Senior Software Engineer (Data and Backend)

Soda - creators of the Soda Core - are looking for a Senior Software Engineer (Data and Backend) to help improve our Open Source and Cloud products. We're moving in an exciting new direction, and we need your help. If you're a software engineer who thrives on tackling large-scale challenges and wants to build the future of Fully Automated Data Quality, we'd love to hear from you. About Us Soda's mission is to monitor the world's decisions. We're building the first Data and AI performance monitoring platform that spans data collection to automated decision-making. Soda helps customers find, understand, and fix data quality issues by combining automated post-production monitoring with pre-production pipeline data testing. We enable Data Engineers to effectively own DQ by "shifting left" the data quality initiatives from business to engineering. Soda was founded in 2019 by Maarten (employee #5 at Collibra, Go-To-Market leadership) and Tom (launched multiple OSS projects generating hundreds of millions in value). Together, they built a tool that ensures data quality across Data Engineering, Data Governance, and business use cases. Our open-source project, Soda Core, is already used by companies like Tesla, Slack, Adyen, Walmart, and JPMC. Soda commercializes its software through the Soda Cloud product. We're well-funded, with investors like Point 9 Capital, Hummingbird, Singular, and Eurazeo. About The Role We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer (Data & Backend) to join our distributed engineering team. You will design, build, and operate the backend and data systems that power both Soda Cloud and Soda Core. You will work in an environment that combines Java-based backend components with Python-based data engineering tooling. As one of your first projects, you will improve how we test, validate, benchmark and scale Soda's platform. You will bring a systematic approach to quality and performance, set new standards for reliability under load, and help ensure Soda runs fast and flawlessly as our customer base grows. You will collaborate closely with product, frontend, and other backend and data engineering peers to deliver scalable, reliable, and high-performance systems. You will help define the architectural direction of Soda's backend and data layer, focusing on performance, maintainability, and developer experience. Responsibilities Design and implement robust backend systems and data APIs in Java and Python Design and build systems for streaming data ingestion, real-time observability, and large-scale data analytics Lead efforts to make Soda's platform even more robust, testable, and efficient, improving how we validate, benchmark, and scale our systems Work with product and engineering teams to design new Data Observability and Data Quality features Contribute to Soda Core, our open-source data testing and observability library Participate in technical discussions, code reviews, and mentorship within the team Requirements Strong proficiency in Python and comfort working with one or more additional backend languages such as Java, Go, or Rust Proven experience building and maintaining data-centric backend services at scale and improving them through better testing, validation, benchmarking and scalability practices Solid understanding of data engineering fundamentals, including pipelines, streaming and analytical processing Good knowledge of SQL and modern data warehouses or lakehouses Thorough understanding of software engineering best practices such as testing, CI/CD, design patterns, performance optimization, and observability Proactive, independent, and comfortable working in a distributed team. Excellent communication skills in English. Good-to-haves Experience with multi-tenant SaaS systems and large-scale data processing Experience in high-growth startups or fast-paced product environments Experience in the Data Quality, Data Observability, or ML monitoring industry Contributions to open-source projects Benefits The opportunity to be a part of the exciting early stages of a well-funded, European-based Open Source start-up with significant traction and massive venture potential Fully remote working environment with an option to work from our Belgian office when desired Compensation: up to 120 000 EUR/year + equity Our Values We value freedom with responsibility, transparency, and a growth mindset. We dislike politics and bullshit and value open and direct communication without judgment. We proactively identify and address potential issues before they become critical, and we communicate frequently to ensure transparency. We solve problems end-to-end, owning the wins and the mistakes. Working at Soda, you will have full autonomy to make impactful product and roadmap decisions and prioritize and organize your work how you see fit. ❤ Why you will love to join Soda Be Part of a Transformation: We're entering a pivotal phase, and your work will define the industry's future Experience fast growth: Work with a fast-growing international VC-funded startup with a flat structure High-Impact Team: Join a senior engineering team that values autonomy, responsibility, and shipping things that matter Ownership from Day One: If you see a bottleneck, you remove it. If you want to try out a new GitOps workflow or optimize Kubernetes scaling, you have the runway International Culture: Our team spans 12+ countries. Learn from different perspectives and collaborate across time zones Work on your own terms: Fully remote, flexible work, with as many opportunities to meet up as you want! Open Source at Scale: Contribute directly to Soda Core, used by household names. Shape features that will reach thousands of engineers 😡 What you might not love Rapidly Changing Priorities: In a fast-moving expansion phase, our roadmap can pivot quickly. It's a fast-paced environment with a LOT of work to be done Flexibility Required: You will have to learn new things all the time