Senior Member of Technical Staff – Specialized Indexing

About the role

The SQL Queries team at Cockroach Labs is building a new Specialized Indexing sub‑team to extend CockroachDB’s indexing capabilities beyond traditional relational workloads. You will design and implement high‑performance vector, full‑text and geospatial indexes that power AI‑native and search‑driven applications.

Key responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain specialized indexing features including vector, full‑text, and geospatial indexes.
• Improve performance and reliability of existing vector indexing systems, covering backfill, query planning, and import workflows.
• Partner with other database teams to integrate new indexing mechanisms into the query engine.
• Develop hybrid search capabilities that combine vector similarity and text‑based search.
• Participate in design discussions, code reviews, and release planning within the SQL organization.
• Take full ownership from design through implementation, testing, and release.

Required profile

• Passion for databases, indexing systems, and high‑performance distributed architectures.
• Strong background in backend or systems programming, preferably with Go, C/C++, or Rust.
• Experience with indexing or query execution systems such as vector, text, or spatial search.
• Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems.
• Curiosity about AI‑driven and hybrid workloads that combine structured and unstructured data.
• Typically 10+ years of experience building large‑scale, production‑grade systems.
• Ability to translate ambiguous problems into scalable, production‑grade AI‑enabled solutions.

Required skills

• Go
• C++
• Rust

What we offer

• Medical Insurance
• Flexible Time Off
• Paid Parental Leave
• Mental Wellbeing Benefits
• Internet Reimbursement
• Wellness Allowance
• Food Allowance
• Office Commute Reimbursement