Senior Principal DB Architect — Core Vertica Engine

rocket; United States; On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Vertica seeks a Senior Principal Software Engineer to define architecture and lead innovations across the core server of the Vertica database platform. You will drive query optimization, distributed execution, storage, and scalability while mentoring engineers and collaborating with product management and customers.

This role shapes the long-term technical direction and requires deep domain expertise in analytical database systems and distributed data processing across large-scale deployments.

Qualifications

• Minimum 12 years of software engineering experience.
• Proven track record of software innovation, problem solving, and product delivery at increasing scale.
• Deep expertise in database engine domains including query optimization, query execution, and storage

Responsibilities

• Act as subject matter expert across Vertica core server domains: query optimization, distributed query execution, storage, concurrency, and database infrastructure.
• Shape technical direction and architecture of one or more critical Vertica components.
• Synthesize customer requirements, market trends, and product strategy into technical direction and requirements.
• Advise on architectural decisions and their impact on capabilities, scalability, performance, reliability, and business outcomes.
• Define and drive long-term architectural vision for core database technologies.
• Architect complex database features and infrastructure for large-scale analytics across distributed environments.
• Lead design and implementation of high-performance C++ software in mission-critical systems.
• Collaborate with customers, support, and field teams to translate challenges into technical solutions.
• Mentor engineers and technical leaders, promoting engineering excellence and innovation.

Skills

Leadership

Architecture

Mentoring

Problem solving

Communication

Tools

C++

Distributed systems

Job description

Vertica seeks a Senior Principal Software Engineer to define architecture and lead innovations across the core server of the Vertica database platform. You will drive query optimization, distributed execution, storage, and scalability while mentoring engineers and collaborating with product management and customers.

This role shapes the long-term technical direction and requires deep domain expertise in analytical database systems and distributed data processing across large-scale deployments.