Senior Software Engineer

YugabyteDB

18d•Hybrid

About The Position

At Yugabyte, we are on a mission to become the default transactional database for enterprises building cloud-native applications. YugabyteDB is our PostgreSQL-compatible distributed database for cloud-native apps. Resilient, scalable, and flexible, it runs on any cloud and enables developers to become instantly productive using well-known APIs.We are looking for talented and driven people to join us on our ambitious mission and help us build a lasting and impactful company.The transactional database market is estimated to grow to $64B by 2025. YugabyteDB is cloud-native by design, has on-demand horizontal scalability, and supports geographical distribution of data using built-in replication. This means that we are well-positioned to meet market demand for geo-distributed, high-scale, high-performance workloads. Join the Database Revolution at Yugabyte. Modern applications need a cloud-native database that eliminates tradeoffs and silos. YugabyteDB retains the power and familiarity of PostgreSQL by pairing its trusted API with a precision-engineered, distributed, cloud-native architecture. Even better, it’s 100% open source. Many of the world's leading enterprises are migrating from legacy RDBMSs (like Oracle, SQL Server, and DB2) to YugabyteDB, to meet their mission-critical app demands. Senior Software Engineer – Core Database Location: Sunnyvale, United States Team: Core Database Position Level: Senior Software Engineer Role Overview As a Senior Software Engineer working on YugabyteDB’s core database engine, you will play a critical role in designing, building, and scaling the foundational components of a globally distributed SQL database — spanning query processing, storage, replication, and transactions. You will work on some of the most challenging problems in distributed systems, including query planning and execution, consistency, durability, fault tolerance, performance, and scalability. Collaborating closely with cross-functional teams across query, platform, and cloud, you will help ensure YugabyteDB remains robust, reliable, and high-performing at scale. This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy deep systems work and want to shape the core architecture of a high-performance, fault-tolerant distributed database.

Requirements

5–8 years of software engineering experience
Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science (or related field), or equivalent practical experience.
Strong programming skills in C/C++ (or similar systems language)
Solid understanding of: Data structures and algorithms Operating systems fundamentals Distributed systems basics
Experience in at least one of: Database internals (query processing, execution engines) Storage systems (LSM trees, WAL, compaction, etc.) Distributed systems (replication, consensus, transactions)
Strong problem-solving and debugging skills

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience building or working with distributed systems, including distributed storage, transactional engines, or consensus protocols.
Strong understanding of database internals, with familiarity in areas such as: PostgreSQL or other relational database engines Query processing or storage engine design
Contributions to open-source systems or database projects are a strong plus.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, test, and deliver core database features across query processing, storage, replication, and transactions in YugabyteDB.
Write high-quality C/C++ code (and other languages as needed) with strong automated test coverage; actively participate in design discussions and code reviews.
Troubleshoot and resolve correctness, stability, and performance issues across: Distributed query planning and execution Storage and transactional subsystems
Improve database scalability and throughput as cluster sizes, data volumes, and transaction rates grow.
Identify and implement performance optimizations across the stack, including: Query plan optimization, batching, and parallelism Storage engine and replication efficiency End-to-end latency and throughput improvements
Build and enhance core operational capabilities
Contribute to the open-source YugabyteDB project, helping strengthen its distributed SQL capabilities and reliability.
Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams (query, storage, platform, cloud) to deliver cohesive, high-quality features.
Mentor junior engineers and contribute to best practices in distributed systems, database internals, and performance engineering.