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# Principal Research Scientist, Database Systems

- **Company:** MongoDB
- **Location:** New York, NY, United States (Remote available)
- **Salary:** $168,000.0 - $330,000.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Databases, Computer Engineering, Data Structures, Distributed Systems, Performance Tuning, Query Optimization, Software Engineering, Database Engines, Information Technology
- **Published:** June 12, 2026
- **Apply:** https://dejobs.org/x/x/18B69DF0C46B4F91A1EE8FA1A7701C3C/job/

## About the Role

* Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a closely related field with a specialization in database systems
 * 12+ years of experience applying computer science concepts to large scale software development problems, including databases and distributed systems
 * Proven track record of impactful research publications in top-tier database and systems conferences and journals
 * Demonstrated expertise in query optimization, efficient data structures, and high-performance database architectures
 * Strong background in performance engineering, hardware-aware optimizations, and database engine internals
 * Experience in building research prototypes and conducting rigorous empirical studies to validate theoretical models
 * Excellent analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate across teams

Success metrics:

 * Within the first three months, you will have established working relationships with key stakeholders across Product and Engineering
 * Within the first six months, you will have completed a review of the company's database roadmap and identified opportunities for research impact. You will have established a clear research agenda for the team
 * Within the first twelve months, you will have successfully attracted and interviewed researchers to join the team

## Description

* Conduct innovative research in query optimization, indexing methods, storage engines, and performance optimization
 * Design, prototype, and empirically evaluate novel database systems and architectures that leverage modern hardware features, such as SIMD parallelism, GPU acceleration, and multicore processing
 * Collaborate closely with our Engineering teams to translate cutting-edge research into practical solutions applicable in commercial database products
 * Publish influential research outcomes in top-tier database and systems conferences and journals (e.g., VLDB, SIGMOD)
 * Build a Database Systems research group with a critical mass of 2-3 researchers over the next 1-2 years
 * Mentor junior researchers, fostering a collaborative and productive research environment


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