Lead Systems Engineer (Rust) - AI Platform

Lead Systems Engineer (Rust) — AI PlatformAbout The RoleWhat if your deep Rust expertise could directly shape the infrastructure powering the next generation of AI? We're looking for a Senior Rust Full-Stack Engineer to build and optimize the high-performance systems that leading AI labs depend on — from data pipelines and annotation tooling to evaluation infrastructure that runs at scale.This is a fully remote contract role with meaningful, senior-level work and real impact on production AI systems.Organization: AlignerrType: Hourly ContractLocation: RemoteCommitment: 20–40 hours/weekWhat You'll DoDesign, build, and optimize high-performance Rust systems supporting AI data pipelines and evaluation workflowsDevelop full-stack tooling and backend services for large-scale data annotation, validation, and quality controlImprove reliability, performance, and safety across existing Rust codebasesIdentify bottlenecks and edge cases in data and system behavior, and implement scalable, production-ready fixesCollaborate with data, research, and engineering teams to support model training and evaluation workflowsLead synchronous design reviews, iterating on system architecture and implementation decisions with cross-functional teamsWho You AreNative or fluent English speaker with clear written and verbal communication skills5+ years of professional experience writing production Rust, with a strong focus on system architecture and API designDeep expertise in FFI (Foreign Function Interface) and unsafe Rust boundaries to optimize cross-language interactionsAdvanced knowledge of asynchronous runtimes and ensuring thread safety in complex, multi-threaded environmentsComfortable leading system design reviews and driving technical decisions independentlyAble to commit 20–40 hours per week consistentlyNice to HavePrior experience with data annotation, data quality, or evaluation systemsFamiliarity with AI/ML workflows, model training, or benchmarking pipelinesExperience with distributed systems or developer toolingBackground contributing to or maintaining open-source Rust projectsWhy Join UsWork on real production systems used by leading AI research labs — not toy projectsFully remote and async-friendly — work from wherever you do your best workSenior-level, technically challenging work that moves fast and mattersCollaborate with top engineers and researchers at the frontier of AI developmentPotential for ongoing work and contract extension as projects scale