Senior Software Engineer, Query Optimization
Overview:
Join the MongoDB Server Query Optimization team to help build a world-class distributed query optimizer. You will influence the lifecycles of queries, from parsing to plan selection, and work on a flexible-schema document database. The role blends research, architecture, and hands-on implementation to improve performance for transactional, time-series, and analytical workloads. You'll collaborate across teams and mentor others while driving architectural decisions for the next major version. Compensation / Benefitsequityemployee stock purchase programflexible paid time off20 weeks fully-paid parental leavefertility and adoption assistance 401(k) plan
Responsibilities:
- Innovate in flexible-schema database design and contribute to a premier query optimization system
- Architect and lead features related to query performance, diagnostics, and language enhancements
- Set initiative-level strategy, roadmaps, and guide cross-team execution
- Review designs, code, and mentor teammates; participate in design reviews and knowledge sharing
- Coordinate with client drivers, cloud services, enterprise tools, support, and marketing to align changes
- Identify, implement, test, and support new features in query optimization and execution components
- Research state-of-the-art query systems to inform design decisions
- Advise management on roadmap decisions and architectural designs
- Collaborate with engineers to coordinate large, feature-rich codebase changes
- Contribute to the long-term technical roadmap of the MongoDB Query team
Key requirements:
- 10+ years of experience in data management systems, distributed systems, or large-scale backend engineering
- Experience with building production-level code with a large user base and robust design
- Strong competencies in data structures, algorithms, and software design/architecture
- Experience with C++ or another systems programming language
- Ability to trace defects, estimate complexity, and design evolution/ integration strategies
- Strong foundation in core database internals
- Experience with query optimization is a plus but not required
- Background in compilers, language transpilers, or distributed storage systems is beneficialmentoring and coachingleadership by examplecross-team collaborationC++ or systems programming languagedistributed systemscore database internals