Sr. Open Source Software Engineer - Apache Cassandra

About the role

This role connects deep upstream work - binding committer authority, CEP-level design, release stewardship - directly to production-scale outcomes in one of the largest enterprise Cassandra deployments in the world.

NetApp Instaclustr runs one of the industry's largest Cassandra managed services, spanning a broad range of enterprise customers across financial services, retail, and technology sectors. Our Cassandra engineering team leads active work on Cassandra 6.0, owns releases across core and ecosystem subprojects, and drives upstream contributions that directly address production-scale operator needs.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end upstream initiatives in Apache Cassandra, from CEP authoring and design consensus through implementation, review, and release, in domains such as storage/compaction, indexing and SAI/vector, distributed repair, observability, and Cassandra releases.
• Provide binding committer reviews on upstream patches and community contributions, applying the technical rigor and authority that moves high-quality work through the Apache Cassandra review process.
• Co-own Apache Cassandra core release management as part of the rotating committer pool and, where capacity allows, contribute to NetApp-led ecosystem releases (Cassandra Sidecar, Analytics, GoCQL).
• Translate enterprise customer needs into credible upstream proposals, CEP-level designs, and sustained technical engagement that only a committer can supply; advise product and field teams on complex upstream trade-offs.
• Shape community direction through evidence-based participation on the dev@ mailing list, Apache Jira, GitHub, and community forums; influence project decisions on architecture, release policy, contribution standards, and long-term roadmap.
• Mentor engineers toward committer standing and raise overall contribution quality through rigorous review practices, test discipline, and clear engineering guidance.
• Improve upstream infrastructure - CI reliability, test coverage, contributor tooling, and release automation - to reduce project-wide maintenance burden and strengthen NetApp's reputation as a steward of the project.

Requirements

• A minimum of 12 years of applicable professional software engineering experience is required.
• Current Apache Cassandra committer status with a sustained and publicly verifiable upstream track record across patches, reviews, and community standing in Cassandra core or a closely related subproject.
• Expert Java engineering capability in performance-sensitive, concurrent, and production-grade distributed systems - comfortable writing, reviewing, and reasoning about complex Cassandra internals at depth.
• Deep mastery of Apache Cassandra internals in at least one major domain: storage engine and compaction, indexing and SAI/vector, distributed consensus and repair (including Accord and CEP-37), observability and virtual tables, or release management and CI.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical work through the Apache open source governance model: CEP authoring or co-sponsorship, design consensus, mailing-list engagement, and Jira-driven delivery from proposal through merge.
• Strong written communication for asynchronous, global, public technical collaboration - mailing lists, design documents, code reviews, and Jira threads.
• Proven senior-level technical judgment: resolves most blockers independently, determines approach on novel or ambiguous assignments, surfaces systemic risks proactively, and produces work that is consistent with project and team objectives.

Preferred qualifications

• PMC membership in Apache Cassandra or a related Apache subproject.
• Track record of work in Cassandra 6.0 feature areas (Accord, Transactional Cluster Metadata, CEP-37 automated repair, CEP-38 CQL Management API, ZSTD dictionary compression, SAI/vector write performance).
• Experience connecting upstream technical leadership to enterprise customer and operator outcomes - translating production pain points into accepted community improvements.
• History of mentoring contributors toward reviewer or committer standing in an open governance project.
• Familiarity with Cassandra ecosystem subprojects: Sidecar, Analytics (Spark bulk), GoCQL, or Apache Cassandra drivers.

Education

A Bachelor's degree in engineering or technical related field of study, or additional equivalent experience.

Team Information

The hiring manager for this role is an Engineering Manager for the Open Source Engineering team. You will join a globally distributed group that values committer-grade technical judgment, clear ownership, transparent community engagement, and practical impact on real customer outcomes.

Compensation

The target salary range for this position is $220,000-265,000. The salary offered will be determined by the candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and education and may be outside of this range. Final compensation packages are competitive and in line with industry standards, reflecting a variety of factors, and include a comprehensive benefits package.

Equal Opportunity Employer

NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification.