We are looking for a Principal Engineer with deep expertise in database internals, system architecture, and hardware-aware performance optimization.
This role is responsible for defining and driving advanced database performance solutions by understanding and improving the interaction between database engines, operating systems, and modern hardware architectures.
The ideal candidate is an experienced technical leader with a strong background in database systems, performance engineering, and computer architecture. The candidate should be capable of leading complex technical initiatives, influencing architectural decisions, and developing innovative solutions for next-generation database platforms.
This is a hands-on technical leadership role requiring expertise across database kernels, query execution, transaction processing, memory systems, and low-level performance optimization.
Responsibilities
Define and drive technical direction for database performance optimization and hardware-aware database architecture.
Lead the design and implementation of advanced database optimizations focused on scalability, efficiency, and workload performance.
Solve complex performance challenges across the full system stack, including database engines, query execution, transaction processing, concurrency control, storage engines, operating systems, and hardware platforms.
Design and develop optimizations leveraging modern hardware architectures, including multi-core CPUs, large-memory systems, NUMA platforms, CXL memory, RDMA networking, and advanced storage technologies.
Improve database execution engines, caching mechanisms, memory management, storage systems, and workload scheduling.
Analyze system behavior and identify bottlenecks using profiling, tracing, hardware performance counters, and low-level performance analysis.
Develop benchmarks, workload models, and methodologies to evaluate scalability, efficiency, and architectural tradeoffs.
Collaborate with database kernel, infrastructure, and engineering teams to influence architecture decisions and deliver high-impact improvements.
Mentor senior engineers and contribute to building technical expertise across the organization.
Drive innovation through research, prototyping, technical analysis, and architectural improvements.
Requirements: Education
BSc or MSc in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
Strong background in systems research, database technologies, distributed systems, or computer architecture is highly desirable.
Requirements
10+ years of experience in database systems, systems software, performance engineering, or related fields.
Proven experience designing, developing, or optimizing high-performance database systems, storage engines, query execution engines, or large-scale data platforms.
Deep understanding of database internals, including:
o Query optimization and execution engines
o Transaction processing and concurrency control
o Storage engine architecture
o Indexing and caching mechanisms
o Database scalability and workload optimization
Strong understanding of computer architecture and hardware performance optimization.
Hands-on experience with memory systems, including:
o NUMA architectures
o CPU cache hierarchy
o Memory bandwidth and latency analysis
o Large-scale memory management techniques
Strong programming skills in C/C++ and experience developing high-performance software on Linux systems.
Experience using performance analysis and debugging tools, including:
o Linux perf
o Hardware performance counters
o Profiling and tracing frameworks
o Benchmarking tools
Experience optimizing OLTP, OLAP, or mixed transactional/analytical database workloads.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to diagnose and resolve complex performance issues across software and hardware layers.
This position is open to all candidates.