Staff Data Systems Optimization Engineer

StratusGrid LLC; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote-friendly role

Competitive salary

Flexible benefits

Job summary

StratusGrid LLC is hiring a staff+ software engineer to shape technical architecture and develop data systems optimization products for Stratusphere. You will lead design across cloud environments, drive implementation, and work with customers and FDEs to deliver scalable, observable platforms.

The role emphasizes data systems, PostgreSQL/NoSQL breadth, and a modern lakehouse stack on AWS/Azure. This is a remote US-role with quarterly HQ collaboration in Chattanooga, TN.

Qualifications

• Staff-level ownership of architecture and implementation for complex production systems.
• Proven optimization results using profiling and benchmarks with measurable latency/cost improvements.
• Deep relational database expertise plus analytics platforms experience.
• Hands-on Iceberg and distributed query engines familiarity (Athena/Starburst/Trino).
• Proficiency in at least one programming language and backend services.
• Experience with testing, CI/CD, and observability in production.
• Cloud infrastructure experience and IaC practices.
• Ability to leverage AI-assisted tooling for analysis, planning, and implementation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; can translate complex findings for business decisions.
• Willingness to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment with ambiguity.
• Travel willingness to Chattanooga HQ quarterly; remote-work-ready.
• US work authorization required and able to meet GovCloud/JIS-regulated environment needs.

Responsibilities

• Drive architecture, interfaces, and engineering standards for data optimization products.
• Lead technical design for new features across clouds and data systems.
• Develop agent-first product features and improve platform data architecture.
• Diagnose bottlenecks in queries, schemas, and data layouts to optimize performance.
• Collaborate with FDEs, Product, and customers to validate work and set roadmap priorities.
• Ensure AI-assisted work is secure, auditable, and rollback-ready.
• Contribute to evolving processes, tooling, and best practices across the team.
• Communicate tradeoffs and risks to stakeholders clearly.
• Own end-to-end delivery with reliability and urgency.

Skills

Staff-level leadership

Optimization improvements

Relational databases

Iceberg & query engines

Backend development

CI/CD & testing

Observability

Cloud infrastructure

AI-assisted development

Communication

Startup environment

Ownership & urgency

Travel willingness

Remote work readiness

US work authorization

Tools

Apache Iceberg

Athena/Starburst/Trino

Databricks

AWS

Azure

Job description

StratusGrid LLC is hiring a staff+ software engineer to shape technical architecture and develop data systems optimization products for Stratusphere. You will lead design across cloud environments, drive implementation, and work with customers and FDEs to deliver scalable, observable platforms.

The role emphasizes data systems, PostgreSQL/NoSQL breadth, and a modern lakehouse stack on AWS/Azure. This is a remote US-role with quarterly HQ collaboration in Chattanooga, TN.