About the Role
Our mission is to empower data practitioners to create and disseminate organizational knowledge. dbt Core is the open-source engine at the heart of this mission, used by tens of thousands of analysts and engineers to transform data with the rigor of software engineering. We are looking for a systems-oriented engineer to join the small, expert team that builds and maintains this foundational piece of the modern data stack. This is an opportunity to work on deeply technical, high-leverage problems where your contributions will improve the daily workflow of a massive and passionate open-source community.
About The Team
The dbt Core team are the stewards of the open-source engine that powers the modern data stack for tens of thousands of practitioners. This small, high-trust group of systems engineers tackles the most fundamental challenges in dbt: ensuring the performance, reliability, and architectural integrity of dbt itself. They not only own the core execution engine but also architect the crucial adapter framework that connects dbt to a growing ecosystem of databases and data platforms.
As a Staff Software Engineer on the Core & Adapters team, you will be a steward of the performance, reliability, and architectural integrity of dbt. You will tackle ambiguous, open-ended problems and take ownership of critical systems.
What You’ll Do
Dive deep into the dbt-core execution engine, using your systems expertise to identify, debug, and eliminate performance bottlenecks in our Python codebase.
Architect and implement improvements to our adapter interface, the crucial layer that connects dbt to a growing ecosystem of databases and data platforms, enabling the community to build more powerful and efficient integrations.
Debug complex, system-level issues that span from Linux process management and concurrency models to database query planning and network protocols.
Lead technical design discussions and contribute to the long-term architectural roadmap for dbt Core, making key decisions about what, how, and when we build to ensure its scalability and reliability for years to come.
Mentor other engineers and review contributions from our vibrant open-source community, upholding our high standards for code quality, testing, and design while fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment.
Take strong ownership of our distributed systems, troubleshoot complex production issues, and participate in an on-call rotation to maintain high availability and deliver a resilient platform experience.
Skills We’re Looking For
We are looking for an engineer with a strong performance and debugging mindset, excellent mental models for complex systems, and a deep curiosity for infrastructure and open-source software.
Required Qualifications
6+ years of professional software development experience, with a focus on building and operating backend systems in a production environment.
Deep backend engineering experience and proficiency in Python.
A systematic, first-principles approach to problem-solving, with comfort navigating and debugging in Linux environments (e.g., understanding process scheduling, memory management, file systems).
Solid grasp of database internals, such as query execution engines, storage layers, indexing strategies, and transaction management.
Excellent communication skills and a sense of ownership, with the ability to balance technical depth with fast, iterative delivery.
Preferred Qualifications
A background in data warehousing, data engineering, or analytics engineering.
Professional experience writing production code in Go or Rust.
Experience contributing to or maintaining a popular open-source project.
Experience building compilers, interpreters, or developer tooling.
Familiarity with performance analysis tools like perf or strace.
The Team & Our Culture You will join a small, high-trust team of senior and staff-level engineers who are passionate about building robust, well-crafted, and reliable software. We operate in a remote-first, asynchronous-friendly environment that values deep work, clear written communication, and a high degree of autonomy. We are deeply connected to our users and the open-source community, and we believe that the best solutions come from a rigorous, collaborative, and empathetic engineering process.
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Perks and Benefits
100% employer-paid medical insurance*
Generous paid time away from work, including paid vacation or flexible/unlimited vacation depending on role and country, plus paid sick time, inclusive parental leave, paid holidays, including a year-end Global Week of Rest, and volunteer days off.
RSU stock grants*
Professional development and training opportunities
Company virtual happy hours, free food, and fun team-building activities
Monthly cell phone stipend
Access to an innovative mental health support platform that offers personalized care and resources in areas such as: therapy, coaching, and self-guided mindfulness exercises for all covered employees and their covered dependents.
May vary by country and worker type - please reach out to your recruiter for more information
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We’re honored to be valued at over $5.6 billion, but more importantly, we’re proud of our core values of Get Stuck In, Do the Right Thing, and One Team, One Dream. Read about us in Forbes.
Fivetran brings together high-quality talent across the globe to make data access as easy and reliable as electricity for our customers. We value and recognize that our customers benefit from having innovative teams made of people from many backgrounds, experiences, and identities. Fivetran promotes diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging through attracting, recruiting, developing, and retaining a diverse workforce, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it helps us build a world-class company to better serve our customers, our people and our communities.
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We are committed to ensuring that all candidates have an equal opportunity to participate in our interview process. If you require accommodations at any stage of the process due to a disability, medical condition, or any other circumstance, please don't hesitate to submit your request by filling out this form. We will work with you to provide reasonable accommodations to facilitate your participation and ensure a fair and accessible interview experience. Your request and any information provided will be kept confidential and will not impact your candidacy. We look forward to hearing from you and accommodating your needs to the best of our ability.
