Senior Software Engineer – Data Systems / Platform / Infrastructure

TextQL is an NYC-based startup working to drive the unit cost of a data-driven decision down to zero.

Customers like Amazon, Ring, Scale AI, Lumeris and the NBA rely on us to make better decisions, faster. We're rapidly expanding our engineering team to build the agentic data lakehouse – finding trustworthy answers to hard questions from messy enterprise data without configuring schemas, moving data, or lengthy implementation roadmaps.

About The Roles

We're hiring software engineers across three areas. If one of these descriptions resonates, we strongly encourage you to apply.

Distributed Data Systems

Do you get genuinely emotional about JOIN order optimization? Have you ever implemented a query optimizer for fun?

Query behaviors will change when agents are behind the vast majority of queries. You will work on a greenfield OLAP lakehouse project to build the data platform for the agentic era.

Data Platform

Have you rage-quit a BI tool because the semantic layer couldn't handle a simple hierarchy? Have you built a semantic layer yourself?

Today, no one stakes their job on AI-generated queries. You'll build the system that changes that—giving agents the context to query enterprise data correctly, and the guardrails to prove it.

Infrastructure

Did the MapReduce paper make you tear up the first time you read it? Are you one of the rare souls not intimidated by a Trino production cluster?

Sandboxes are not enough for agents to work with enterprise data. You will work on reliable infrastructure for the first data platform designed to be operated agent-first – ETL pipelines, Trino clusters, and the systems such that agents can spin up infrastructure on their own.

About You

• 4+ years of experience as a data systems, backend, infrastructure, or platform engineer
• Experience at early-stage startups or building products from zero to one
• Comfortable diving into any part of the system—infrastructure, services, or frontend
• You care about building systems that are robust, scalable, and easy to use

Compensation & Logistics

• Compensation: $200K base salary, $100K equity, $50K-150K bonus based on performance and scope
• Interview: We prefer on-site interviews when feasible and can make a decision within 72 hours of your on-site. If you're outside NYC, we'll cover all travel expenses.
• Visas: Yes—we retain immigration counsel to support the process.

The Application

We have a very simple, signal-driven process. Please send Gabriel an email with the following:

• What is the most significant technical challenge you have solved? How did you solve it?
• Your GitHub and/or LinkedIn
• Your resume, if you have one