Staff Software Engineer - Query Planner & Reflections

Be Part of Building the Future

Dremio is the unified lakehouse platform for self-service analytics and AI, serving hundreds of global enterprises, including Maersk, Amazon, Regeneron, NetApp, and S&P Global. Customers rely on Dremio for cloud, hybrid, and on-prem lakehouses to power their data mesh, data warehouse migration, data virtualization, and unified data access use cases. Based on open source technologies, including Apache Iceberg and Apache Arrow, Dremio provides an open lakehouse architecture enabling the fastest time to insight and platform flexibility at a fraction of the cost. Learn more at www.dremio.com.

About the role

Dremio's Query Planner & Reflections (QPR) team owns the SQL planner and optimizer — built on Apache Calcite — and the reflections substitution engine that transparently rewrites queries to hit pre-computed materializations instead of raw source data. As a Staff Software Engineer, you'll set technical direction for this system: driving ambiguous, cross-team initiatives, raising the bar through design and code review, and helping other engineers.

What you'll be doing

• Set architecture and technical direction for the Query Planner and Reflections team spanning next-generation features across OSS, Enterprise, and Cloud editions.
• Own design, implementation, and delivery of complex initiatives that cross team boundaries (Query Execution, Catalog, Datalake).
• Work deeply with Apache Calcite and Apache Iceberg, including driving contributions upstream where it benefits Dremio.
• Diagnose the hardest correctness and performance issues in query planning and reflection matching using query profiles, telemetry, and production data.
• Use AI-assisted development tools for code comprehension, debugging, test generation, documentation, and incident analysis, and apply engineering judgment to validate AI-generated code through review, testing, and benchmarking.
• Design architectures that run correctly across deployment models and public clouds.
• Participate in design and code reviews and set technical standards for the team.
• Partner with Product on multi-quarter roadmap decisions and with Support and field teams on the highest-impact customer issues.

What we're looking for

• B.S./M.S/Equivalent in Computer Science or a related technical field or equivalent experience
• 8-10+ years of experience developing production-level software.
• Fluency in Java/C++ is a plus.
• Deep understanding of query planning and optimization: cost-based optimizers, rule-based rewriting, ideally hands-on with Apache Calcite or a similar framework.
• Strong database fundamentals: SQL, performance, schema design.
• Track record of driving system-level architecture decisions and leading complex, cross-team initiatives.
• Setting technical direction for the team or major component.
• Ability to evaluate tradeoffs and make sound decisions when working with unfamiliar or AI-assisted implementations.
• Ability to navigate ambiguous, cross-org problems independently; strong communication skills.
• Understanding of distributed file systems such as S3, ADLS, or HDFS; AWS, Azure, or GCP experience is a plus.

Bonus points if you have

• Experience with distributed query engines.
• Hands-on experience in query processing or optimization, materialized view matching, distributed systems, concurrency control, code generation, Apache Arrow, caching, or disk spilling.
• Contributions to Apache Calcite, Apache Iceberg, or similar open-source planner projects.

What we value

At Dremio, we hold ourselves to high standards when it comes to People, Thinking, and Action. Our Gnarlies (that's what we call our employees) communicate with clarity, drive accountability, and are respectful towards each other. We confront brutal facts and focus on results while operating with a sense of urgency and building a "flywheel". People who like to jump in and drive momentum will thrive in our #GnarlyLife.

Dremio is an equal opportunity employer supporting workforce diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other unlawful factor.

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