Senior Software Engineer, Distributed Data Systems

Clera

$200K — $350K *
Information Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 4+ years of experience in data systems or backend engineering with a focus on data infrastructure.
  • Hands-on experience with OLAP lakehouse architecture, specifically in query and join optimization.
  • Proficiency in Haskell and/or TypeScript.
  • Experience building distributed data systems or big data platforms like Apache Spark or Hadoop.
  • Demonstrated ability in designing and implementing components of distributed systems.
  • Familiarity with database management including schema design and query execution optimization.
  • Strong understanding of algorithms and data structures with practical applications.

Responsibilities

  • Design and create core components of a new distributed OLAP lakehouse platform.
  • Enhance query performance through join optimization and tailored execution strategies.
  • Collaborate with teams across all layers to implement comprehensive data platform functionality.
  • Deliver reliable, scalable data infrastructure for enterprise analytics.
  • Contribute to product development from concept to reality in a fast-paced startup environment.

Benefits

  • Equity participation in a well-funded early-stage company.
  • All interview travel expenses covered.
  • Rapid hiring process, with decisions typically made within 72 hours after onsite interviews.
Full Job Description
About the Role

This is a Senior Software Engineer, Distributed Data Systems role at a seed-stage AI-native enterprise analytics startup based in New York City. The company is building an agentic data lakehouse - a next-generation data platform designed to turn messy enterprise data into trustworthy, queryable answers at scale. Backed by notable institutional investors and serving large-scale enterprise customers across healthcare, financial services, and Fortune 100 companies, the team is roughly 40 people and growing fast.

You'll join at a pivotal moment to work on a greenfield OLAP lakehouse project - building foundational data infrastructure for the agentic era, where autonomous agents will drive the vast majority of queries. If you find yourself genuinely excited by JOIN order optimization or have ever implemented a query optimizer for fun, this role was written for you.

Visa sponsorship is available.
What You'll Do
  • Design and build core components of a greenfield distributed OLAP lakehouse platform from the ground up.
  • Drive query performance improvements, including join optimization and query execution strategies suited to agent-driven workloads.
  • Collaborate across infrastructure, backend services, and frontend layers to deliver end-to-end data platform features.
  • Ship reliable, scalable data infrastructure that supports enterprise-grade analytics at scale.
  • Contribute to zero-to-one product development in a fast-moving, early-stage environment.
What We're Looking For

Required:
  • 4+ years of experience as a data systems, backend, infrastructure, or platform engineer with a focus on building or delivering data infrastructure.
  • Hands-on experience with OLAP lakehouse or data lakehouse architecture, including query optimization and join optimization.
  • Proficiency in Haskell and/or TypeScript (the team's primary tech stack).
  • Experience building and shipping distributed data systems or big data platforms (e.g., Apache Spark, Hadoop).
  • Demonstrated experience designing and implementing distributed systems components.
  • Experience working with databases - including schema design, indexing, and query execution.
  • Strong foundation in algorithms and data structures with real-world application.
  • Experience shipping products from zero to one in a startup or early-stage environment, ideally VC-backed.

Nice to Have:
  • Comfort working across multiple system layers: infrastructure, backend services, and frontend.
  • Prior experience at a VC-backed startup.
  • Background at companies operating in AI/ML, data engineering, or analytics infrastructure (e.g., companies like Databricks, ThoughtSpot, Hex, or similar).
Compensation & Benefits
  • Salary: $200,000 - $350,000 USD annually, depending on experience.
  • Equity participation in a well-funded early-stage company.
  • Interview travel covered; hiring decisions made quickly (within ~72 hours of onsite interviews).
Location

This role is on-site in New York City. Candidates should be based in NYC or willing to relocate. Remote work is not available for this position.

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