Staff Software Engineer

Responsibilities

• Dive deep into the dbt Core execution engine to identify, debug, and eliminate performance bottlenecks in the Python codebase.
• Architect and implement improvements to the adapter interface connecting dbt to databases and data platforms.
• Debug complex system-level issues involving Linux process management, concurrency models, database query planning, and network protocols.
• Lead technical design discussions and contribute to the long-term architectural roadmap for dbt Core.
• Mentor engineers and review open-source contributions while maintaining high standards for code quality, testing, and design.
• Own distributed systems, troubleshoot production issues, and participate in an on-call rotation to maintain high availability.

Requirements

• 6+ years of professional software development experience focused on building and operating backend systems in production.
• Deep backend engineering experience and proficiency in Python.
• A systematic, first-principles approach to problem-solving.
• Comfort navigating and debugging Linux environments, including process scheduling, memory management, and file systems.
• Strong understanding of database internals, including query execution engines, storage layers, indexing strategies, and transaction management.
• Excellent communication skills and a strong sense of ownership.

Nice to Have

• Background in data warehousing, data engineering, or analytics engineering.
• Professional experience writing production code in Go or Rust.
• Experience contributing to or maintaining a popular open-source project.
• Experience building compilers, interpreters, or developer tooling.
• Familiarity with performance analysis tools such as perf or strace.

Compensation and Benefits

• 100% employer-paid medical insurance, where applicable.
• Generous paid time off, paid sick time, inclusive parental leave, holidays, and volunteer days off.
• RSU stock grants, where applicable.
• Professional development and training opportunities.
• Virtual social events, food, and team-building activities.
• Monthly cell phone stipend.
• Mental health support platform with therapy, coaching, and mindfulness resources for eligible employees and dependents.
• Benefits may vary by country and worker type.