Principal Distributed Systems Engineer

📍 Location: Hybrid — minimum 50% on-site in Lagos
Job Type: Independent Retainer — Milestone-Based Deliverable Contract
Duration: October 2026 – December 2026

About the Role

We are seeking a Principal Distributed Systems Engineer / Lead Quantitative Architect to design and build the technology powering a sovereign compute exchange and cloud infrastructure platform. The role combines distributed systems, mathematical optimisation, secure billing, multi-tenant database security, and distributed edge computing.

Key Responsibilities

• Design a multi-threaded Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) engine to optimise compute resource bids against power, thermal, SLA, processor-state, and cooling constraints.
• Build an append-only, tamper-evident billing ledger using SHA-256 hash chaining, with integrity verification and tamper detection.
• Design and deploy PostgreSQL Row-Level Security (RLS) policies for strict multi-tenant data isolation, supported by access-validation middleware and security testing.
• Develop an edge compute orchestration backend to aggregate distributed nodes, identify available capacity, and coordinate workload distribution, encryption, execution, and result return.
• Deploy production-ready systems with the local Lagos development team, conduct load testing, and lead architectural handover sessions.

Requirements

• Strong experience in distributed systems and high-throughput backend architecture.
• Proficiency in Python backend engineering and performance-critical data pipelines.
• Advanced PostgreSQL and multi-tenant database architecture experience.
• Experience with Kubernetes, k3s, Docker, and cloud infrastructure.
• Knowledge of MILP, mathematical optimisation, quantitative engineering, operational research, or resource allocation.
• Experience with cryptographic data structures, SHA-256, and data-integrity verification.
• Familiarity with distributed edge/IoT orchestration, MQTT, and IoT data pipelines.
• Strong technical documentation and architecture handover skills.
• Experience in quantitative trading infrastructure, operational research, high-throughput fintech, or large-scale SaaS multi-tenancy is an advantage.

Additional Details

• Reports to: Technical Partner Project Manager.
• Potential for long-term engagement after launch.
• Weekly 90-minute technical walkthroughs, comprehensive architecture manuals, and API, solver, and database documentation are required.
• In-person knowledge transfer during Lagos-based periods and formal final sign-off are required. The local team must be able to build the systems independently from source.

Key Milestones

• M1: MILP Solver — Python + C
• M2: Immutable Billing Ledger — SHA-256
• M3: PostgreSQL RLS — Multi-Tenant Isolation
• M4: Edge Aggregator — k3s + Orchestration
• M5: Production Deployment & Handover

How to Apply

📧 Apply via: Send your CV and a concise technical portfolio or representative examples of previous work to HR.Nigeria@escrow-tech.co.uk.

Email Subject: Principal Distributed Systems Engineer

All applications will be treated in strict confidence.