Senior Open Source Engineer
About LanceDB
LanceDB is a developer-friendly, open-source database for multimodal AI. From hyper-scalable vector search to advanced retrieval for RAG, from streaming training data to interactive exploration of large-scale AI datasets, LanceDB is the best foundation for your AI application, and powers some of the most groundbreaking applications and challenging requirements today.
About the Role
We’re looking for a Senior Open Source Engineer to help expand the reach of Lance and LanceDB within the broader data infrastructure ecosystem. You’ll work at the intersection of high-performance computing, big data, and open-source systems—driving integrations, improving distributed operations, and contributing to projects across the Apache and AI communities.
You’ll be responsible for
Driving open-source community efforts to integrate the Lance format with Spark, Hive Metastore, Presto, Trino, Ray, and other data infrastructure systems
Designing and maintaining efficient distributed Lance dataset operations
Building efficient indices to enable predicate pushdown and accelerate queries in Spark, Ray, or Trino
Working on table formats, data encodings, and various aspects of the Lance format in Rust
Operating and improving internal data processing infrastructure
Promoting the Lance format in open-source communities and at Big Data conferences
Requirements
10+ years of experience building high-performance databases, big data systems, or large-scale data services
Deep understanding of internals of open-source Big Data or AI training systems (e.g., Hadoop, Spark, Flink, Ray, Iceberg, Delta Lake, Hudi, ClickHouse, Trino, Presto, PyTorch, or JAX)
Strong experience with high-performance computing in Java or Scala
Experience with Rust (or willingness to learn it)
Proven ability to move fast, work independently, and collaborate with a high-caliber team
Nice to Have
Contributor, committer, or PMC member in Apache or other large open-source projects
Experience with Java, Rust, C++, Apache Arrow, DataFusion, Parquet, Iceberg, or Delta Lake
Track record of driving large features or integrations in distributed systems
Strong community presence and passion for open-source collaboration
What We Offer
A key role shaping an open-source project with real production usage
Remote-first team with flexible hours
Competitive compensation, equity, and benefits
Generous learning budget and support for open-source contributions
Why Join Us
You’ll join a world-class team of open-source builders (co-authors of pandas, and contributors to HDFS, Arrow, Iceberg, and HBase) working on cutting-edge AI infrastructure. You’ll collaborate on systems that power next-generation AI workloads while shaping how LanceDB operates and scales production environments.