Systems PhD - Software Engineer
Posted by employer 7 months ago
First seen on Joblaze 6 months ago
Last verified on the company career page 1 day ago
Skills & Technologies
Requirements
- Education
- PhD
Not disclosed in this posting: years of experience, work arrangement, visa sponsorship.
Joblaze summary
In this role, the Systems PhD - Software Engineer at Databricks focuses on designing and implementing advanced database and storage systems, tackling challenges like query optimization and distributed execution. Candidates should possess a PhD in databases or systems, along with a strong passion for performance optimization and customer impact. This position is ideal for experienced professionals eager to contribute to cutting-edge technology in a rapidly growing company known for its innovative data solutions.
Joblaze insights
- Listed about 6 months ago — first seen on Joblaze April 14, 2026. Last confirmed on Databricks's careers page October 28, 2026.
- This exact title is also open at 1 other location at Databricks: Mountain View, California; San Francisco, California.
- Salary band is in line with the typical range for comparable tech roles (median ~$128,000).
- Starts above 14% of 92 comparable staff other roles in United States we track (median $173,000 across 38 companies).
- distributed systems appears in 0.4% of 278 comparable staff other roles in United States; performance optimization appears in 0.4% of 278 comparable staff other roles in United States.
Quick facts
- What's the salary range?
- Databricks lists $140,000–$180,000 for this role.
- What's the tech stack?
- Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: databases, distributed systems, performance 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 Systems PhD - Software Engineer role at Databricks.
From the original posting
P-1299
Databricks is radically simplifying the entire data lifecycle, from ingestion to generative AI and everything in-between. We’re doing it cross-cloud with a unified platform, currently serving over 10k customers, processing exabytes of data/day on 15+ million VMs, and growing exponentially.
To make it happen we’re building multi-cloud systems at every corner of the data ecosystem, from query engines, vector databases, training pipelines, and storage systems, down to the infrastructure that allows them to scale like auto-sharders, caches, and load balancers, just to name a few. We also build and support the tooling, languages, and stacks that bring it together. Basically, we do it all.
The space we work in and the problems we solve are massive, complex, and very deep (our published work on Lakehouse, Delta lake, and Photon are a testament to that). We’re looking for practitioners who are eager to work with the best in industry to push the boundaries of what’s possible for our customers. If you’re truth seeking, data driven, and love to operate from first principles (head fake: our core values), then Databricks is the place for you.
As a part of the Database Engine team, there are opportunities to design and implement in many areas that leapfrog existing state-of-the-art systems:
- Query compilation & optimization
- Distributed query execution and scheduling
- Vectorized engine execution
- Data security
- Resource Management
- Transaction coordination
- Efficient storage structures (encoding, indexes)
- Automatic physical data optimization
What we look for:
- PhD in databases or systems
- A passion for database systems, storage systems, distributed systems, language design, and/or performance optimization
- Motivated by delivering customer value and impact
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.
About Databricks
BenefitsStandard company text repeated across Databricks's postings is omitted here.