Senior Principal Engineer, Core Database Technology

Aerospike is the real-time database for mission-critical use cases and workloads, including machine learning, generative, and agentic AI. Aerospike powers millions of transactions per second with millisecond latency, at a fraction of the total cost of ownership compared to other databases. Global leaders, including Adobe, Airtel, Barclays, Criteo, DBS Bank, Experian, Grab, HDFC Bank, PayPal, Sony Interactive Entertainment, The Trade Desk, and Wayfair, rely on Aerospike for customer 360, fraud detection, real-time bidding, profile stores, recommendation engines, and other use cases. 

 At Aerospike, we dream big and deliver even bigger. Our mission is to unleash the power of the world’s real-time data with a database built for infinite scale, speed, and sustainability.

To foster strong team alignment and productivity, Bay Area–based team members are expected to work from the office 2–3 times per week—typically Tuesday through Thursday.

If you're ready to shape the future of data, join us.

Role Overview

We are seeking an exceptional Senior Principal Engineer to join our Core Database Technology team, reporting directly to the VP. This role demands deep expertise in distributed systems, database internals, cloud architecture, and performance optimization. You will shape the technical vision and direction for our server, client, tools, and connector teams, driving innovation in high-performance, low-latency data systems comparable to DynamoDB, Redis, ElastiCache, Aurora, MongoDB, ScyllaDB, or Cassandra. As a technical leader, you will mentor engineers, influence cross-functional stakeholders, and deliver measurable impact on Aerospike’s platform.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with the VP to define and execute the long-term technical vision and strategy for Aerospike’s core database platform, focusing on scalability, performance, and reliability.

• Extending Aerospike reach to cloud deployment and taking advantage of the unique characteristics of the different cloud environments where Aerospike will be deployed.

• Provide architectural leadership across server, client, tools, and connector teams, ensuring alignment with business objectives and customer needs.

• Design and implement performance-critical components in C, optimizing for scalability, fault tolerance, replication, and low-overhead observability in distributed systems.

• Drive measurable outcomes, such as improvements in latency, throughput, or cost efficiency, through performance tuning and innovative system designs.

• Drive improvements in builder and operator experience through programming model and query language innovation.

• Lead through influence, driving consensus on technical decisions across diverse teams, resolving conflicts, and aligning priorities to deliver robust solutions.

• Collaborate with product, business, and customer-facing teams to align technical solutions with market demands and enterprise requirements.

• Mentor and develop engineering talent, fostering a collaborative, high-quality culture inspired by open-source principles.

• Conduct deep dives into database internals, including storage engines, indexing, query processing, consistency models, and cluster lifecycle management (e.g., creation, upgrades, recovery).

• Evaluate and integrate emerging technologies in distributed systems and NoSQL databases to enhance platform capabilities.

• Contribute to industry thought leadership, potentially through open-source projects, publications, or standards in database technologies.

Required Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in software engineering, with a focus on distributed systems and high-performance database technologies.

• Expert-level proficiency in C programming, including low-level systems development, optimization, and debugging in performance-critical environments.

• Proven track record as a technical leader (e.g., Principal Engineer or equivalent), with experience setting architectural direction and influencing multiple teams.

• Deep expertise in database internals, such as storage engines, query optimization, indexing, replication, and fault-tolerant designs.

• Strong understanding of distributed systems principles, including consistency models (e.g., CAP theorem), partitioning, sharding, and observability in clustered setups.

• Experience delivering measurable performance improvements in collaborative, agile environments.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with cloud-native database services or open-source distributed databases.

• Contributions to open-source database projects or involvement in standards bodies.

• Proficiency in additional languages like C++, Go, or Java for backend systems.

• Expertise in tools for cluster management, automation, and observability (e.g., Prometheus, Kubernetes integrations).

• Ability to balance independent innovation with cross-team collaboration in fast-paced environments.

• Master’s or Doctoral degree in database and/or distributed systems.

Aerospike is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing an environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. Join us at Aerospike and be part of a dynamic team that is shaping the future of data management. Salary Range for California Based Applicants: [$225,000- $300,000] (actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law)