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Software Engineer - Postgres Internals

PlanetScale
Backend Developer • Remote • Full-time • 📍 Remote (US)
📄 View original listing (EN)

PostgreSQL Core Engineer at PlanetScale, spending most time contributing upstream to the PostgreSQL core engine and maintaining the Postgres extensions (both open-source community projects and PlanetScale's proprietary extensions) that power the company's Postgres offering. Fully remote (US). Base salary range $120,000 - $290,000.

Stack

GitGitHubLinuxMySQLPostgreSQL

Responsibilities

  • ▹Author and review patches to the PostgreSQL core engine: performance, features, bug fixes and security, landed through the pgsql-hackers mailing list and the Commitfest process
  • ▹Maintain Postgres extensions, both open-source and proprietary, including feature work, bug fixes, performance tuning and major-version compatibility
  • ▹Review community patches with rigor on correctness, stability and PostgreSQL coding conventions
  • ▹Engage the PostgreSQL community in design discussions, the five annual Commitfests, and conferences
  • ▹Root-cause Postgres issues affecting PlanetScale customers and turn fixes into upstream patches when applicable
  • ▹Improve documentation for PostgreSQL and the extensions as part of every change

Requirements

  • ▹Strong C programming skills in large, established codebases
  • ▹Deep knowledge of PostgreSQL internals: MVCC, query planner/executor, WAL, vacuum, replication, memory contexts
  • ▹Demonstrated open-source contributions to PostgreSQL or comparable database projects (accepted patches, reviews, or extensions)
  • ▹Fluency with Git and the PostgreSQL patch workflow
  • ▹Comfortable in Linux/BSD development environments; able to profile and benchmark database workloads

Nice to have

  • ▹PostgreSQL contribution history
  • ▹Experience authoring or maintaining a Postgres extension end-to-end (e.g. pgvector, pg_stat_statements, PostGIS)
  • ▹Background in distributed systems, storage engines, or query optimization
  • ▹Public talks, papers, or blog posts in the Postgres ecosystem

Soft skills

Deep understanding of evolving PostgreSQL responsibly, both upstream and through extensionsStrong opinions on what makes a change land cleanly versus stall in reviewEnjoys wearing many hats and working on diverse problems across the stackShips quickly and iterates based on feedbackCollaborates effectively with engineers in different domainsMakes pragmatic technical decisions and works independently with minimal direction

What we offer

  • ▹Base salary range $120,000 - $290,000 USD
  • ▹Total compensation: base salary + variable comp where appropriate + benefits + equity