Senior Software Engineer - ClickHouse

We’re a global team of over 400+ people, working together to push the boundaries of open-source technology and multi-cloud solutions. Our vision is to help developers, builders, and creators bring their ideas to life with speed and simplicity, by providing a cloud data platform that makes open-source databases, search, streaming, and application infrastructure easily accessible to everyone.

The Role

We're looking for a Senior or Staff Backend Engineer to anchor our small, focused ClickHouse team. You'll own hard technical problems end to end on the platform behind our managed ClickHouse service - from database internals and backup/restore correctness to the data engineering tooling that connects ClickHouse to the wider ecosystem.

This is a role with real technical ownership. You'll write RFCs and design documents that change how we build, scope and lead multi-quarter initiatives, and influence the product roadmap for ClickHouse and its ecosystem - streaming ingestion, CDC, benchmarking, and analytics tooling. You'll also mentor the engineers around you and raise the bar for how the team works.

We expect you to be equally comfortable designing a new architecture and diving into a production incident - reading ClickHouse source code, untangling a replication race condition, or root-causing a flaky distributed test.

What You'll Do

• Design and lead major platform initiatives: think coordination-service migrations (ZooKeeper → ClickHouse Keeper), backup/restore architecture, cluster topology, sharding, and node lifecycle management
• Build data engineering tooling around ClickHouse - streaming ingestion pipelines (Kafka → ClickHouse, Postgres → ClickHouse), schema conversion and evolution, integration frameworks, and fault-isolation between data sources
• Own the ClickHouse version lifecycle: qualify new LTS releases, diagnose upstream regressions, and take releases from early availability to GA
• Debug deep into the stack - ClickHouse internals (replication, access control, MergeTree, materialized views), distributed coordination, object storage (S3/GCS/Azure), DNS and networking, TLS
• Write RFCs and drive architectural decisions that extend beyond the team, including security and infrastructure changes
• Influence the roadmap: scope epics, break down initiatives into deliverable work, and shape what the team builds next - including commercial aspects like plans, sizing, and capacity
• Mentor engineers on the team through design reviews, code reviews, and pairing - multiply the team, don't just add to it
• Keep the lights on with pride: production incident response, observability improvements, CI performance, and test reliability are part of the craft

What We're Looking For

Must have:

• Expert Python development skills - you write clean, production-grade async Python and have architected substantial systems with it, including decomposing large codebases into well-factored components
• ClickHouse experience - operating it at scale, query optimization, or upstream contributions
• C++ - ability to read and contribute to database engine code
• Deep database internals knowledge - replication, access control, storage engines, backup/restore semantics; you're comfortable reading database source code (ClickHouse is C++) to root-cause behavior
• Distributed systems depth - consensus/coordination services (ZooKeeper, Keeper), race conditions, cluster topology, and the failure modes of services running across nodes, AZs, and regions
• Data engineering experience - streaming pipelines, Kafka, schema management (Avro or similar), and the operational realities of moving data between systems reliably
• Strong Linux and cloud fundamentals - object storage (S3-compatible), networking/DNS, TLS/certificates, systemd-level debugging
• Track record of technical leadership - RFCs or design docs you've authored, multi-quarter initiatives you've scoped and led, engineers you've mentored
• Product sense – you can connect engineering decisions to customer impact, pricing, and roadmap priorities
• Experience with AI coding tools - you actively use AI-assisted development and help others get the most from it
• Fluent English – written and verbal

Nice to have:

• CDC and analytics ecosystem experience - Debezium-style pipelines, Iceberg, lakehouse formats
• Benchmarking and performance engineering - capacity planning, sizing methodology
• Security engineering exposure – certificate management, access-control models

Why This Role

• Real ownership. The team is small (you plus two engineers) - your designs, RFCs, and roadmap input directly determine what gets built.
• Genuine depth. Database internals, distributed coordination, streaming data pipelines, and backup correctness - not CRUD apps.
• Ecosystem scope. You shape not just the managed service but the data engineering tooling around ClickHouse - ingestion, CDC, benchmarking, integrations.
• Modern tooling. Strict type checking, automated formatting, security scanning, and AI-assisted development are the norm.
• Helsinki-based, hybrid. The team is in the office regularly; you'll work closely together.

Amazing! What’s next:

If you think Aiven is the place for you and that our Values align with yours, send us your resume and we’ll get in touch!

Global Benefits:

Our global benefits are designed to help you thrive and grow, personally and professionally:

• Participate in Aiven’s equity plan.
• Balance work and life with our hybrid work policy.
• Choose the equipment you need to set yourself up for success.
• Use your Professional Development Plan budget for learning opportunities.
• Receive holistic wellbeing support through our global Employee Assistance Program.
• Inquire about our Global Time Off Commitment (Parental and Sick Leave, as well as Personal Time)
• Enjoy country-specific benefits for our global cast.

How to Recognize and Avoid Employment Scams:

There has been a rise in fake job postings used by scammers to get personal information. At Aiven, all of our emails relating to recruitment come from an @aiven.io, @greenhouse.io or @eu.greenhouse.io domain and all of our interviews are conducted by video call or in person. Our interviews will never occur via text or chat. If you’re unsure of the legitimacy of a job opportunity/offer pertaining to Aiven, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at recruitment@aiven.io.

Equal Opportunities:

Aiven provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, marital and family status or without regard to any other similar personal attributes. Aiven complies with applicable local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company operates. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, training and any other terms and conditions related to employment.

At Aiven we are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities or special needs in our working environment and job application procedures. We make all reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities or who otherwise need support to thrive in the workplace. We are committed to continuously improving workplace accessibility. There is an option to request a discussion in the application process but if you have any questions before applying please write to us at recruitment@aiven.io.