Database Engineer — Storage & Query Execution
What we do
ParadeDB is a Postgres-native alternative to Elasticsearch. We build state-of-the-art search (full-text, vector, and hybrid) and columnar analytics as a Postgres extension. Companies like Modern Treasury, BILT Rewards, Alibaba Cloud, and many others use ParadeDB to:
- Eliminate ETL/change data capture tools
- Add transactional guarantees to their search indexes
- Perform JOINs on their search data
- Unify their search & transactional stack for agentic workloads
We're a small, focused team of engineers dedicated to creating an inclusive and enjoyable work environment. We’re primarily distributed across the United States and Canada, with a small office in San Francisco. We’re a Series A company with a flat structure, strong backing from investors, and plenty of room for growth.
What we want
We're looking for a database engineer to join our team full-time. The ideal candidate should have:
- A solid foundation in database systems and internals
- Meaningful experience working on databases, query engines, storage engines, indexing systems, or similarly complex infrastructure software
- Proficiency in systems programming with C/C++/Rust/Zig and the ability to navigate large, complex codebases effectively (bonus points for Rust)
- Experience designing, profiling, optimizing, and debugging systems with a focus on performance, scalability, and maintainability
- Experience with Postgres internals, database extensions, or related systems is a plus
- Familiarity with query optimization, vectorized execution, columnar storage, or analytical query processing is a plus
- Familiarity with search systems is a plus
- Familiarity with technologies such as Tantivy, Apache DataFusion, Arrow, Parquet, or pgrx is a plus
- Contributions to high-quality open-source projects are a plus
- Prior experience at a small, high-performing startup is a plus
We're seeking someone creative, independent, and excited by difficult technical challenges. You'll bring thoughtful opinions, learn quickly, engage directly with customers, and help us build a world-class product.
What you want
You want to be part of the core team of a fast-growing infrastructure startup You want to wear many hats and interface directly with customers You’re passionate about databases, query engines, search technologies, and data systems You’re excited about diving deep into the internals of Postgres and writing high-performance, safe Rust code You’re excited to build state-of-the-art search and analytical capabilities on top of Postgres You’re excited to learn about, draw inspiration from, and contribute to systems like Tantivy, Apache DataFusion, PostgreSQL, Parquet, and Arrow You believe in open-source and want to contribute to building a sustainable open-source business You want autonomy over your work and the opportunity to make impactful design decisions
What you'll do
- Develop and optimize the ParadeDB PostgreSQL extension using Postgres APIs via pgrx
- Build features that interface with Postgres storage, indexing, query planning, query execution, and extension infrastructure
- Work with the internals of Tantivy, Apache DataFusion, and other open-source systems to implement new search and analytics capabilities
- Contribute upstream to Tantivy, DataFusion, and our other dependencies
- Design and implement efficient data structures and algorithms for search and analytical workloads
- Optimize query performance and resource utilization using profiling tools
- Contribute to the evolution of ParadeDB's search, analytics, indexing, and query processing capabilities
- Develop and maintain documentation, including API references and user guides
- Engage directly with our customers and the open-source community on GitHub and Slack
- Contribute to technical writing, product demos, and content marketing
- Help shape ParadeDB's product roadmap and technical direction
What's next
Please send your resume and anything else you'd like to share to founders@paradedb.com. We will get back to you as soon as we can. We're excited to meet you! ParadeDB is committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive work environment for people of all backgrounds. We urge candidates of all backgrounds to apply. If you require specific accommodations, please let us know at accommodations@paradedb.com.
Location
Remote; San Francisco office available
Remote allowed status
Yes (Remote)
Employment type
Full-Time
Experience level
Not explicitly stated; implied mid-to-senior level due to required skills in database internals & complex infrastructure software
A small, focused team building a Postgres-native alternative to Elasticsearch. The team is distributed across the United States and Canada and is passionate about data systems, search, analytics, Postgres, and Rust.
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