Principal Data Systems Software Engineer

About the role:

Our team builds the tools and runs the tests that support Oracle Database patch releases, including RUs, PSUs, CPUs, MRPs, and CSPUs. The work spans multiple release lines and involves changes across a large, complex codebase.

In this hands-on role, you’ll build and own test automation, investigate failures, and work with development and testing teams to resolve issues. You’ll also use AI coding tools and explore ways to bring AI agents into day-to-day engineering workflows.

What will you do ?

• Build and maintain test frameworks and tools for database patch validation.
• Automate test runs, result collection, failure detection, and issue tracking across release lines.
• Investigate failures by examining test results, source code, logs, stack traces, and dumps.
• Debug programs that are part of the Oracle Database server.
• Turn customer use cases into tests and improve existing test applications.
• Work with development, testing, and release teams to understand issues and keep patch validation moving.
• Use AI coding tools for tasks such as exploring code, writing or updating tests, refactoring, and documentation. Review and test generated code before using it.
• Build AI agent workflows for tasks such as summarizing failures, grouping similar issues, and connecting test results with code changes or known bugs.
• Build connectors that let AI agents work with approved test systems, diagnostic data, and issue tracking tools.
• Evaluate AI workflows and make their results traceable, with engineers reviewing findings before action is taken.
• Track whether automation is improving test coverage, repeatability, and the time it takes to investigate failures.

Why the work matters ?

Each patch can include hundreds of fixes, and every fix needs to be checked for unintended effects. Several database releases are tested at the same time, while customers depend on patches arriving on schedule. Better automation and faster, clearer failure analysis can catch regressions earlier and make validation more predictable.

Required skills :

• Proficiency in Python, Java, SQL, and PL/SQL.
• Strong foundations in data structures and algorithms (DSA) and object-oriented programming (OOP).
• Experience developing software, test tools, or automation.

Preferred skills :

• Perl or JavaScript.
• Familiarity with Oracle Database concepts such as server architecture, background processes, instances, shared and dedicated servers, connectivity, and configuration.
• Experience reading alert logs, stack dumps, or other database diagnostics.
• Experience building test harnesses, automation frameworks, or workflow tools.
• Experience with AI coding assistants or integrating AI into software development.
• Familiarity with LLMs, AI agents, or connectors between agents and engineering tools.
• Experience testing AI workflows and making their results traceable and reviewable.
• Experience working across multiple operating systems and platforms.

What will you learn ?

You’ll have opportunities to build knowledge of Oracle Database areas such as Consolidated Database, Grid Computing, Real Application Clusters (RAC), transaction management, query optimization, recovery, and data warehousing.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Data Systems Software Development:

• Own a feature area’s data model across Online Transaction Processing/Online Analytical Processing, JSON, spatial, or graph.

• Define performance budgets and enforce query patterns that meet latency targets at scale.

• Partner with product management to design experiments that drive adoption, conversion, and retention; analyze results to inform roadmap.

• Architects existing and complex new services.

Software Development and Coding – Design, Testing, and Optimization:

• Designs software solutions and analyzes and identifies requirements to achieve business and operational goals, sharing results with manager upon completion.

• Adheres to and improves execution of all phases of the software development lifecycle; provides guidance and coaching to engineers to drive improvements.

• Utilizes advanced knowledge to develop and guide new software features and enhancements leading design specifications, ensuring accessibility, and develops documents to clarify software design and code.

• Leads code reviews in multiple areas to help drive improvements.

• Conducts debugging and troubleshooting to identify and fix complex software issues.

• Develops fixes for identified issues.

• Implements comprehensive software testing (e.g., functional and non-functional testing), quality assurance processes, software error logging, monitoring, and observability for effective debugging, sharing work with manager and/or lead upon completion.

• Conducts performance profiling and optimization of coding, building scalable solutions, and anticipating and resolving potential outcomes.

• Troubleshoots and resolves complex issues related to application programming interface (API) functionality and integration.

• Implements complex API versioning, lifecycle, and interoperability strategies.

Software Architecture – Software System Structural Design:

• Implements and contributes to developing software, systems, and services, ensuring review by manager and/or senior technical leaders upon completion. Recommends project or design scope.

• Provides technical guidance and coaching to less experienced developers in existing software architecture.

• Contributes to periodic reviews and ensures adherence to architectural standards.

• Collaborates with stakeholders and networks externally to ensure work aligns with software architecture.

• Implements complex performance optimization and scalability strategies in software design.

• Occasionally conducts technology research and evaluation for potential architectural changes that may have an impact on results for the team.

Issue/Defect Collaboration – Software Products Support:

• Collaborates with stakeholders to understand customer issues and align solutions.

• May provide advanced technical guidance and support to customers regarding customer-reported issues.

• Advocates for customers' interests and suggests product enhancements based on feedback.

• Provides input to ensure customer satisfaction through timely resolution of issues and effective communication.

• Identifies and implements customer issue and/or defect handling and training processes.

• Investigates and troubleshoots complex and broad reaching/scoped maintenance issues to ensure customer agreement on short- and long-term solutions (e.g., future enhancements).

Practices and Standards Compliance – Security and Compliance:

• Collaborates with the team and externally to follow development practices and coding standards, providing coaching to less experienced team members.

• Participates in peer review processes, provides technical leadership, and ensures code quality and adherence to broad acceptance criteria during development, independently.

• Demonstrates and shares advanced knowledge of industry best practices and applies them to software development processes.

• Implements complex secure coding practices to prevent security vulnerabilities.

Development Operations – System Maintenance:

• Performs periodic maintenance and testing operations for systems that require upgrading or patching (e.g., for critical vulnerabilities), sharing results with manager upon completion.

• Drives improvements, ensures automation, testing, and debugging of systems to ensure service/product availability, health, support, and reliability.

Core Responsibilities

Planning & Execution:

• Manages and coordinates moderately complex tasks, monitoring timelines and deliverables to ensure timely completion and adherence to requirements for a moderately sized project or initiative.

• Efficiently delegates, monitors, and prioritizes work across multiple projects, providing technical oversight and adjusting plans to address shifts in resources or timelines.

Collaboration & Partnership:

• Collaborates across the organization to align on expectations and achieve shared objectives.

• Leverages understanding of business leaders, stakeholders, and/or customers to ensure proposed solutions meet their needs.

• Supports inclusivity by actively seeking and listening to diverse perspectives, ensuring others feel heard and respected.

Problem Solving:

• Identifies and addresses moderately complex issues by analyzing a wide range of data and/or information to identify solutions in accordance with standard practices.

• Proactively escalates unresolved or critical issues with a thorough assessment and suggests potential solutions.

• Reviews, contributes to, and documents problem solving strategies.

Continuous Learning:

• Pursues learning opportunities to expand knowledge and skills and/or tools in new areas and stays abreast of the latest industry trends and best practices.

• Proactively seeks and leverages ongoing feedback and training to improve skills.

• Coaches and mentors junior team members, fostering continuous learning and knowledge sharing within and across teams.

Continuous Improvement:

• Develops ideas, recommends updates, and/or collaborates on the implementation of process improvements to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of processes, protocols, and workflows across teams, and evaluates the impact on key stakeholders.

• Solicits feedback from others on ideas for alternative approaches and methods for continued improvement.

Performance and Development:

• Contributes to the talent development pipeline by participating in candidate interviews, assessing candidates, and providing hiring recommendations.