Senior Query Engines & Database Internals (USD 5-6K/month CONTRACTOR)

We’re looking for a Senior/Staff-level engineer with deep experience in database internals, query engines, and data infrastructure to join a highly technical team working on next-generation data systems. This is not a typical backend engineering role. We’re specifically looking for someone who understands how query engines work under the hood — including query planning, execution, data formats, routing, optimization, and performance.If you’ve contributed to projects such as DuckDB, ClickHouse, Trino, DataFusion, Apache Arrow, Calcite, Databricks, Snowflake, SingleStore, Firebolt, Dremio, Materialize, Databend, or similar systems, we’d love to hear from you.What you’ll work onBuild and evolve database/query engine infrastructureWork on API proxies, protocol emulators, and query routing layersDesign systems for query routing, offloading, and executionWork with vectorized query execution and performance optimizationDevelop and optimize query planning and execution componentsWork with modern analytical data formats and table formatsAnalyze and improve query cost, scan estimation, and execution performanceWork with SQL parsing, transformation, optimization, and transpilationContribute to open-source data infrastructure and potentially upstream improvementsTechnologies & ConceptsWe’re particularly interested in experience with:Apache ArrowApache DataFusionApache Iceberg / Delta LakeSubstraitApache CalciteSQLGlotVectorized executionQuery routing / query offloadingCost estimation / scan estimationDatabase and query engine internalsAPI proxies and protocol emulationWhat we’re looking forStrong software engineering background, ideally in Rust, C++, Java, or GoDeep understanding of database internals and query executionExperience building or contributing to query engines, data platforms, or database infrastructureStrong understanding of SQL parsing, query planning, optimization, or executionExperience working on high-performance data systemsAbility to reason about complex systems and performance bottlenecksStrong English communication skillsHuge plusWe would be particularly excited to meet:OSS contributors or committers to query engines or data infrastructure projectsEngineers from companies such as DuckDB, ClickHouse, Trino/Starburst, Databricks, Snowflake, SingleStore, Firebolt, Databend, Materialize, Dremio, InfluxData, or similar companiesEngineers who have built database proxies, emulators, query routers, or compatibility layersEngineers who have worked directly on query execution engines or database internalsWhy this role is differentWe’re looking for someone who can go beyond using databases and data tools — someone who understands how the engine itself works.If terms like DataFusion, Substrait, vectorized execution, query planning, Apache Arrow, or cost-based optimization immediately resonate with you, this could be a great fit.