Sr. QA Engineer - Query Processing

Job Title:  Sr. QA Engineer - Query Processing

Location:  Remote (US Only) 

*We cannot sponsor or transfer any visas, of any kind now or in the future (ex. OPT, EAD, H1B, H4, etc.)*

Hiring Manager:  Senior QA Engineering Manager

Estimated salary range: $145,000 to $190,000

• The salary offered for this position will be based on a candidate’s experience and skill demonstrated during interviews and other evaluations

About Ocient:

Ocient is a data analytics software solutions company that enables always-on, compute-intensive analysis of complex, large-scale data with outstanding performance that delivers up to 90% price savings. Ocient brings data transformation, loading, complex query processing, AI, OcientML® and OcientGeo® as a single, consolidated solution for deeper insights and data-driven decision making. Enterprises can deploy Ocient’s pilot-to-production solutions on premises, in the OcientCloud® or in the public cloud, with little to no resource-intensive integration. Ocient is a global, carbon-neutral company, headquartered in Chicago, and backed by leading investors including Greycroft, OCA Ventures, In-Q-Tel and Buoyant Ventures. For more information, please visit www.ocient.com.

Position Overview:

Ocient is seeking a Senior Software QA Engineer with strong expertise in database query processing. The scope of query processing at Ocient spans the Query Optimizer, Execution Engine, Machine Learning, Database Statistics, and Geospatial components.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and execute comprehensive test plans and automated suites to validate new features/optimizations for query processing component of the product.
• Develop, run, and analyze regression tests targeting the system-level database functionality — ensuring functional stability, scalability, and performance. 
• Collaborate strongly with Development team to implement tests onto nightly CI/QA infrastructure, improve existing test coverage and analysis tooling for Query Processing components.
• Own end-to-end evaluation of database query processing, partnering across teams to identify behavioral/functional issues, correctness gaps, and opportunities for performance optimization.
• Provide technical leadership in defining test strategies, frameworks, and best practices for validating complex query optimization and execution scenarios.
• Work cross-functionally with engineering leadership and internal stakeholders to align on feature design goals, ensure test completeness, and drive timely resolution of issues.
• Lead the evolution of database testing infrastructure to support scalability, reliability, and reproducibility across functional and system-level query processing tests.
• Act as a subject matter expert in query processing functionality, partnering with customer operations and development teams on escalated issues and validation.
• Build reproductions of poorly performing customer workloads to investigate issues along with the query processing team on root cause analysis.
• Mentor junior engineers, fostering expertise in database query processing and functional testing methodologies.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent.
• 4–6 years of experience in database development, administration, or QA engineering, ideally focused on testing and validating query processing behavior and database functionality.
•  Deep understanding of relational and distributed database systems, with strong skills in SQL query design, execution, and analysis.
• Proven experience in test planning, designing, and executing automated, reliable test frameworks and workloads for databases.
• Strong QA and debugging skills with the ability to trace issues across query planning, execution, and component interactions within the database engine.
• Solid Linux expertise — comfortable monitoring resource utilization, analyzing logs, and understanding how system-level factors influence database behavior.
• Proficiency in Python for test automation, diagnostics, and feature validation. Hands-on experience with JIRA, test case management system and version control tools.
• Familiarity with cloud environments (AWS or GCP), including deployment and monitoring.
• Ability to analyze complex test results, interpret query execution behavior, and derive meaningful insights through visualization and test data analysis. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey technical findings clearly to diverse audiences.

An ideal candidate will have:

• Passionate about testing complex, large-scale distributed database systems, with a focus on BOTH functional correctness and performance.
• Able to dive into the internals of SQL query optimization and execution to become an expert with our query processing.
•  to validate new query processing features end-to-end—from test planning and execution to resource management—and share results that inform product direction.
• Excited to discover how even small changes in query shapes can achieve 10x performance gains, reproduce query performance problems in the lab.
• Interested in new workload generation, and understanding how they target performance and stress components of the database, developing infrastructure to measure key performance metrics in a database to understand and identify bottlenecks.
• Highly collaborative, with strong communication skills and the ability to work independently to deliver well-designed, meaningful test outcomes.

We are not open to using an agency or staffing company at this time. We do not accept unsolicited agency or staffing resumes and we are not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes. 

Ocient is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy status), sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, marital status, parental status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, please contact [email protected] for more information.

All official Ocient job postings and recruiting communications will come directly from our team via our Careers page, LinkedIn, or from an ocient.com email address. If you receive communication about a role from any other source, please treat it with caution and direct questions to [email protected].