Software Engineer – Sharded Postgres

PlanetScale

Software Engineer building the next generation database infrastructure for PlanetScale with focus on their sharded PostgreSQL product. Collaborating with expert engineers and designing critical systems.

Posted 5/20/2026full-timeRemote • California • 🇺🇸 United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $120,000 - $290,000 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudDistributed SystemsGoGoogle Cloud PlatformMySQLPostgresPython

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

You will work on building the best solution for sharded Postgres, a project we're calling Neki: https://www.neki.dev/
You will design and build critical systems that power PlanetScale's database platform, serving millions of queries per second for some of the world's largest applications.
You will collaborate with a team of expert engineers to solve complex distributed systems challenges.
You will work independently to solve engineering and business problems with little direction and high autonomy.
You will work directly with customers to understand their needs and translate them into robust technical solutions.

Requirements

What you’ll need

5+ years of software engineering experience with a focus on backend systems
Strong proficiency in Go, with experience in other languages like Python or C++
Experience with not just operating, but developing PostgreSQL, MySQL or other databases
Experience building and operating distributed systems at scale
Experience with database internals, query optimization, or distributed consensus algorithms
Contributions to open-source projects, especially in the database or infrastructure space
Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
Knowledge of monitoring, observability, and debugging tools
Previous experience at a high-growth technology company.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Flexible work arrangements
Professional development opportunities
Paid time off
Wellness programs

ATS Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

GoPythonC++PostgreSQLMySQLdistributed systemsdatabase internalsquery optimizationdistributed consensus algorithmsopen-source contributions

Soft Skills

collaborationproblem-solvingindependencecustomer engagementcommunication