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Senior Software Engineer, Distributed Data Systems
Clera
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About this role
ABOUT THE ROLE
Join a fast-moving, NYC-based AI-native data infrastructure company that is building the next generation of agentic analytics. This is a greenfield opportunity to architect and build a scalable OLAP lakehouse platform that turns messy enterprise data into trustworthy, actionable answers — at scale, for some of the most data-intensive organizations in the world.
As a Senior Software Engineer on the Distributed Data Systems team, you'll own core platform components end-to-end, with a particular focus on query performance and join optimization. If you get genuinely excited about JOIN order optimization or have ever implemented a query optimizer for fun, this role was written for you.
The company is well-funded (Series A/B stage) and backed by notable strategic investors. Hiring decisions can be made within 72 hours of an onsite interview, and interview travel is covered.
Visa sponsorship is available.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Work on a greenfield OLAP lakehouse project, building the data platform for the agentic era — where AI agents drive the vast majority of queries.
- Design and implement distributed data system components with a strong focus on join optimization and query performance.
- Collaborate fluidly across infrastructure, services, and frontend to deliver end-to-end data platform features.
- Ship reliable, scalable data infrastructure that powers enterprise-grade analytics at scale.
- Contribute from zero to one — this is early-stage, high-ownership work.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
Required:
- 4+ years of experience as a data systems, backend, infrastructure, or platform engineer.
- Proficiency in Haskell and/or TypeScript (the core tech stack).
- Strong data focus — you think deeply about data quality, correctness, and performance.
- Experience building products from zero to one; prior startup experience (ideally VC-backed) strongly preferred.
- Experience with distributed systems.
- Experience with big data systems (Apache Spark, Hadoop).
- Experience with databases (relational, columnar, or otherwise).
- Strong foundation in algorithms and data structures and their real-world applications.
- Experience with OLAP lakehouse / data lakehouse architecture and query optimization.
Nice to Have:
- Comfortable diving into any layer of the stack — infrastructure, services, or frontend.
- Passion for building robust, scalable, and easy-to-use systems.
- Background at companies working on data platforms, query engines, or AI/ML infrastructure.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
- Salary: $200,000 – $350,000 USD annually (based on experience)
- Equity participation in a well-funded, high-growth startup
- Interview travel covered for onsite candidates
- Visa sponsorship available
LOCATION
This role is on-site in New York, NY. Candidates should be based in NYC or willing to relocate. This is not a remote role.
Salary insight
The midpoint of this range ($275k) is about 57% above the median disclosed salary for New York roles listed on ForgeApply ($175k across 4,611 jobs).
See full Software Engineer salary data for New York →
Based on live postings with disclosed pay on ForgeApply; refreshed daily. Not an estimate of this employer's offer.
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