Senior Backend Engineer (Databases, Analytics)

Grafana; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

30 days vacation + holidays

Health care stipend

Pension contributions

Learning & development stipend

Remote-friendly culture

Co-working space stipend

Headspace subscription

Employee assistance program

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Grafana is seeking a Senior Software (Database) Engineer to design, build, and operate the underlying storage systems for our data platform. You will own components from ingestion to query execution, and shape a multi-tenant SaaS foundation with strong observability.

You’ll work across product and infra, aligning fast experimentation with reliability, and contribute to architecture while communicating clearly in a highly collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• Experience using observability tools to understand and troubleshoot system behavior.
• Experience with distributed systems, catalogs and table formats, query engines.
• Exposure to cloud-native environments (AWS, GCP, Azure).
• Proven track record of delivering production software used by users.
• Strong initiative and ownership; able to deal with ambiguity.
• Mastery of a programming language like Go, C++, or Rust.
• AI experience with a practical mindset.

Responsibilities

• Take ownership over and build one or multiple parts of the database: ingestion, query planning, distributed query execution, data formats, storage formats.
• Create a scalable SaaS foundation: multi-tenant architecture, tenant isolation, quotas, audit logs, background jobs and service boundaries.
• Power agent-facing retrieval workflows by building APIs and database interfaces for AI agents and internal tools.
• Work across product and infra to balance fast experimentation with long-term reliability.
• Operate what you build: instrument services with metrics, logs, traces, alerts, and dashboards.
• Contribute to technical direction: architecture, service boundaries, deployment patterns and engineering practices.
• Communicate effectively across teams and take ownership of outcomes.

Skills

Observability

Distributed systems

Cloud-native

Golang

C++

Rust

AI experience

Production-grade software

Data warehouses / data lakes

Data engineering tools

Collaboration

Tools

Go tooling

Rust tooling

Job description

• We’re looking for a Senior Software (Database) Engineer to help build the underlying storage system for our general purpose data platform
• The database layer has both OLAP and OTLP capabilities to support classic analytics queries while also serving up freshly stored data
• It embraces the separation of compute and storage and is designed to run on multiple cloud providers
• This is an early-stage role on a high-autonomy team, so you should be comfortable working through ambiguity, making pragmatic architectural decisions, and building systems that can evolve from internal dogfooding to production-grade Saas
• As the team matures, there’s a broad opportunity to expand or redefine this role based on impact and initiative
• Take ownership over and build one or multiple parts of the database: Design, implement, test, and operate ingestion, query planning, distributed query execution, data formats, storage formats
• Create a scalable SaaS foundation: Help define and build the architecture for a multi-tenant database service, including tenant isolation, usage tracking, quotas, audit logs, background jobs, and reliable service boundaries
• Power agent-facing retrieval workflows: Build APIs and database interfaces that allow AI agents, MCP tools, CLIs, and internal applications to retrieve data quickly
• Work across product and infrastructure: Partner with the team to make practical tradeoffs between fast experimentation and long-term reliability, especially as the project moves from prototype to production
• Operate what you build: Instrument database services with metrics, logs, traces, alerts, and dashboards. Use observability tools to understand system behavior and improve reliability
• Contribute to technical direction: Help shape the architecture, service boundaries, storage choices, API contracts, deployment patterns, and engineering practices for a new product area
• Effective communication: You’ll be working in a highly dynamic and collaborative environment, so we need someone who can communicate effectively and contribute across teams
• Ownership and impact: Take full ownership of the database solutions you develop, ensuring they are not only innovative but also scalable, maintainable, and aligned with real user workflows

Benefits

• Vacation: Balance is key. Our team enjoys 30 days of paid vacation each year on top of national holidays, parental leave, and sick leave. We also take a breather on a number of Grafana Shutdown Days each year
• Healthcare: We’re proud to provide health coverage or stipends for our colleagues in the US, UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, Singapore, and India
• Retirement planning: There’s no time like the present to start saving for your future. We make employer contributions into the pension pots of our team members in the US, UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany
• Professional development: On top of a $1,500 annual learning and development stipend, Grafanistas have thousands of on-demand courses at their fingertips to help them grow professionally. Want to attend a conference or training? Go ahead. Just pass on what you learned
• Work location: Vast majority of our roles are fully remote, focused on hiring the best talent and allowing you to perform from the comfort of your home. If you fancy a change of scene, we’ll also reimburse you up to $175 a month for a personal co-working space
• Choice of tech: There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to the tech required to do your job. Choose the laptop and accessories you need when you join us, and we’ll refresh them every three years
• Mindfulness: When you join the team, you can sign up for a complimentary subscription to Headspace to take advantage of the benefits of mindfulness and meditation. Our wellbeing resource group also organize sessions run by fellow Grafanistas or external trainers
• Global Employee Assistance Program: We offer all team members a 100% confidential support service with 24/7 365 access to professionally qualified counsellors and specialists
• Paid parental leave: Grafana offers paid parental leave to all eligible new parents. This offers Grafanistas time to bond with and care for their children in the first year after birth or adoption

Experience using observability tools to understand and troubleshoot system behaviorExperience with distributed systems, catalogs and table formats, query enginesExposure to working in cloud-native environments (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure)Proven track record of delivering software that made it into production and is actively used by usersQuick iteration and experimentation: You’re comfortable releasing prototypes, collecting feedback, and iterating with a pragmatic mindsetProven initiative: You take ownership and drive projects forward, pushing boundaries to find the most impactful solutions. You can deal with ambiguity and are able to define scope where things are loosely definedMastery of a programming language like golang, C++, or RustAI experience with a practical mindset: You’re familiar with AI technologies and frameworks, and you focus on delivering high-quality solutions that work in the real world, not just in theoryStrong engineering skills: Solid experience building production-grade, user-facing software systems. You’re a self-starter, capable of tackling complex engineering problems and making design decisions with minimal supervisionCollaborative attitude: You communicate effectively with your peers. You’re open to feedback, and you bring a solutions-oriented mindset to the tableExperience building distributed query enginesExperience building data warehouses and/or data lakesExperience building tools for data engineering