Software Data Architect, PostgreSQL Database - AiDP

Socket.dev; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 210,000 - 310,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple is seeking a seasoned PostgreSQL committer to join the PostgreSQL team. You will serve as a technical authority for PostgreSQL internals at Apple, guiding engine direction and upstream collaboration, while working across teams to deliver scalable, reliable database solutions for Apple workloads.

Success requires deep PostgreSQL expertise, strong systems knowledge, and the ability to influence engineering decisions and drive performance at scale in a distributed environment.

Qualifications

• Current or former committer to the PostgreSQL open source project.
• Demonstrated, sustained record of contributing features to PostgreSQL upstream.
• BS in Computer Science/related fields with 10+ years of relevant experience.
• High level of proficiency in C (and, where relevant, C++ or Rust).
• Advanced understanding of data structures and algorithms in storage and indexing.
• Deep knowledge of the internals of PostgreSQL.
• Demonstrated technical leadership and the ability to set technical direction across teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead PostgreSQL internals direction across Apple and upstream community.
• Collaborate with Database Engineering and SRE teams to align engineering with business priorities.
• Explain highly complex technical material clearly to leaders across the organization.
• Work effectively with colleagues based in other locations.

Skills

PostgreSQL

Open source

C

C++

Rust

Data structures

Algorithms

Leadership

Education

BS in Computer Science

MS or PhD in Computer Science

Tools

Linux Kernel

Job description

The people here at Apple don't just craft products - they build the kind of wonder that's revolutionized entire industries! It's the diversity of those people and their ideas that encourages the innovation that runs through everything we do, from amazing technology to industry-leading environmental efforts. Join Apple, and help us leave the world better than we found it! AI & Data Platforms (AiDP) is IS&T's engine for AI-powered innovation. The team brings together data, application development, and machine learning — including generative AI — along with data services and customer success functions, to help IS&T build solutions more efficiently and streamline the adoption and embedding of generative AI across Apple. The PostgreSQL team at Apple is looking for an experienced committer to the PostgreSQL open source project to help lead the technical direction of PostgreSQL at Apple. The engineers on our team develop and operate Apple's cloud-based relational database service hosting PostgreSQL databases that power some of Apple’s most important workloads in Services, Manufacturing, AI/ML, and many more. You will be joining a team of experts working on modern database technologies, distributed systems, and storage engineering, helping push the limits of open-source PostgreSQL to deliver enterprise-class performance, availability, and durability to our customers, as well as ensuring reliable administration at scale. Your work will be deployed at massive scale, serving millions of queries per second over many petabytes of data across our data centers worldwide and impacting the experiences of many millions of users of key Apple services. This is a rare opportunity to continue your open source contributions to the world's most popular open source relational database, on behalf of our team at Apple. You will be the recognized technical authority for PostgreSQL internals at Apple, setting direction across the engine, representing Apple in the global PostgreSQL community, and growing the next generation of contributors and committers at Apple.

Description

The Apple Postgres team develops and operates a highly reliable, cloud relational database service that serves all of Apple. As a PostgreSQL committer joining at this level, you will act as an established technical authority and thought leader for PostgreSQL internals and features - anticipating and framing systemic challenges, shaping technical direction across multiple teams, and ensuring consistency and a high-quality bar in everything from query execution, storage, replication, high-availability, scaling and administration to new feature development and every other aspect of the database. You will operate at the intersection of Apple and the upstream community, driving an upstream-first strategy so that Apple's needs are met in community PostgreSQL rather than through divergent implementations. You will advise engineering leaders and key stakeholders to align technical execution with business priorities, and serve as the key resource whose judgment shapes critical decisions for the Postgres domain.

Success in this role is built on deep PostgreSQL expertise, together with a strong command of the systems the database runs on and the discipline to keep it fast and reliable at scale:

• PostgreSQL internals — first-hand, contribution-level knowledge of the engine, whether in the query planner and executor, storage and access methods, WAL and recovery, replication, MVCC and concurrency, or the extension and API surface.
• The systems the engine runs on — the operating-system principles (process scheduling, memory management, disk and network I/O) and server-class hardware (storage devices and controllers, network interfaces) that determine how PostgreSQL performs and stays durable.
• Behavior at scale — how distributed, high-throughput systems handle replication, failure detection, load balancing, and request pipelining, and the consistency, isolation, and availability trade-offs they must make.
• Engineering for performance and correctness — profiling, benchmarking, and advanced testing methodologies, together with fluency in the debugging tools needed to diagnose issues in development and production.

The role also requires excellent communication and the ability to partner closely with our Database Engineering and SRE teams, a high degree of customer focus when engaging with internal customers, and the ability to explain highly complex technical material clearly and concisely to leaders across the organization. The ability to work effectively with colleagues based in other locations is essential.

Minimum Qualifications

• Current or former committer to the PostgreSQL open source project.
• Demonstrated, sustained record of contributing features to PostgreSQL that have been well received upstream.
• BS in Computer Science/related fields with 10+ years of relevant experience.
• High level of proficiency in C (and, where relevant, C++ or Rust).
• Advanced understanding of data structures and algorithms in storage and indexing.
• Deep knowledge of the internals of PostgreSQL.
• Demonstrated technical leadership and the ability to set technical direction across teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Computer Science/related fields (MS with 8+ years or PhD with 5+ years of relevant experience).
• Authorship of major PostgreSQL features, or sustained maintainership of a significant subsystem of the database.
• History of speaking at PostgreSQL developer conferences, and of mentoring other contributors.
• Knowledge of Linux Kernel development, and performance optimizations