Software Engineer - Surfaces

What's the job to be done?

You will work on the central control plane for every PlanetScale database, responsible for the creation and management of some of the worlds most important Vitess and Postgres databases.

You will get to work across languages. Our CLI is written in Go, the dashboard is React + TypeScript, and the backend API is Ruby on Rails.

You will get the opportunity to learn and deeply understand Vitess and Postgres. Working with our design team, you will apply your skills and taste to solve database DX challenges. Building truly the best database for developers.

You will build, document, and publish RESTful APIs used by both end users and our user-facing dashboard.

You will work on internal admin tools (chatbots, admin panels) to assist our engineers and support teams to better solve customer problems.

You will get to work on bringing PlanetScale to where our users are — whether that's via an API, Terraform provider, or MCP server.

You will work independently to solve engineering and business problems with little direction and high autonomy.

These attributes best describe you

• You are passionate about deeply understanding user problems and applying your skills to build UIs and APIs to solve them.
• You have a high personal bar for the user experiences you produce.
• You enjoy shipping quickly and iterating on solutions while learning from customer feedback.
• You excel in a collaborative environment. It is not your code, it is our code and we win by working together.
• You have excellent problem-solving skills and can debug complex issues across multiple systems.
• You embrace AI tools and frequently evaluate how you can integrate it into improving your workflow.
• You are self-motivated and can work independently with minimal guidance while making sound technical decisions.

What you will need

• 5+ years of software engineering experience building web applications
• Strong proficiency in Ruby on Rails for backend development
• Experience with React and TypeScript for frontend development
• Familiarity with relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL)
• Understanding of web fundamentals: HTTP, authentication, browser APIs
• Familiarity with feature flags and progressive rollouts to move quickly and safely
• Experience with modern CSS (Tailwind CSS or similar utility-first frameworks)

What else will help you be successful

• Experience with Go for CLI development
• Experience with Next.js or Remix
• Experience with background job processing (Sidekiq)
• Knowledge of data visualization libraries (D3, charting libraries)
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP)
• Previous experience at a high-growth technology company

Why PlanetScale

We're redefining how high-growth companies manage data at scale—and we work with some of the most exciting brands in gaming, consumer tech, and B2B SaaS. As a Software Engineer, you'll be at the core of building the platform that powers world-class apps used by hundreds of millions of users worldwide. PlanetScale is a profitable company with a philosophy.