates through practice and covers such topics as manual memory management, building a command-line application, and building an HTTP server from scratch. Learn how to manage low-level memory and how to troubleshoot common compiler errors. The course also provides a real-world project to solve and assignments for candidates to complete, working closely with an instructor. A certificate is awarded to candidates after completion of the course.
How to Hire a Rust Developer
There are a number of important initial considerations when hiring a Rust developer:
- Recruiting: Do you have the knowledge, tools, and resources to attract and screen candidates?
- Complexity: Do you need a senior professional, or will mid or junior-level skills and experience suffice?
- Duration: Are you hiring for a project or an ongoing need?
- Urgency: How soon does the opening need to be filled? What happens while it remains open?
- Headcount: Do you have the budget and approval for an internal employee, or should you consider alternate options?
Answering these questions will help determine the best course of action for your current hiring need. Fortunately, great options exist for every scenario. These are our recommendations:
1. Use 4 Corner Resources (or another professional recruiting firm)
The heavy lifting is done for you when working with a top-tier staffing company like 4 Corner Resources. We source, screen, recruit, and deliver only the most qualified candidate(s), saving you significant time and effort throughout the hiring process while you remain focused on your core business. Understanding your needs and ensuring the right candidate for the position is the key to our success.
This is the best route to take when:
- You need to fill the position quickly
- You want access to a vast talent pool of high-quality, prescreened candidates
- Your position is suited for temporary hiring services, contract staffing, or contract-to-hire recruiting, and you intend to direct the work activity.
- You are hiring an employee as a direct placement but aren’t able to recruit effectively or efficiently with your internal staff.
- You aren’t familiar with current salary rates, market trends, and available skill sets
2. Hire an experienced freelancer
The freelance, or gig economy, continues to grow, with more talent available daily. Freelancers provide high-quality work without a long-term commitment. They can offer you a fresh perspective, more flexibility, and increase efficiency. While the freelance market isn’t ideal for every position, Rust developers are often a great fit.
We recommend this option when:
- Your need is project-based
- The work can be performed remotely
- You do not intend to direct the daily work activity
- You are hiring for expertise your internal team does not possess
- You do not require an employee to work onsite or follow a specific schedule
We recommend using either Toptal, Upwork, or both.
Toptal
Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Toptal vets its freelancers before making them accessible, ensuring their legitimacy. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects. Hiring a Rust developer on Toptal can help you quickly get the results you need.
Upwork
Upwork is a freelance talent network that helps individuals connect with experts in a variety of fields to accomplish project-based needs. When you have a specific, well-defined goal in mind, this can be a great path to hiring an experienced Rust developer. If you are satisfied with the outcome you can continue to book the same freelancer through Upwork’s easy-to-use project interface.
3. Post the opening on a top job board
Your best option may be to advertise your opening on a proven job board. There are many widely used job sites out there that draw visits from qualified candidates. If you have someone internally who can dedicate the time and energy to sort through applications and screen individuals effectively, this can be a great choice.
We recommend using a job board when:
- Your internal recruiting team has the knowledge and experience to assess candidate qualifications
- You are hiring a direct employee and have time to manage the entire recruiting effort
- You have a process for receiving, screening, and tracking all resumes and applications
- You are prepared to respond to all applicants
We recommend CareerBuilder for rust developer openings:
CareerBuilder
CareerBuilder has been a trusted source for hiring since 1995. Reach 80+ million unique, diverse U.S. job seekers annually by posting your jobs through their talent acquisition channels. Through CareerBuilder, you can engage candidates and drive them into your sourcing pipeline. We recommend using CareerBuilder for hiring when you have the internal resources and processes to review, screen, and reply to all applicants.
4. Leverage your internal resources
You can utilize your own website, social media, and employees to assist in your search for top candidates.
A company website posting should be the first step in notifying prospective candidates that you are hiring. Social media can also be a powerful tool for spreading the word about your new opening. As far as exposure is concerned, this option can be as good as some job boards when you have a large enough following across various platforms, like LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter.
Current employees are every organization’s greatest asset. Encourage your internal team to promote job openings to their network by offering cash and other incentives.
We recommend these options when:
- Your brand has great name recognition
- You can consistently monitor and respond to candidate activity through your website and social media accounts
- You have a process in place to quickly and broadly communicate job openings and requirements
- You have an effective employee referral program in place
If you aren’t sure which path is best, schedule a discovery call today with our seasoned recruiting professionals. The 4 Corner team is on standby to help you find the best option for your unique hiring need.
Sample Interview Questions
- Have you developed software applications using Rust before, and what projects have you done?
- What techniques do you use to optimize the performance of your Rust code?
- Are there any tools you use for version control and project management when working on a Rust project?
- How did you familiarize yourself with a new Rust library or framework that you had to learn?
- What techniques do you use to organize and document your Rust code so that it remains extensible over time?
- To ensure that your Rust code is robust and error-free, how do you approach testing and quality assurance?
- How does the Rust borrow checker affect Rust’s development?
- In what ways does Rust’s ownership model differ from other programming languages you have used?
- What are your methods for keeping up with the latest Rust developments?
- When did you have to troubleshoot an issue in a Rust application, and how did you solve it?