Staff Software Engineer, Metadata

Fivetran and dbt Labs are building data pipelines to power the modern data stack. We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer to be a technical leader on our Metadata team, which owns the metadata layer of the dbt platform — the discovery API, catalog, lineage, and run history services.

• Lead the design and delivery of complex, team-level projects across Metadata services.
• Independently design and develop the architecture of new subsystems.
• Use AI tooling and agents across development and SDLC artifacts.
• Review and approve technical designs, ensuring high quality.
• Drive technical initiatives across discovery API, catalog, lineage, and run history.
• Set and uphold design, architecture, and coding best practices.
• Coach and mentor engineers.
• Write technical specs and document common components.
• Fix and optimize critical parts of the codebase, drive incident follow-through.
• Participate periodically in on-call rotation.

• 8+ years of software engineering experience with a track record of leading complex, team-scope technical work.
• Deep expertise designing and owning subsystems in distributed, cloud-based systems.
• Demonstrated ability to set technical direction for a team.
• Excellent design and architecture judgment.
• Writes exemplary, well-tested code.
• Strong track record of raising quality through code review and coaching.
• Experience partnering with QE on test strategy and owning operational health.
• Proficiency in a modern backend or systems language such as Python, Java, C++, or C#.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Fluent in using AI code assistants and coding agents.

• Experience in data processing (ETL, ELT) and/or cloud-based data platforms.
• Experience architecting metadata, catalog, lineage, or discovery/search systems.
• Experience with GraphQL APIs and high-throughput, multi-tenant data services.
• Familiarity with the analytics engineering workflow and the dbt ecosystem.

Oakland Pay Range: $162,157.50—$198,877.25 USD

• 100% employer-paid medical insurance
• Generous paid time-off policy (PTO), plus paid sick time, inclusive parental leave policy, holidays (including a year end Global Week of Rest), and volunteer days off
• RSU stock grants
• Professional development and training opportunities
• Company virtual happy hours, free food, and fun team-building activities
• Monthly cell phone stipend
• Access to an innovative mental health support platform

Apply through the Fivetran careers job posting.