Ruthkiewicz played as a defender for Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Dunfermline Athletic, Greenock Morton, East Fife and American club Carolina RailHawks.
Glasgow born Rutkiewicz began his professional career with Aberdeen, making his debut in an SPL fixture against Hibernian in November 1999 at the age of nineteen.
In March 2009 he received the Scottish First Division Player of the Month Award for a string of solid performances that helped the team maintain their lead at the top of the league table.
[5] After he was released by Dunfermline in May 2012, and went on trial with Greenock Morton starting in a friendly match against Concordia Chiajna and coming off the bench to replace Martin Hardie in the Renfrewshire Cup final against St Mirren.
[10][11] Rutkiewicz returned to the SPFL tier-system in March 2017, signing a short-term contract with Scottish League Two side Clyde.
[12] Rutkiewicz left the club in May 2017 after his contract ended,[13] subsequently signing a deal with Annan Athletic which saw him become player-assistant manager to Peter Murphy.