Middle Software Engineer — Query Engine / Data Platform

Job description

Level: Middle Engagement: Long-term contract Location: Europe (EU / EEA / UK), remote Working hours: EU business hours, shifted 2–3 hours later to ensure daily overlap with US West Coast (PST/PDT) mornings

ABOUT THE CLIENT

Our client is a leading enterprise data platform company building an open, high-performance data lakehouse for AI and analytical workloads. The platform combines an intelligent SQL query engine, an AI-ready semantic layer, and an open catalog built on Apache Iceberg — enabling Fortune 500 companies across finance, energy, manufacturing, and logistics to unify, query, and govern data at massive scale across cloud and on-premise sources.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for a Middle-level Software Engineer to work on the core query engine of a large-scale distributed data platform. You will develop features across query planning, optimization, and execution, contribute to performance-critical components, and help evolve the platform's ability to process massive analytical workloads across heterogeneous data sources.

This is a systems-level, backend engineering role focused on distributed data processing internals — not application development or CRUD services.

RESPONSIBILITIES

- Develop and maintain features across the query engine — planning, optimization, execution, and data access layers.

- Write high-quality, performance-conscious code in Java and/or C++.

- Work with SQL semantics, query plans, and execution operators over large-scale distributed data.

- Integrate with columnar formats, open table formats, and connectivity drivers used across the platform.

- Contribute to CI/CD pipelines and automated testing — participate in build, test, and release workflows in Jenkins.

- Deploy and validate work in Kubernetes (GKE / EKS / AKS) across GCP, AWS, and Azure using Docker.

- Debug complex issues spanning query planning, distributed execution, memory management, and I/O.

- Collaborate closely with US-based engineering teams on design reviews, code reviews, and technical decisions.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

- Education: B. S. or M. S. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.

- Programming: Strong proficiency in Java or C++, with solid OOP and software design fundamentals. Candidates comfortable with both are especially valued.

- SQL & Data: Strong SQL skills and solid understanding of relational and analytical data systems, including query execution concepts.

- Data processing systems experience: Hands-on experience with data processing systems — query engines, distributed databases, ETL/ELT frameworks, or analytical platforms.

- Engineering experience: 3+ years in backend/systems software engineering.

- CI/CD & DevOps basics: Practical experience with Jenkins pipelines and modern development workflows.

- Containers: Working knowledge of Docker and basic Kubernetes (running workloads, debugging pods, kubectl fluency).

- Cloud: Comfortable operating in at least one major cloud ( GCP, AWS, or Azure ).

- Version Control: Confident with Git / GitHub workflows.

- English: Upper-Intermediate or higher ( B2+ ) — daily written and verbal communication with a US-based engineering team.

- Availability: Able to work EU hours with a 2–3 hour shift toward US West Coast time to ensure daily overlap with the client team.

DESIRED SKILLS

- Experience with Apache Arrow (columnar in-memory format).

- Familiarity with Apache Calcite (SQL parsing, planning, optimization framework).

- Exposure to Gandiva or LLVM -based expression compilation.

- Experience with open table formats — Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, or Hudi.

- Familiarity with distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Apache Spark, Kafka) and MPP SQL query engines (e.g., Presto, Trino, or similar).

- Understanding of query planning, optimization, and execution internals.

- Experience with data connectivity drivers: JDBC, ODBC, Arrow Flight.

- Kubernetes on managed services ( GKE / EKS / AKS ) and multi-cloud exposure.

- IaC tools such as Terraform.

- Experience with performance profiling and optimization of latency-sensitive systems.

- Please note: We can consider only candidates currently residing in the EU, EEA, or the UK.