Software Engineer - PlanetScale Vitess

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Software Engineer – PlanetScale Vitess based in Switzerland.

This is a high-impact backend engineering role at the core of a modern database infrastructure platform powering some of the world’s most demanding applications. You will work on large-scale distributed systems that handle massive query volumes, ensuring performance, reliability, and scalability at every layer. The role sits within a deeply technical engineering environment where autonomy, ownership, and problem-solving at scale are central to daily work. You will collaborate with expert engineers while also engaging directly with customers to translate real-world needs into robust technical solutions. The systems you build will directly influence how global companies store, scale, and access critical data. This is an opportunity to work on foundational infrastructure used by millions of end users worldwide.

• Design and build core systems powering a large-scale database platform, ensuring high performance, reliability, and scalability under heavy query loads.
• Contribute to the development and evolution of distributed systems based on Vitess and related database infrastructure components.
• Collaborate with senior engineers and cross-functional teams to solve complex distributed systems and database engineering challenges.
• Work independently with high autonomy to analyze technical and business problems and deliver robust engineering solutions.
• Engage with customers to understand real-world use cases and translate them into scalable, production-grade technical implementations.
• Maintain, debug, and optimize large and complex codebases, ensuring system stability and performance at scale.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of backend software engineering experience with a strong focus on distributed systems or infrastructure engineering.
• Strong proficiency in Go, with additional experience in languages such as Python, Java, or C++.
• Solid understanding of relational databases, particularly MySQL, including performance tuning and query optimization concepts.
• Experience working with Kubernetes and containerized cloud-native environments.
• Proven ability to design, build, and operate distributed systems at scale in production environments.
• Strong debugging and problem-solving skills across complex, multi-system architectures.
• Ability to work independently with minimal guidance while making sound technical decisions.
• Strong communication skills and experience collaborating in high-performance engineering teams.
• Nice-to-have: exposure to database internals, distributed consensus systems, observability tools, or contributions to open-source infrastructure projects.

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation package including base salary and equity participation.
• Opportunity to work on globally scaled infrastructure powering high-traffic applications.
• Fully remote-friendly environment with flexibility in work location.
• High ownership role within a small, elite engineering team focused on technical excellence.
• Exposure to cutting-edge distributed systems and database technologies (including Vitess).
• Inclusive, engineering-driven culture emphasizing autonomy, learning, and impact.
• Opportunity to collaborate with and learn from world-class infrastructure engineers.