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Staff Engineer

Sunnyvale, CA

At Yugabyte, we are on a mission to become the default transactional database for enterprises building cloud-native applications. YugabyteDB is our PostgreSQL-compatible distributed database for cloud-native apps. Resilient, scalable, and flexible, it runs on any cloud and enables developers to become instantly productive using well-known APIs.We are looking for talented and driven people to join us on our ambitious mission and help us build a lasting and impactful company.The transactional database market is estimated to grow to $64B by 2025. YugabyteDB is cloud-native by design, has on-demand horizontal scalability, and supports geographical distribution of data using built-in replication. This means that we are well-positioned to meet market demand for geo-distributed, high-scale, high-performance workloads.

Join the Database Revolution at Yugabyte.

Modern applications need a cloud-native database that eliminates tradeoffs and silos. YugabyteDB retains the power and familiarity of PostgreSQL by pairing its trusted API with a precision-engineered, distributed, cloud-native architecture. Even better, it’s 100% open source. Many of the world's leading enterprises are migrating from legacy RDBMSs (like Oracle, SQL Server, and DB2) to YugabyteDB, to meet their mission-critical app demands.

Staff Engineer – Distributed Storage & Transactions (DST)

Location: Sunnyvale, United States
Team: Distributed Storage Technologies (DST)
Position Level: Staff Engineer

About Yugabyte

About Yugabyte

At Yugabyte, we are on a mission to become the default transactional database for enterprises building cloud-native applications. YugabyteDB is our PostgreSQL compatible distributed database for cloud-native apps. Resilient, scalable, and flexible, it runs on any cloud and enables developers to become instantly productive using well-known APIs.We are looking for talented and driven people to join us on our ambitious mission and help us build a lasting and impactful company.The transactional database market is estimated to grow to $150B by 2030. YugabyteDB is cloud-native by design, has on-demand horizontal scalability, and supports geographical distribution of data using built-in replication. This means that we are well-positioned to meet market demand for geo-distributed, high-scale, high-performance workloads.

Yugabyte offers a culture of innovation, ownership, and technical excellence, with opportunities to impact a cutting-edge distributed SQL database used by global enterprises. As a member of the DST team, you’ll help meet growing demand for high-scale, high-performance, globally distributed transactional workloads — instrumental to our product’s success.

Role Overview

As a Staff Engineer on the Distributed Storage & Transactions (DST) team, you will play a critical role in designing, building, and scaling the core distributed storage, replication, and transaction foundations of YugabyteDB.

You will work on some of the most challenging problems in distributed systems — including consistency, durability, fault tolerance, performance, and scalability — while collaborating closely with query layer, platform, and cloud teams. This role is ideal for engineers who thrive in low-level systems work and want to shape the future of a globally distributed database.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead the design, development, testing, and delivery of core storage and replication features in YugabyteDB.
  • Write high-quality C/C++ code with comprehensive automated tests; actively participate in design discussions and code reviews.
  • Troubleshoot and resolve correctness, stability, and performance issues in complex distributed storage and transactional subsystems.
  • Improve database scalability and throughput as cluster sizes, data volumes, and transaction rates continue to grow.
  • Build and streamline database management operations, including:
    • Horizontal cluster scale-out
    • Incremental and point-in-time backups
    • Online schema and index operations
    • Rolling upgrades and blue-green deployments
  • Identify and implement performance improvements across the storage engine, transaction processing, and replication layers.
  • Contribute to the open-source YugabyteDB project, helping evolve its storage architecture and operational reliability.
  • Mentor and technically influence other engineers in distributed systems design, performance engineering, and systems-level debugging.

Required Qualifications

  • 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a strong foundation in systems programming using C/C++.
  • Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Computer Science (or related field), or equivalent practical experience.
  • Deep understanding of distributed systems fundamentals, including:
    • Replication and consensus
    • Transactions and consistency models
    • Fault tolerance and recovery
  • Experience working on storage engines, databases, or other infrastructure-level systems.
  • Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to operate effectively in a collaborative, distributed team environment

Preferred Skills

  • Hands-on experience with distributed storage systems, transactional engines, or consensus protocols.
  • Familiarity with LSM-tree based storage engines, WALs, snapshots, or compaction strategies.
  • Experience with PostgreSQL internals or other relational database engines is a strong plus.
  • Prior contributions to open-source systems or database projects.

We feel strongly about equal pay for equal work, and transparency in compensation is one way to help achieve that. The cash compensation for this role is market competitive, with a range of USD 150,000 - USD 250,000, inclusive of variable/incentive for some roles. As well as equity (when applicable), and benefits including health plans, retirement plans, and unlimited paid time off (PTO). The pay range for this position is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. The actual pay will vary based on factors including experience, qualifications, and skill level.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

As an equal opportunity employer, Yugabyte is committed to a diverse workforce. Employment decisions regarding recruitment and selection will be made without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, genetic information or characteristic, gender identity and expression, veteran status, or other non-job related characteristics or other prohibited grounds specified in applicable federal, state and local laws. 

#LI-Hybrid

Due to the Proclamation, “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers”, which went into effect on September 21, 2025, at this time we are no longer able to sponsor new H-1B visa petitions filed after September 21, 2025 for new hires. We are still able to consider candidates who require H-1B extensions, changes of employer, or other types of work authorization.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:
As an equal opportunity employer, Yugabyte is committed to a diverse workforce. Employment decisions regarding recruitment and selection will be made without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, genetic information or characteristic, gender identity and expression, veteran status, or other non-job related characteristics or other prohibited grounds specified in applicable federal, state and local laws. 
 
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