Joblaze summary

In this role, the Staff Software Engineer focuses on designing and implementing advanced database systems that enhance query performance and support diverse workloads. Key skills include expertise in query optimization, distributed systems, and performance tuning, with a preference for candidates holding over eight years of relevant experience. This position is ideal for seasoned professionals passionate about database architecture and looking to contribute to a transformative vision in data management. Databricks, known for its innovative Lakehouse architecture, fosters a collaborative environment aimed at simplifying the data lifecycle.

Joblaze insights

Listed about 6 months ago — first seen on Joblaze April 14, 2026. Last confirmed on Databricks's careers page October 27, 2026.
This exact title is also open at 2 other locations at Databricks: San Francisco, California, Belgrade, Serbia.
Salary band is in line with the typical range for Backend roles (median ~$180,000).
Starts above 58% of 26 comparable staff backend roles in United States that list distributed systems we track (median $189,500 across 14 companies). See distributed systems salary trends
distributed systems appears in 11% of 308 comparable staff backend roles in United States; Lakehouse appears in 0.3% of 308 comparable staff backend roles in United States.

Quick facts

What's the salary range?: Databricks lists $192,000–$260,000 for this role.
How much experience is required?: At least 8 years of relevant experience for this Staff Software Engineer - Database Engine Internals role.
What's the tech stack?: Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: Apache Spark, Data Security, Data Warehousing, Database Systems, Lakehouse, Query Optimization.
What seniority level is this role?: Databricks targets staff-level candidates for this position.
Is this full-time or contract?: Full-time for this Staff Software Engineer - Database Engine Internals role at Databricks.

From the original posting

P-188

Our mission at Databricks is to radically simplify the whole data lifecycle from ingestion to ETL, BI, and all the way up to ML/AI with a unified platform. To achieve this goal, we believe the data warehouse architecture as we know it today will be replaced by a new architectural pattern, Lakehouse (CIDR 2021 paper), open platforms that unify data warehousing and advanced analytics. The new architecture will help address several major challenges, including data staleness, reliability, total cost of ownership, data lock-in, and limited use-case support.

A critical part of realizing this vision is the next generation (decoupled) query engine and structured storage system that can outperform specialized data warehouses in relational query performance, yet retain the expressiveness and of general purpose systems such as Apache Spark™ to support diverse workloads ranging from ETL to data science.

As part of this team, you will be working in one or more of the following areas to design and implement these next gen systems that leapfrog state-of-the-art:

Query compilation and optimization
Distributed query execution and scheduling
Vectorized execution engine
Data security
Resource management
Transaction coordination
Efficient storage structures (encodings, indexes)
Automatic physical data optimization

What we look for:

A passion for database systems, storage systems, distributed systems, language design, or performance optimization
Experience working towards a multi-year vision with incremental deliverables
Motivated by delivering customer value and impact
8+ years of experience working in a related system (preferred)
Optional: PhD in databases or distributed systems

Pay Range Transparency

Databricks is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents the expected salary range for non-commissionable roles or on-target earnings for commissionable roles. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to job-related skills, depth of experience, relevant certifications and training, and specific work location. Based on the factors above, Databricks anticipates utilizing the full width of the range. The total compensation package for this position may also include eligibility for annual performance bonus, equity, and the benefits listed above. For more information regarding which range your location is in visit our page here.

Local Pay Range

$192,000—$260,000 USD

About Databricks

Benefits

Standard company text repeated across Databricks's postings is omitted here.

Staff Software Engineer - Database Engine Internals

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