Software Engineer, Database Systems

Details

The Database Systems team specializes in high-performance distributed databases. The team built Rockset, the real-time search, analytics, and vector database that powers vector search and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) at OpenAI. Rockset also supports core functionality across OpenAI's product lines and critical internal use cases.

The role focuses on distributed systems, close-to-the-metal performance optimization, and building scalable database infrastructure. The core engine is written in C++. Engineers contribute to ingestion, query execution, indexing, and storage while improving online database reliability and throughput.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate high-performance distributed systems.
• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks to scale infrastructure to the next order of magnitude.
• Define long-term technical direction and guide system evolution.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and research teams to deliver scalable and reliable infrastructure.
• Investigate complex production issues across the stack.
• Contribute to incident response, postmortems, and system reliability best practices.

Requirements

• 4+ years of relevant industry experience, including 2+ years leading large-scale, complex projects or teams as an engineer or tech lead.
• Experience building, scaling, and optimizing distributed systems with a strong focus on performance, reliability, and scalability.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate across highly technical and cross-functional teams.
• Proficiency in a systems programming language such as C++; the core engine is written in C++.
• Fluency in cloud environments such as AWS, GCP, or Azure and infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform.
• Experience with Linux systems, CI/CD pipelines, and modern observability stacks such as Prometheus and Grafana.
• Curiosity about database internals, storage engines, or low-latency query systems.
• Experience operating production clusters at scale, such as with Kubernetes or other orchestration systems.
• Rigorous approach to scalability, correctness, and reliability.
• Domain knowledge in databases, data systems, storage engines, indexing, or query processing is a plus but not required.

Benefits

• Equity and performance-related bonuses for eligible employees.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax accounts for health and dependent care expenses, parking, and transit.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental, medical, and caregiver leave.
• Paid time off, paid company holidays, office closures, and paid sick or safe time.
• Mental health and wellness support.
• Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage.
• Annual learning and development stipend.
• Daily meals in offices and eligible meal delivery credits.
• Relocation support for eligible employees.