Senior Software Engineer - Python and Data Ecosystem

Role Description

As a Senior Software Engineer specializing in Python and the Data Ecosystem , you'll be a core contributor owning and evolving critical parts of ClickHouse's data engineering ecosystem. This role sits at the intersection of high-performance database engineering and developer experience. You'll craft tools that enable Data Engineers and Data Scientists to harness ClickHouse's speed and scale in the frameworks they already use.

We're looking for someone who has lived the Data Engineer or Data Scientist experience firsthand. The data practitioner's world is shifting rapidly:

• Databases are no longer just query targets.
• They are becoming active participants in AI-powered workflows.
• They serve as vector stores for RAG pipelines, backends for LLM-powered agents, and real-time feature stores for ML inference.

You understand these workflows not from the outside, but because you've operated within them. You don't just build integrations; you bring product-level insight into what we should build and why.

You'll own the full lifecycle of key Python integrations, driving architecture, performance, and feature direction across:

• Orchestration Platforms: Apache Airflow, Dagster, Prefect
• Transformation Tools: dbt, SQLMesh
• AI & LLM Ecosystem: LangChain, LlamaIndex, n8n, and broader AI tooling.

Your job is to make ClickHouse's potential real by building the robust, production-ready connectors that make ClickHouse the natural choice when data practitioners design their next-generation AI and data systems.

What you'll do:

• Own and evolve ClickHouse's Python connector and SDK ecosystem, raising the bar on performance, reliability, and API design.
• Build and maintain integrations with orchestration platforms (Airflow, Dagster, Prefect) and transformation tools (dbt) to enterprise-grade quality standards.
• Drive the AI/LLM integration strategy: designing connectors and patterns that make ClickHouse a natural fit in RAG architectures, ML feature pipelines, and LLM-powered data applications.
• Engage actively with the open-source community: triage issues, support contributors, advocate for users, and shape the roadmap based on real-world feedback.
• Collaborate with Product, Cloud, and other engineering teams to align integration work with broader platform priorities.
• Bring a practitioner's perspective to roadmap decisions, grounding prioritization in genuine Data Engineer and Data Scientist workflows.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software development experience, including hands-on time as a Data Engineer, Data Scientist, or ML Engineer.
• Deep, proven experience designing, building, and maintaining production-grade Python connectors, SDKs, or integrations for at least one major platform (orchestration, BI, MLOps, or data transformation).
• Hands-on experience applying AI/ML in production data-engineering contexts: embedding generation, vector search, feature pipelines, or LLM-powered tooling that shipped and ran in production.
• Solid experience with the Python data ecosystem: Pandas, NumPy, Pydantic, and related libraries.
• Strong database fundamentals: SQL, data modeling, query optimization, and familiarity with OLAP/analytical databases.
• Solid experience with concurrent Python: threading, multiprocessing, and async patterns.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication; comfortable collaborating across engineering functions and with open-source communities.

Requirements

• Prior experience as a Data Engineer or Data Scientist in a product-facing or platform role.
• Familiarity with ClickHouse or similar high-performance OLAP platforms.
• Familiarity with the JVM ecosystem.
• Experience deploying AI/ML models in production, including inference APIs and vector databases.

Benefits

• Flexible work environment - ClickHouse is a globally distributed company and remote-friendly.
• Healthcare - Employer contributions towards your healthcare.
• Equity in the company - Every new team member who joins our company receives stock options.
• Time off - Flexible time off in the US, generous entitlement in other countries.
• A $500 Home office setup if you’re a remote employee.
• Global Gatherings - Opportunities to engage with colleagues at company-wide offsites.
• Culture - As part of a rapidly scaling startup, you will be instrumental in shaping our culture.