Staff Software Engineer, Query

About Ditto:

Ditto is redefining how data moves at the edge. Our mission is to make it seamless for developers to build resilient, real-time applications, regardless of network conditions. Whether you're in a stadium, airplane, or remote military base, Ditto's peer-to-peer sync engine ensures devices stay connected and data stays consistent, even without internet. With more than $145 million in funding and trusted by organizations like Chick-fil-A, Delta Airlines, and the U.S. military, Ditto powers mission-critical experiences across aviation, retail, travel, hospitality, defense, and more. As a globally distributed, fast-growing startup, we’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive team that reflects the wide range of perspectives needed to solve the world’s hardest connectivity problems.

About the Position The Query Engine team builds the primary surface for our customers to interact with their data and the Ditto system: the Ditto Query Language (DQL). We use DQL extensively throughout both the cloud database and on-device SDKs, and query engineers work closely with many other teams to integrate with their systems. As a specialist team this group is laser-focused on enabling customers to get the most out of Ditto while providing a familiar, SQL-like experience.

What You’ll Be Up To…

• Work with product managers and other engineers to help design the future of the technology.
• Troubleshoot production issues, and design future remediations to deliver on Ditto's goal of a high performance, self-healing, and reliable mesh.
• Design and implement data distribution collection subsystems and index statistics collection subsystems.
• Design and implement a query cost based optimizer based on collected data distribution, and as a fall back, a rule based query optimizer, to be used when suitable distributions and statistics do not exist or are insufficient.
• Assist with implementation of other query engine features as needed.
• Author RFCs, design and document system architecture, and collaborate with other teams within Ditto.
• Estimate the delivery timeline for projects and communicate with management and the broader team regarding project execution.
• Set team culture by example, expanding Ditto’s culture of Trust, Communication, and Continual Improvement.

What Helps You Thrive…

• 7+ years of experience in software engineering, 2 or more in a Senior or Staff role, with a focus on distributed systems and low-level programming languages like Rust and/or modern C/C++.
• Willingness to learn the Rust programming language.
• Prior experience with building SQL like query languages.
• Prior experience with building cost based and ruled based query optimizers.
• Prior experience with collecting index statistics and data distributions.
• A willingness to travel (including internationally) once a quarter for team get-togethers and design sessions.
• Strong communication skills, with an emphasis on written communication skills in particular. As a fully distributed team, async communication is the default and the development process often includes written architecture and design documents.

Great-to-Haves…

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science or Engineering.
• Prior professional experience with the Rust programming language or other systems programming languages (C, C++, D, Ada, Zig, etc).
• Experience with property-based testing or other state-space exploration techniques.
• Familiarity with Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs).
• Experience with monitoring tools such as Prometheus or Grafana.

Base Salary Range$186,000—$331,000 USD

Pay Transparency at Ditto 

Ditto uses a location-based compensation model. This means pay ranges for the same role may vary depending on where you live, based on cost of living and market data.The ranges you see on our job postings represent the full span of target compensation across all markets where we hire. Within that range, actual offers are determined by a candidate’s skills and experience. This ensures we remain competitive with local markets while also maintaining internal consistency and fairness in real spending power across locations. 

The Benefits of Building with Us

We offer competitive salaries and meaningful equity. We believe everyone on the team should have a stake in what we’re building. Benefits vary by region to make sure you're covered in the ways that matter most. In the US, that includes health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, plus a 401(k) and flexible spending accounts. In the UK, we offe