Software Engineer Backend

About MotherDuck

Dont let the quirky name fool you: At MotherDuck were on a mission to make data warehousing fun frictionless and ducking awesome for developers and data practitioners building blazing fast internal and customer-facing analytics experiences. Were building a cloud-hosted version of DuckDB working hand-in-hand with the creators of the fastest-growing and fastest-improving query engine on the planet. Unlike other databases MotherDuck was architected to unify local development with cloud operations to bridge the gap between software and data engineering workflows. Our team is a mix of thoughtful passionate and empathetic data industry veterans.

Were shaking up assumptions on how data should be done! We empower and delight data practitioners using a novel cloud architecture. We believe in the power of single node databases built on top of DuckDB an open source foundation with a vibrant community.

Our engineering team comes from a wide mix of backgrounds running the gamut from data experts to generalists from big tech to start ups and SaaS companies to government and finance.

But no matter where weve come from were passionate collaborative and customer-focused. We work together as a team from across our engineering hubs in Seattle San Francisco New York and Amsterdam.

Were looking for Backend Engineers to help MotherDuck scale the magic of DuckDB into the cloud. As part of the team youll build distributed systems that power query execution storage access control and other core platform capabilities.

If you enjoy systems-level thinking care deeply about reliability and performance and want to work on the core of the software that directly improves the experience of analysts and data engineers this role may be a great fit.

This role is based in our Amsterdam office.

What Youll Do:

• Design and implement scalable backend services using Go Typescript and C

• Build and evolve critical systems related to metadata authentication access control query lifecycle and file visibility

• Optimize for performance reliability and maintainability through careful design and operational rigor

• Collaborate with other engineers on architectural decisions and technical direction

• Investigate and resolve production issues and participate in a customer support or production oncall rotation

• Work closely with product and frontend teams to ensure backend systems enable complete and cohesive user experiences

What Were Looking For:

• Hands-on experience with distributed systems preferably using Go C or similar languages

• A strong understanding of performance latency and fault tolerance in real-world production environments

• Familiarity with API design observability practices and production debugging

• A product-focused mindset and a willingness to dive into unfamiliar areas when needed

• Ability to communicate technical ideas clearly and collaborate across teams

Example Projects:

• Implement new database semantics to enable customer usage patterns

• Improve storage performance by developing and tuning caching layers.

• Optimize compute provisioning to ensure no noisy neighbors impact customers while keeping infrastructure costs low.

What people should be saying if youre doing ducking awesome

• Their code made our queries run faster without anyone asking for it.

• They spotted and fixed a tricky bug before it ever hit production.

• Our backend is easier to understand because of their clear designs and documentation.

• They built a feature that just works and keeps working.

• They think about the edge cases the rest of us forget.

What we provide

• Competitive salary and stock options so you have a stake in our flocks success.

• Flexible time off take the time you need to recharge explore or just have a lazy day by the pond.

• A good pension plan

• Legendary company events we bring the whole flock together twice a year for unforgettable summits in fun locations plus 1-2 team gatherings a year to keep our bonds strong.

• Flexible work environment - spend most of the week in the office collaborating with the flock and work from wherever youre most productive the rest of the time. Specifics are role dependent and as agreed upon with your manager. We have to warn you though most of us like the office so much we come anyway. Its on the river Ij with a great lunch every day.

Our Process

• Round 1: Interview with our Talent Partner (30min)

• Round 2: Technical Screen with one of our Tech Leads (30min)

• Round 3: 4 meetings with members of the team (60min each)

• Round 4: Values interview with our CEO/Founder (45min)

Please Apply

Does this role sound appealing to you but youre missing some of the requirements or dont quite think youre qualified Please apply anyway. Research has shown that underrepresented groups in technology often shy away from roles which arent a 100% match. We aim to build a diverse team and will strongly consider applicants who bring many of the requirements plus have other experiences which round out their qualifications.

MotherDuck is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based on race religion color national origin gender (including pregnancy childbirth or related medical conditions) sexual orientation gender identity gender expression age status as a protected veteran status as an individual with a disability or other applicable legally protected characteristics. MotherDuck is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities.

Required Experience:

IC

Employment Type : Full-Time
Department / Functional Area: Engineering
Experience: years
Vacancy: 1
Yearly Salary Salary: 100000 - 155000