Staff Software Engineer - Databases, Tempo | Spain | Remote
Core
Architecting and operating Tempo, the open-source distributed tracing backend for Grafana Cloud, evolving it from a SaaS database into a platform enabling AI-driven observability products.
Role type
Staff Software Engineer (Distributed Systems/Database)
Builds
Tempo (distributed tracing backend), Grafana Cloud Traces, and enterprise observability features.
Domain
Observability, Distributed Systems, Cloud Infrastructure
Deliverable
production ML models | product features | infrastructure
Required skills
Go, distributed data systems, query engine design, API design, operational excellence, SLO management, Kubernetes, open source collaboration
Preferred skills
tracing (OpenTelemetry), columnar storage (Parquet), AI/LLM interface design, multi-tenant SaaS architecture
Technologies
Go, Kubernetes, TraceQL, OpenTelemetry, Parquet, GPT-5.6, Claude Fable, Gemini Pro 3.1
Responsibilities
Lead multi-quarter technical initiatives (e.g., trace aggregation, autoscaling), own architecture of core Tempo components (ingestion, storage, query), design APIs for humans and agents, drive operational excellence via SLOs and automation, partner with product teams, mentor engineers, participate in on-call, contribute to open source
Seniority
Staff, technical leadership & architecture