Principal Engineer - Distributed Systems & Databases

Why You'll Love This Job

We are seeking an experienced Principal Engineer to join our dynamic, growing team. In this role, you will be instrumental in designing, building, and operating high-availability distributed systems and data infrastructure. You will leverage your deep technical expertise and leadership experience to drive technical excellence, mentor a team of talented engineers, and collaborate across functions to deliver cutting-edge data platform solutions and customer-facing applications.

Impacting Geopolitics with Groundbreaking OSINT, AI, and Data Science

At Datenna, we merge China expertise with groundbreaking technology, creating a unique software platform that empowers governments with unparalleled insights into China's techno-economic landscape. We are a growing tech scale-up, dedicated to driving innovation with our dynamic and international team.

Our world-unique OSINT engine gathers and consolidates information from various open sources, offering the most accurate representation of reality while maintaining complete data lineage, traceability, and explainability of the results. This unlocks mission-critical insights for our customers via our interactive SaaS platform.

Your Mission at Datenna

• Deliver: Design and implement scalable, reliable, and high-performance distributed systems and database solutions (SQL and NoSQL).
• Lead: Provide technical direction, mentorship, and guidance to a team of engineers, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
• Own: Take ownership of the entire systems development lifecycle, from requirements gathering and design to deployment and stable operation.
• Collaborate: Work closely with cross-functional teams including product management, operations, and other engineering teams to ensure seamless integration and alignment of goals.
• Innovate: Stay abreast of the latest industry trends and technologies, and drive the creativity and the responsible adoption of new techniques.
• Optimize: Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks in existing systems, ensuring optimal efficiency and reliability.

What Makes You a Great Candidate

• Technical Expertise: 8+ years of experience in software engineering with a strong focus on building and operating high-scale distributed systems and databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, Neo4J, MongoDB).
• Leadership: Proven track record of technical leadership in a startup or high-growth environment, with experience leading and mentoring engineering teams.
• Programming Languages: Proficiency in one or more programming languages with recent experience in Python and Go. Experience with FastAPI and Django.
• Architectural Skills: Deep understanding of distributed systems architecture, including consistency models, data structures, and fault-tolerant design.
• Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a keen attention to detail.
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to a variety of audiences.
• Agile Methodologies: Experience with Agile/Scrum methodologies and DevOps practices.
• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.