Principal Research Scientist, Database Systems

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Skills

Data structures
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Software development

Research
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Education

Doctoral degree

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Job details
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Pay

$168,000 - $330,000 a year
 
Benefits
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Parental leave
 
Full job description
MongoDB's mission is to empower innovators to create, transform, and disrupt industries by unleashing the power of software and data. We enable organizations of all sizes to easily build, scale, and run modern applications by helping them modernize legacy workloads, embrace innovation, and unleash AI. Our industry-leading developer data platform, MongoDB Atlas, is the only globally distributed, multi-cloud database and is available in more than 115 regions across AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. Atlas allows customers to build and run applications anywhere—on premises, or across cloud providers. With offices worldwide and over 175,000 new developers signing up to use MongoDB every month, it's no wonder that leading organizations, like Samsung and Toyota, trust MongoDB to build next-generation, AI-powered applications.

Job Description:
The mission of MongoDB Research is to advance the state of the art in database systems by conducting fundamental and applied research that directly impacts MongoDB's products. Our goal is to foster innovation that benefits MongoDB by addressing critical challenges in data management, performance optimization, security, scalability, and usability. Through collaboration, publication, and active engagement with leading research institutions, we strive to shape the future of database technology and ensure MongoDB remains at the forefront of innovation.

We seek an exceptional researcher specializing in database systems with particular expertise in database architecture, including query optimization, storage engines, indexing, and multicore processing. The ideal candidate will demonstrate a strong track record in designing and implementing highly performant database systems.

This role can be in-office, flexible, or based remotely in North America.

Responsibilities:
Conduct innovative research in query optimization, indexing methods, storage engines, and performance optimization
Design, prototype, and empirically evaluate novel database systems and architectures that leverage modern hardware features, such as SIMD parallelism, GPU acceleration, and multicore processing
Collaborate closely with our Engineering teams to translate cutting-edge research into practical solutions applicable in commercial database products
Publish influential research outcomes in top-tier database and systems conferences and journals (e.g., VLDB, SIGMOD)
Build a Database Systems research group with a critical mass of 2-3 researchers over the next 1-2 years
Mentor junior researchers, fostering a collaborative and productive research environment
Qualifications:
Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a closely related field with a specialization in database systems
12+ years of experience applying computer science concepts to large scale software development problems, including databases and distributed systems
Proven track record of impactful research publications in top-tier database and systems conferences and journals
Demonstrated expertise in query optimization, efficient data structures, and high-performance database architectures
Strong background in performance engineering, hardware-aware optimizations, and database engine internals
Experience in building research prototypes and conducting rigorous empirical studies to validate theoretical models
Excellent analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate across teams
Success metrics:
Within the first three months, you will have established working relationships with key stakeholders across Product and Engineering
Within the first six months, you will have completed a review of the company's database roadmap and identified opportunities for research impact. You will have established a clear research agenda for the team
Within the first twelve months, you will have successfully attracted and interviewed researchers to join the team
To drive the personal growth and business impact of our employees, we're committed to developing a supportive and enriching culture for everyone. From employee affinity groups, to fertility assistance and a generous parental leave policy, we value our employees' wellbeing and want to support them along every step of their professional and personal journeys. Learn more about what it's like to work at MongoDB, and help us make an impact on the world!

MongoDB is committed to providing any necessary accommodations for individuals with disabilities within our application and interview process. To request an accommodation due to a disability, please inform your recruiter.

MongoDB, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and makes all hiring decisions without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, ****** orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Req ID: 1263126+35

United States
California
Palo Alto Show on map Get directions