Senior/Lead Software Engineer, Database System - Rippling

PhoenixAI is the Agentic AI Database, purpose-built to give autonomous AI agents sub-second access to live enterprise data at massive scale. The platform unifies real-time and at-rest data in a single AI-native engine, combining the speed and concurrency that agentic workloads demand with the governance and deployment flexibility enterprises require to put AI into production. Formerly known as CelerData, PhoenixAI is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Learn more at phoenixdata.ai

Job Overview

We’re looking for talented Software Engineers to join our team and help drive the development of StarRocks, our high-performance SQL engine purpose-built for composable lakehouses. If you are passionate about developing advanced database systems and enjoy solving challenging technical problems in a collaborative, open-source-oriented environment, we invite you to join our team at PhoenixAI and help shape the future of data analytics.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, enhance, and maintain the StarRocks database system, ensuring it meets rigorous performance and reliability standards.
• Implement advanced software features and technology enhancements to keep StarRocks at the forefront as a SQL engine for composable lakehouses.
• Deliver robust, scalable code that meets the demanding technical requirements of major enterprise clients.
• Analyze and address challenges related to fault tolerance, high availability, performance, and scalability.
• Collaborate with external contributors from the open-source community to integrate improvements and ensure that our technology remains cutting-edge and comprehensive.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience in developing commercial or open-source software applications.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related fields is required (Master’s or PhD preferred).
• Advanced proficiency in C++ and Java, with a proven track record in designing and implementing complex functionalities in performance-critical environments.
• Experience with large-scale distributed systems, including transaction management and consistency models.
• Evidence of active participation in open-source projects or a deep understanding of technologies such as StarRocks, Apache Iceberg, Parquet, Spark, Trino, or similar big data solutions.
• Please note that this role is remote friendly to senior+ candidates.

The base salary for this role is projected at $160,000 - $240,000 annually , plus eligibility for PhoenixAI's bonus and equity programs.