About this role
Engineers who enjoy diving into complex data systems and working across the entire product lifecycle will find a strong fit at Palantir. Operating within the Product Development organisation, backend engineers build scalable software that transforms how major institutions leverage data for critical decisions. Daily responsibilities include designing query planning capabilities, fine-tuning performance for low-latency operations, and collaborating closely with technical and non-technical teammates.
Palantir encourages movement across small teams to share context, enabling engineers to work autonomously while developing deep technical expertise. Professionals in this role tackle diverse challenges, from architecting new systems to participating in the optional Frontline customer immersion program. Ideal candidates possess a strong ownership mindset, practical approaches to system performance, and a genuine curiosity about how data platforms operate.
What you will do
- Designing and implementing query planning and optimization capabilities that turn complex computations into efficient execution plans.
- Extending execution engines with new capabilities while improving query operators, parallelism, memory management, and data movement.
- Developing Foundry’s Iceberg catalog and engine integrations, including table metadata, transactions, and efficient reads and writes.
- Improving incremental processing so pipelines can reuse previous results and process new data efficiently while preserving correctness.
- Evaluating and integrating advances in open-source data systems by validating their behavior and performance against real-world workloads.
- Investigating correctness and performance issues across planning, execution, and storage while building tests and benchmarks to prevent regressions.
What you need
- Four or more years of professional software engineering experience building and operating production systems.
- An engineering background in Computer Science, Mathematics, Software Engineering, Physics, or a similar field, or equivalent practical experience.
- Strong coding skills with demonstrated proficiency in one or more languages such as Java, Rust, Scala, or C++.
- Experience developing database engines, distributed data processing systems, storage systems, or comparable infrastructure.
- Strong foundations in algorithms, data structures, and concurrency, with experience diagnosing correctness and performance problems in complex systems.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work effectively across teams.
Nice to have
- Experience building or extending systems such as Spark, DataFusion, Iceberg, or comparable technologies
- Experience contributing to open-source projects
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and eligible dependents
- Voluntary life insurance
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the salary range for this role?
The estimated salary range for this position is estimated to be $135,000 to $200,000 per year. Total compensation may also include Restricted Stock Units, a sign-on bonus, and other potential future incentives.
What technologies will I be working with?
Engineers utilize languages such as Java, Scala, Rust, and Python alongside data processing tools like Apache Spark, Apache DataFusion, Apache Comet, Velox, Apache Iceberg, Apache Arrow, and Apache Parquet.
What is the Frontline program?
Frontline is an exclusive, short-term assignment involving being embedded with customers. This program allows you to work directly with users and gain firsthand insight into how products are used and the challenges customers face.
How is the product development organization structured?
The Product Development organisation is made up of small teams of Software Engineers. Each team focuses on a specific aspect of a product and works collaboratively to build cross-functional capabilities and streamline user workflows.