Database Research Scientist

Overview

As a Research Scientist at ClickHouse Labs you will tackle high-impact problems at the crossroads of databases, distributed systems, AI, and systems software. You will design and evaluate new algorithms and architectures, build prototypes, and collaborate with engineers to deliver production-grade improvements to open-source systems. The role emphasizes publishing and open-source contributions while shaping long-term research directions. You will work on scalable, real-world data systems and help translate research into tangible system enhancements.

Pay / Benefits

• remote-friendly
• Healthcare – employer contributions
• Equity in the company
• Flexible time off
• Home office setup stipend ($500)
• Global gatherings / offsites

Responsibilities

• Conduct applied research to improve performance, scalability, reliability, and functionality of open-source DBMS including ClickHouse and PostgreSQL
• Design and evaluate algorithms, data structures, and system architectures for query optimization, indexing, storage, and distributed data management
• Develop research prototypes and production-grade implementations, collaborating with engineers to integrate techniques into open-source and production systems
• Work with engine, infrastructure, and data-plane engineers to identify high-impact problems and translate results into practical improvements
• Analyze large-scale workloads, traces, benchmarks, and telemetry to identify bottlenecks and optimization opportunities
• Design rigorous experiments and benchmarks across realistic workloads and hardware configurations
• Communicate results through reports, open-source contributions, internal talks, and publications at leading venues
• Contribute to ClickHouse Labs’ broader technical direction by identifying emerging research opportunities and shaping long-term projects

Key requirements

• Masters/Ph.D. in Computer Science, Data Science, or related field with research in databases, distributed systems, or machine learning systems
• Strong publication record in top venues such as SIGMOD, VLDB, SOSP, OSDI, NSDI, or NeurIPS
• Strong programming and systems-development background with experience in DBMS internals (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, ClickHouse) or large systems codebases
• Proficiency in systems programming using C, C++, Rust, Zig, or similar
• Strong analytical, experimental, problem-solving, and technical communication skills

• analytical mindset
• clear technical communication
• collaborative
• C, C++, Rust, Zig
• experience with PostgreSQL, MySQL, ClickHouse or similar DBMS internals
• query optimization, execution, and distributed data management

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