Backend Engineer, ClickHouse
Aiven
| Company | Aiven |
| Category | Uncategorised |
| Location | Helsinki |
| Remote | On-site (inferred) |
| Employment | Not stated |
| Level | Not stated |
| Salary | Not stated by the employer |
| Posted | 28 Jul 2026 |
| Last verified | 30 Jul 2026 |
| Source | Employer career page (greenhouse) |
Description
We’re a global team of over 400 people, working together to push the boundaries of open-source technology and multi-cloud solutions. Our vision is to help developers, builders, and creators bring their ideas to life with speed and simplicity, by providing a cloud data platform that makes open-source databases, search, streaming, and application infrastructure easily accessible to everyone.
The Role
We're looking for a Backend Engineer to join our small, focused ClickHouse team. You'll work on the systems that power our managed ClickHouse service – building, scaling, and operating infrastructure that thousands of customers depend on daily.
You'll write Python that orchestrates database lifecycle operations, dig into Linux internals when things get interesting, and ship features through a well-established CI/CD pipeline. You'll work in a modern async-first Python codebase alongside engineers who care about code quality, type safety, and automation.
If you have experience with ClickHouse internals or C++ – even better. But what matters most is strong backend fundamentals and a genuine interest in databases and distributed systems.
What You'll Do
Design, build, and maintain backend services in Python (FastAPI, asyncio, psycopg2) that manage the ClickHouse service lifecycle
Work with CI/CD pipelines (Buildkite, GitHub Actions) to ship code reliably and often
Investigate and resolve production issues across the stack – from Python application code down to Linux system behavior
Contribute to technical planning within a small team where your input directly shapes the roadmap
Write well-tested, type-checked code and participate in thorough code reviews
Use AI coding tools as part of your daily workflow to accelerate development
What We're Looking For
Must have:
Solid Python development skills -- you write clean, production-grade Python and understand async patterns (asyncio, aiohttp)
Strong understanding of databases -- you know how relational and analytical databases work under the hood, not just how to query them
Deep Linux knowledge (Fedora preferred) -- comfortable with systemd, process management, filesystem internals, and debugging at the OS level
CI/CD experience -- you've built and maintained delivery pipelines, not just used them
Familiarity with automated testing -- unit, integration, and system tests are part of how you work
Experience with AI coding tools -- you actively use AI-assisted development in your workflow and understand how to get the most out of it
Distributed systems awareness -- you understand the challenges of running services across multiple nodes and regions
Fluent English -- written and verbal
Nice to have:
ClickHouse experience -- operational knowledge, query optimization, or contributions to the project
C++ or C -- ability to read and contribute to database engine code
Cloud infrastructure experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) with Terraform or similar IaC tools
PostgreSQL operational experience
Software and network security knowledge
Why This Role
Small team, big impact. You're not a cog -- you'll shape the technical direction of a product used at scale.
Real engineering problems. Database orchestration, distributed systems, performance at scale -- not CRUD apps.
Modern tooling. Strict type checking, automated formatting, security scanning, and AI-assisted development are the norm, not aspirations.
Helsinki-based, hybrid. The team is in the office 3 times per week.
Amazing! What’s next:
If you think Aiven is the place for you and that our Values align with yours, send us your resume and we’ll get in touch!
Global Benefits:
Our global benefits are designed to help you thrive and grow, personally and professionally:
Participate in Aiven’s equity plan.
Balance work and life with our hybrid work policy.
Choose the equipment you need to set yourself up for success.
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