Backend Software Engineer - Data Connectors

Technologies We Use

• Java and Python for connectors, backend services, and developer SDKs
• Open-source technologies like Kafka, Kubernetes, Flink, Debezium, Iceberg
• Industry-standard build tooling, including Gradle and GitHub
• Shared job orchestration, streaming, serverless execution, and compute deployment platforms

Core Responsibilities

• Build and maintain Foundry’s first-class connectors, improving performance and extending support for imports, exports, change data capture, interactive queries, and writeback as external systems and customer needs evolve.
• Improve the infrastructure that builds, tests, packages, and distributes connectors and shared libraries, including tooling across our connector monorepo.
• Design and maintain connectivity SDKs for internal teams and end users, with clear APIs, documentation, testing utilities, and development workflows that make integrations easy to author and maintain.
• Collaborate with product teams to integrate connector execution with job orchestration, streaming, and serverless platforms.
• Lead incremental migrations onto shared infrastructure, manage compatibility, and retire older implementations while preserving the workflows customers depend on.
• Develop reusable security frameworks and tooling that make secure connectivity a consistent part of connector development and execution.
• Debug production issues and performance problems across the stack, turning recurring support problems into durable fixes, automated tests, and better observability.
• Establish shared testing frameworks, compatibility checks, and release practices that keep a large connector portfolio reliable and maintainable.
• Help prepare and maintain Palantir connectivity software for open-source use, including its APIs, packaging, documentation, and contributor experience.

What We Value

• An ownership mindset and a high bar for correctness, security, and automated testing, including responsibility for how software behaves in production.
• Pride in building and maintaining integrations over time, including the detailed work required to keep them reliable as upstream systems change.
• Engineering judgment that balances delivering new capabilities with simplifying existing systems and reducing operational burden.
• Empathy for developers and end users, reflected in usable SDKs, clear configuration, actionable errors, and useful diagnostics.
• Curiosity about unfamiliar systems and persistence in debugging problems across languages, APIs, services, networks, and execution environments.

What We Require

• 4+ years of professional software engineering experience developing external system connectors, with depth in areas such as developing batch and streaming data ingestion systems, third-party integration development, or monorepo and asset distribution frameworks. Operating on top of these technologies alone does not qualify.
• Deep expertise in Gradle, including developing custom plugins, managing multi-project builds, and optimizing build performance.
• Demonstrated ability to diagnose complex reliability and performance problems and improve systems through measured, incremental changes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work effectively across teams, incorporate feedback, and hold a high bar for quality.