Software Engineer - PlanetScale Vitess

PlanetScale is growing rapidly and reinventing the database space. The PlanetScale platform offers both Postgres and Vitess clusters. Vitess, an open-source database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL, enables businesses to efficiently handle large-scale data workloads — without sacrificing developer experience.

Our customers entrust us with what is often their most precious digital asset, their data, so the stakes couldn't be higher. We're looking for a Software Engineer to join our core engineering team and help us build the next generation of database infrastructure.

What's the job to be done?

• You will design and build critical systems that power PlanetScale's database platform, serving millions of queries per second for some of the world's largest applications.
• You will collaborate with a team of expert engineers to solve complex distributed systems challenges.
• You will work independently to solve engineering and business problems with little direction and high autonomy.
• You will work directly with customers to understand their needs and translate them into robust technical solutions.

These attributes best describe you…

• You are passionate about building high-quality, scalable systems and take pride in writing clean, maintainable code.
• You have strong experience with distributed systems, databases, and performance optimization.
• You are comfortable working with large codebases and can quickly understand and contribute to complex systems.
• You thrive in a collaborative environment and enjoy mentoring junior engineers.
• You have excellent problem-solving skills and can debug complex issues across multiple systems.
• You are self-motivated and can work independently with minimal guidance while making sound technical decisions.

What you will need

• 5+ years of software engineering experience with a focus on backend systems
• Strong proficiency in Go, with experience in other languages like Python, Java, or C++
• Experience with MySQL or other relational databases
• Working knowledge of Kubernetes and containerized applications
• Experience building and operating distributed systems at scale

What else will help you be successful

• Experience with database internals, query optimization, or distributed consensus algorithms
• Contributions to open-source projects, especially in the database or infrastructure space
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Knowledge of monitoring, observability, and debugging tools
• Previous experience at a high-growth technology company

Why PlanetScale

We're redefining how high-growth companies manage data at scale—and we work with some of the most exciting brands in gaming, consumer tech, and B2B SaaS. As a Software Engineer, you'll be at the core of building the platform that powers world-class apps used by hundreds of millions of users worldwide. PlanetScale is a profitable company with a philosophy centered around building small teams of p99 individuals and is recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in America.

Base salary range: $120,000 - $290,000 USD