Database Systems Research Engineer

European Tech Recruit; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

European Tech Recruit is seeking a Database Systems Research Engineer to advance high-performance data management technologies. You will bridge systems research, software engineering and prototyping across database architecture and cloud AI data platforms.

You’ll work on kernels, optimisers, execution engines and storage, while exploring vector databases, knowledge graphs and AI-driven workloads with a global team in Edinburgh.

Qualifications

• MSc or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related field.
• Strong background in database systems, distributed systems, OS, architecture or AI systems.
• Understanding of database internals: query processing, storage, indexing, transactions.
• Strong programming in C, C++, Rust or Go.
• Experience with system design, benchmarking and performance optimisation.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement database kernels, query optimisers, engines and indexing systems.
• Develop advanced query processing and optimisation for transactional, analytical and AI workloads.
• Research distributed and cloud-native database architectures: partitioning, replication and distributed execution.
• Develop storage and data management solutions for structured, multimodal and AI workloads.
• Explore AI data infrastructure including vector search, RAG, knowledge graphs and embeddings.

Skills

C/C++

Rust

Go

Distributed systems

Problem solving

Education

MSc or PhD in CS/EE or related

Tools

PostgreSQL

DuckDB

Spark

Flink

RocksDB

Job description

Our client is a well known technology conglomerate, who are looking for a Database Systems Research Engineer to work on next-generation, high-performance data management technologies.

You’ll combine systems research, software engineering and hands-on prototyping, tackling challenging problems across database architecture, distributed systems, cloud infrastructure and AI data platforms.

What You’ll Work On

• Design and implement database kernels, query optimisers, execution engines, storage engines and indexing systems.
• Develop advanced query processing and optimisation techniques for transactional, analytical and AI workloads.
• Research distributed and cloud-native database architectures, including partitioning, replication and distributed execution.
• Develop storage and data management solutions for structured, multimodal and AI-driven workloads.
• Explore AI data infrastructure including vector search, RAG, knowledge graphs, embeddings and agent memory.
• Profile, benchmark and optimise systems across CPU, memory, storage, networking and accelerators.
• Turn research ideas into high-quality prototypes, technical contributions, patents and publications.

What We’re Looking For

• MSc or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related field.
• Strong background in database systems, distributed systems, operating systems, computer architecture or AI systems.
• Understanding of database internals including query processing, optimisation, storage, indexing and transaction processing.
• Strong programming skills in C, C++, Rust or Go.
• Experience with system design, implementation, benchmarking and performance optimisation.
• Strong problem-solving skills and an interest in open-ended research and engineering challenges.

Nice to Have

• Experience with systems such as PostgreSQL, DuckDB, Spark, Flink, ClickHouse, RocksDB, TiDB or similar.
• Knowledge of NUMA, RDMA, CXL, GPUs, NPUs or heterogeneous computing.
• Experience with vector databases, RAG, knowledge graphs or AI data infrastructure.
• Publications in leading systems/database conferences such as SIGMOD, VLDB, ICDE, EuroSys, OSDI or SOSP.