Helius
Staff Backend Engineer, Data Streaming
3mo ago
WorldwideLeadRemotedata streaminglow-latency systemsdistributed systems
Lead technical direction and development of streaming infrastructure for real-time Solana state changes.
About the company
- The Data Streaming team builds and operates products like Laserstream that deliver real-time Solana state changes to thousands of developers and institutions around the world. Latency, reliability, and throughput aren't just engineering concerns here — they're the product. The team moves fast, owns a large surface area, and sits in the critical path of the company's growth.
Responsibilities
- We're looking for a Staff Engineer, Data Streaming who knows how these systems work under the hood - not just how to tune them, but how to build them from scratch. You'll own the technical direction for Helius' streaming infrastructure, which delivers real-time Solana state changes to thousands of developers and institutions worldwide. This is a role for someone who has operated in low-latency, high-uptime environments where reliability is the product - trading systems, financial infrastructure, or similar - and who brings that same obsession to customer-facing systems at scale. You'll work closely with engineers and founders to define what we build and how we build it.
- Architect and build high-throughput, low-latency streaming systems from the ground up — not just optimize what exists
- Drive the technical roadmap for streaming, including filtered streams, next-generation webhooks, and new capabilities that expand what developers can build on Solana
- Lead system design discussions and make architectural decisions across the full stack: software, hardware, and networking
- Set standards for operational excellence — reliability, incident response, and system observability — with a bar calibrated to financial-grade uptime
- Mentor and elevate engineers on the team, and drive technical consensus across engineering, product, and leadership
- Partner cross-functionally with Sales, Support, and adjacent infrastructure teams to ensure streaming products meet the needs of customers at scale
- Identify and solve complex, ambiguous problems that span multiple systems
Requirements
- 8+ years of backend engineering with a strong track record building large-scale, production systems — including greenfield work, not just incremental optimization
- Deep proficiency in Rust or an equivalent systems programming language
- Experience in low-latency, high-uptime environments: trading systems, financial infrastructure, or similar customer-facing platforms where downtime has real consequences
- Performance-oriented engineering instincts across the full stack: software, Linux internals, networking, and hardware
- Hands-on experience building or operating streaming systems such as Kafka, NATS, Flink, or Kinesis
- Proficiency operating databases in production (Postgres, ClickHouse, RocksDB, or similar)
- Excellent communication and writing skills; you can drive technical consensus and influence without authority
- High ownership and urgency — you thrive in fast-moving environments and hold yourself to an exceptional standard
Other
- Helius is building the core infrastructure for Solana - empowering developers to create the next generation of crypto-powered applications. Our mission is to accelerate the development of internet capital markets by making it easier, faster, and more intuitive to build on-chain.
- Thousands of teams - from early-stage startups to industry leaders like Coinbase, Phantom, and Jupiter - rely on Helius APIs, webhooks, and indexing tools to power their products. Backed by Haun Ventures, Founders Fund, and Foundation Capital, we’re a small, senior team obsessed with performance, simplicity, and scalability in decentralized systems.
- Read our Helius Manifesto to see how we work and what we value.
- High-impact work: Your code will power applications used by millions across the Solana ecosystem, including Coinbase, Jupiter, and Phantom.
- Serious engineering: Build fast, reliable systems and user experiences across distributed infra, high-throughput backends, and modern frontend stacks.
- Ownership & growth: Lead critical initiatives, influence architecture and product direction, and take on more responsibility as the company scales.
- Remote-first flexibility: Work where you're most effective with a flexible, fully distributed team.
- Competitive comp & perks: Market-leading salary, meaningful equity, generous vacation, wellness budgets, and support for learning and travel.
- Mission-driven team: Join ambitious builders who move fast, take ownership, and are shaping the future of decentralized apps.