Staff Engineer - Analytics & Data Architecture
Staff engineer owning the analytical data layer, schema, and tiered analytics architecture. The role combines hands-on backend development with database performance optimization, observability, ingestion coordination, and measured architectural decision-making.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Find and fix database performance and scaling problems.
- Own the schema and data model for analytical data.
- Design and build a tiered analytics platform spanning a system of record, low-latency serving tier, and batch/ML tier.
- Decide where workloads run across tiers using measured latency, cost, and isolation benchmarks.
- Build observability into the data layer so problems surface early.
- Partner with the ingestion team to keep read and write paths coherent as schemas evolve.
- Write code and shape the multi-quarter direction of the analytics platform.
Requirements
- Deep production experience operating a database or analytical store under concurrent, customer-facing load.
- Ability to reason from query plans to performance fixes.
- Strong SQL knowledge and a solid mental model of columnar/OLAP execution.
- Solid backend engineering experience; the stack uses Java.
- Experience designing or materially shaping a multi-tier data platform and defending architectural decisions with measurements.
Nice-to-haves
- Lakehouse experience with Databricks, Spark, Delta Lake, Iceberg, or comparable technologies.
- Experience designing schemas for wide, semi-structured event data, including nested objects, maps, and JSON.
- Streaming ingestion experience with Kafka or similar systems.
- Experience leading a migration or major re-architecture with cost and latency analysis.
- ClickHouse experience.
- Connection-pool and JDBC-level tuning experience.
- Familiarity with feature-flagged rollouts of query-engine behavior changes.
- Open-source contributions to a query engine or related tooling.
Compensation and Benefits
- Competitive salary for candidates hired as CLT.
- Stock options.
- Medical and dental coverage for employees and dependents.
- Life and long-term disability coverage.
- Monthly Caju Card meal allowance.
- Remote-first flexibility.
- Family-friendly environment, team events, and offsites.
- Professional development opportunities.
Skills
SQL, Java, Databases, Olap, Data Architecture, Databricks, Spark, Delta Lake, Apache Iceberg, JSON, Kafka, ClickHouse, Jdbc, Query Optimization, Data Modeling
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