About LanceDB
AI advances at the speed of its research, and research moves at the speed of its data. LanceDB is the AI-native Multimodal Lakehouse: one system where a researcher curates petabytes of video, audio, and every signal derived from them with a few lines of Python, and the next training run starts as fast as the next idea. Customers like Runway, Midjourney, and Netflix build the future of AI on LanceDB, from frontier and world models to robots and autonomous vehicles.
About the Role
We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer to help expand the reach of Lance and LanceDB within the broader data infrastructure ecosystem. You'll work at the intersection of high-performance computing, big data, and open-source systems. You will contribute scale and performance improvements, integrations with the wider data and AI ecosystem, simplifying distributed operations, and usability and maintainability enhancements.
What You'll Do
Designing and maintaining efficient distributed Lance dataset operations
Building efficient indices to enable predicate pushdown and accelerate queries in Spark, Ray, or Trino
Working on table formats, data encodings, and various aspects of the Lance format in Rust
Driving open-source community efforts to integrate the Lance format with Spark, Hive Metastore, Presto, Trino, Ray, and other data infrastructure systems
Operating and improving internal data processing infrastructure
Promoting the Lance format in open-source communities and at Big Data conferences
What We're Looking For
10+ years of experience building high-performance databases, big data systems, or large-scale data services
Deep understanding of internals of open-source Big Data or AI training systems (e.g., Hadoop, Spark, Flink, Ray, Iceberg, Delta Lake, Hudi, ClickHouse, Trino, Presto, PyTorch, or JAX)
Strong experience with high-performance computing in C++, Java, and/or Scala
Experience with Rust (or willingness to learn it)
Proven ability to move fast, work independently, and collaborate with a high-caliber team
Nice to Have
Contributor, committer, or PMC member in Apache or other large open-source projects
Experience with Apache Arrow, DataFusion, Parquet, Iceberg, or Delta Lake
Track record of driving large features or integrations in distributed systems
Strong community presence and passion for open-source collaboration
Similar Jobs
.png){kind=logo}
What you need to know about the Chicago Tech Scene
Key Facts About Chicago Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 245,800; 5.2% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: McDonald’s, John Deere, Boeing, Morningstar
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, fintech, software, logistics technology
- Funding Landscape: $2.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Arch Venture Partners, MATH Venture Partners, Jump Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners
- Research Centers and Universities: Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Institute of Technology, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
