Principal Engineer, Iceberg

Business Area

Engineering

Director

At Cloudera, we empower people to transform complex data into clear and actionable insights. With as much data under management as the hyperscalers, we’re the preferred data partner for the top companies in almost every industry. Powered by the relentless innovation of the open source community, Cloudera advances digital transformation for the world’s largest enterprises.

The Data Platform Pillar is the bedrock of Cloudera’s technology, where we design and build the core components that let our customers store, manage, and process data with unmatched scalability, security, and performance.

Do you pay keen attention to detail and have exceptional focus on quality? Are you willing to question - everyone and everything? Can you think of use cases from the end user’s point of view? Do you like to work on new and challenging requirements? If you answered yes to all these questions, then we have a great opportunity that can put your skills and abilities to greater use and an environment where you can excel.

Cloudera is looking for exceptional software engineers to own and deliver Cloudera Distribution of Apache Iceberg through various platforms of Cloudera. This is an exciting opportunity to gather experience with Apache Iceberg on multiple cloud platforms. You will gain understanding in big data use cases and participate in the vibrant Apache Software Foundation community.

• Become a core contributor to Apache Iceberg

• Bring performance improvements to all of the engines in the Cloudera stack, by implementing new features in Iceberg and working with other teams to leverage them during queries

• Work with Product Managers and Customers to determine ways Iceberg can be improved for Modern Data Lakes

• Develop new features in Java on modern platforms

• Gain a solid understanding and deep technical knowledge of components across the Cloudera stack, but focusing on Iceberg, which you can utilize in your daily tasks

• Get to work on large scale distributed systems, from 100s to 1000s of nodes, in production clusters

• Debug system level deployment issues, root cause analysis, perform system test analysis and resolve failures

• Collaborate with other team members and stakeholders

• BS or MS in Computer Science or related field

• 8+ years experience as a Software Engineer

• Hands‑on programmer with solid data‑structures and algorithms

• Experience with systems design, development

• Strong understanding of at least one of the following languages:
  Java, Scala, C++, Python. And interested to learn the languages we’re using.

• Passionate about programming, clean coding habits, attention to detail, and focus on quality

• Strong ability to research and solve problems independently without constant supervision

• Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of an international and virtual team

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills

• (Most importantly) Open‑minded attitude, desire to learn new things and build great products

• Experience with using/developing Apache Iceberg or other related technologies

• Experience (or demonstrated interest) in distributed computing or high availability systems

• Contributions to open‑source projects

• Experience with SQL optimization, from analyzing query plans to implementing optimization in SQL engines

You will tackle complex distributed systems challenges, crafting the foundational software for the control and data planes that powers CDP and keeps it running at massive scale. Working at the forefront of hybrid and multi‑cloud technology, you will empower data scientists, engineers, and analysts with the tools and infrastructure they need for advanced analytics and modeling.

Collaboration is key, you will work alongside brilliant minds across product, data science, and engineering to drive innovation, standardize best practices, and shape the future of enterprise AI and data platforms. This is your chance to build the future of data and see your work make a global impact.

• Generous PTO Policy

• Support work life balance with Unplugged Days

• Flexible WFH Policy

• Mental & Physical Wellness programs

• Phone and Internet Reimbursement program

• Access to Continued Career Development

• Comprehensive Benefits and Competitive Packages

• Paid Volunteer Time

• Employee Resource Groups

EEO/VEVRAA