Staff Software Engineer - Databases, Tempo
Core
Architecting and operating Tempo, the open-source distributed tracing backend for Grafana Cloud, evolving it from a SaaS database into a platform for AI-driven observability.
Role type
Staff Software Engineer (Distributed Systems/Tracing)
Builds
Tempo (distributed tracing backend), Grafana Cloud Traces, and AI/LLM-friendly interfaces for observability agents.
Domain
Observability, Distributed Systems, Tracing, High-Performance Data Systems
Deliverable
production ML models | product features | infrastructure
Required skills
Go, distributed data systems, query engines, system architecture, operational excellence, Kubernetes, open source community engagement
Preferred skills
tracing (OpenTelemetry), query languages (TraceQL/SQL), columnar storage (Parquet), multi-tenant SaaS, AI/LLM API design
Technologies
Go, Kubernetes, Tempo, Grafana Cloud, TraceQL, OpenTelemetry, Parquet, GPT-5.6, Claude Fable, Gemini Pro 3.1
Responsibilities
Lead multi-quarter technical initiatives (e.g., trace aggregation, autoscaling, query engine improvements); own architecture of core Tempo components (ingestion, storage, query); drive operational excellence and SLO ownership; design APIs for humans and agents; mentor engineers; participate in on-call and incident response; contribute to open source.
Seniority
Staff, technical leadership & architecture