Staff Software Engineer - Helsinki, Finland - Aiven

Kuvaus

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 become the trusted Data & AI Platform for everyone, leveraging the most popular open-source technologies like Apache Kafka, Aiven for PostgreSQL, Aiven for Clickhouse, and Aiven for OpenSearch. to help companies accelerate time-to-market, drive efficiency, and build innovative solutions across any cloud. Right now, we're looking for a Staff Software Engineer to join our team who shares our passion for forward-thinking and innovative approaches.

About this team

Aiven Unify's mission is simple: help customers quickly discover, govern, and query their data—delivering value in minutes, not months.

Our first step is building a managed, single-tenant metadata discovery and governance service that automatically pulls in metadata from Aiven services and aligns Aiven Teams/roles with catalog policies.

Who we are

So, how do we become the trusted open source data platform for everyone? By listening closely to our customers and taking action to ensure they achieve their business goals. You see, the software we create is merely a means of delivering value. Our thinking is customer-first. That's why our customers are at the front and center of all we do. And in the spirit of sideways thinking, we're by their side as well. Actively helping them solve their challenges. Collaborating. Sharing. And innovating. In other words, it really isn't just about who we are. It's about who our customers are – and where they want to be.

The Role:

We're looking for a founding Staff Engineer to lead the way—someone who can architect, ship, and run this service. Think of this role as the "CTO of the team": you'll set the technical direction, design the early architecture, define SLOs, and contribute to open-source. If you're interested in eventually moving into engineering management, that path is open.

We work like a startup inside Aiven: fast shipping, tight feedback loops, and treating mistakes as opportunities to learn. Our focus is on mid-market customers who need simple, open solutions that just work.

What You'll Do:

• Own the architecture & delivery of a managed, per-tenant service deployed inside customer projects/VPCs, backed by Aiven-managed data services (Kafka, OpenSearch, PostgreSQL). Define SLOs, upgrade paths, and runbooks.
• Design and build the Metadata Orchestrator that listens to Aiven control-plane events and continuously generates ingestion jobs—no more messy cron jobs.
• Develop ingestion connectors & pipelines (Python-based) and the glue that publishes changes into the metadata store and index.
• Map identity & policies by connecting Aiven SSO/Teams/Projects with catalog principals and enforcing RBAC/ABAC across UI and APIs.
• Contribute upstream to our OSS stack (JVM/GraphQL backend, React/TypeScript UI, Python ingestion framework) to add features and reduce maintenance.
• Make the system operable: single-tenant deployment patterns, cost modeling, near-zero-downtime upgrades, observability (metrics/logs/traces), and solid incident response.
• Collaborate across Aiven (Product, Security, Platform) to pass readiness reviews and prepare for General Availability.
• Coach and unblock engineers, set technical standards, and shape the team's engineering culture. Option to step into EM as we grow.

What We're Looking For:

• Strong experience with managed services/SaaS (single- or multi-tenant): tenancy models, SLOs, incident management, cost/performance trade-offs.
• Hands-on coding skills across the stack:
• Python for ingestion/ETL frameworks
• JVM (Java/Kotlin) for backend & GraphQL
• TypeScript/React for UI development
• Knowledge of metadata systems: relational databases (PostgreSQL/MySQL), search engines (OpenSearch/Elasticsearch), and event logs (Kafka).
• Cloud/platform experience: Kubernetes/Helm, Terraform/IaC, networking (VPC peering/BYOC), identity management, and observability.
• Security mindset: threat modeling, audit trails, EU/GDPR awareness.
• Product intuition: you enjoy working with design partners, running demos, and iterating with users.

Nice to have:

• Contributions to open-source projects.
• Prior experience working in startups as one of the first hires or co-founder.
• Experience with policy-enforced access for queries (row/column filtering, masking).
• Familiarity with Aiven services like Kafka, PostgreSQL, OpenSearch, ClickHouse

Don't worry if your experience doesn't line up perfectly – we still encourage you to apply We believe in investing in our crabs' professional growth.

Our Offer

If you ask us what's the best thing about working for Aiven, many will probably say it's the high concentration of talent from around the world that we have here. Enjoy the agile environment of a hyperscale scale-up where you can truly make an impact and have fun while at it.

We invest in you

• Participate in Aiven's equity plan.
• With Aiven locations spanning the globe, we want all of our crabs to find the right balance with our hybrid work policy.
• Get the equipment you need to set yourself up for success.
• Step up your career game with real employer support (use one of our learning platforms, annual learning budget, and more).
• Get holistic wellbeing support through our global Employee Assistance Program.

Make a difference at Aiven

• Contribute to open source projects that you find meaningful outside of work - and get paid for it Our Plankton program recognizes extra work to the open source ecosystem for developers and non-developers alike.
• Use up to 5 days per year to volunteer for a good cause of your choice.
• Join one of our team member resource groups - empower yourself and others in missions that resonate with you.

What else?

• Your wellbeing matters: we provide extensive Occupational Health Care, Dental Care, as well as sports, culture, massage and lunch benefits
• Love breakfast? So do we Join us at our regular office breakfast
• We also have you covered by statutory accident insurance

Amazing What's next?

Once applying you should hear from our Talent Experience team within 5 days regarding the status of your application. If you are selected to move forward you can generally expect 4 stages with us

1. 30-45 minute call with one of our Talent Partners
2. 45 minute Depth of Expertise Interview with the hiring manager
3. Skills interview and or presentation for 1 hour with the wider team
4. Company values interview for 1 hour

How to Recognise and Avoid Employment Scams

There has been a rise in fake job postings used by scammers to get personal information. Please familiarise yourself with the red flags of a potential scam.

Here at Aiven, all of our emails relating to recruitment come from an , or domain and all of our interviews are conducted over video call or in person, our interviews will never occur over text or chat. If you're unsure of the legitimacy of a job opportunity/offer pertaining to Aiven, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at

Equal Opportunities

Aiven provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, marital and family status or without regard to any other similar personal attributes. Aiven complies with applicable local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company operates. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, training and any other terms and conditions related to employment.

At Aiven we are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities or special needs in our working environment and job application procedures. We make all reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities or who otherwise need support to thrive in the workplace. We are committed to continuously improving workplace accessibility. There is an option to request a discussion in the application process but if you have any questions before applying please write to us at