Principal Performance Engineer (Database & AI Benchmarking) in London
Principal Performance Engineer (Database & AI Benchmarking)

Principal Performance Engineer (Database & AI Benchmarking) in London

London Full-Time 80000 - 100000 £ / year (est.) Home office possible
Jobgether

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead performance engineering for database and AI systems, ensuring excellence in benchmarking.
  • Company: Join a forward-thinking tech company focused on innovation and collaboration.
  • Benefits: Enjoy remote work, flexible hours, competitive pay, and professional growth opportunities.
  • Other info: Be part of an inclusive culture that values continuous learning and development.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact on cutting-edge technology and shape the future of performance engineering.
  • Qualifications: 8+ years in performance engineering with strong skills in databases and AI systems.

The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.

This senior technical role focuses on defining and driving performance excellence across large-scale database and AI systems in a distributed, cloud-native environment. You will be responsible for establishing benchmarking strategy, ensuring performance predictability, and building rigorous frameworks that measure how systems behave under real-world workloads. Acting as a key technical authority, you will collaborate closely with engineering, product, and field teams to translate performance insights into architectural decisions and roadmap direction. The role combines deep systems expertise with hands-on engineering, requiring both strategic thinking and practical execution. You will design scalable benchmarking systems for database and AI workloads, ensuring results are reproducible, measurable, and actionable.

Accountabilities

  • Define and lead the performance engineering strategy across database and AI workloads, including benchmarking frameworks, regression detection, and performance reporting standards.
  • Design and maintain repeatable, end-to-end benchmarks for OLTP, OLAP, and mixed database workloads as well as AI inference and pipeline systems.
  • Develop and optimize benchmarking harnesses, automation scripts, and dashboards to ensure consistent and reproducible performance evaluation.
  • Analyze system performance across throughput, latency, concurrency, scalability, and stability, identifying bottlenecks and recommending optimizations.
  • Collaborate with engineering, product, and field teams to define performance targets, acceptance criteria, and architectural improvements.
  • Establish performance best practices, including test rigor, workload modeling, hardware normalization, and governance standards.
  • Provide executive-ready insights and reports translating complex performance data into clear technical and business recommendations.

Requirements

  • 8+ years of experience in performance engineering, systems engineering, SRE, or benchmarking roles, ideally spanning database and/or AI systems.
  • Strong expertise in performance concepts such as latency distributions, tail behavior, concurrency, saturation, and capacity planning.
  • Deep understanding of database systems (preferably PostgreSQL or similar) and experience benchmarking distributed or large-scale systems.
  • Hands-on experience with benchmarking frameworks such as pgbench, HammerDB, TPC-style workloads, or custom performance harnesses.
  • Strong programming and automation skills in Python and/or Go, with solid Bash scripting and data analysis capability.
  • Experience with Linux performance profiling tools such as perf, flamegraphs, strace, iostat, or vmstat.
  • Ability to clearly communicate complex technical findings and influence engineering decisions across teams.
  • Strong plus: experience with vector databases, PostgreSQL tuning, AI inference pipelines, GPU profiling, RAG workflows, or storage/network performance optimization.

Benefits

  • Fully remote role within the UK/EU region.
  • Flexible working environment supporting work-life balance.
  • Competitive compensation aligned with senior technical expertise.
  • Strong focus on professional development and continuous learning.
  • Access to wellness initiatives and employee support programs.
  • Opportunity to shape performance strategy for cutting-edge database and AI systems.
  • Inclusive and collaborative engineering culture.

Principal Performance Engineer (Database & AI Benchmarking) in London employer: Jobgether

As a Principal Performance Engineer in the UK, you will join a forward-thinking company that prioritises innovation and excellence in database and AI systems. With a fully remote role, flexible working arrangements, and a strong emphasis on professional development, this organisation fosters a collaborative and inclusive culture where your expertise can directly influence cutting-edge technology. Enjoy competitive compensation and wellness initiatives while shaping the future of performance engineering in a supportive environment.
Jobgether

Contact Detail:

Jobgether Recruiting Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫

We think this is how you could land Principal Performance Engineer (Database & AI Benchmarking) in London

✨Tip Number 1

Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in the industry on LinkedIn or at meetups. We can’t stress enough how important it is to make connections that could lead to job opportunities.

✨Tip Number 2

Show off your skills! Create a portfolio or GitHub repository showcasing your projects related to performance engineering and AI systems. This gives potential employers a taste of what you can do.

✨Tip Number 3

Prepare for interviews by brushing up on your technical knowledge and problem-solving skills. We recommend practicing common performance engineering scenarios and being ready to discuss your past experiences.

✨Tip Number 4

Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, we love seeing candidates who are proactive about their job search.

We think you need these skills to ace Principal Performance Engineer (Database & AI Benchmarking) in London

Performance Engineering
Benchmarking Frameworks
Database Systems (PostgreSQL)
AI Inference and Pipeline Systems
Automation Scripting (Python, Go, Bash)
Linux Performance Profiling Tools
Data Analysis
System Performance Analysis
Concurrency and Scalability
Capacity Planning
Technical Communication
Collaboration with Engineering Teams
Performance Reporting Standards
Workload Modeling
Optimization Recommendations

Some tips for your application 🫡

Tailor Your Application: Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter to highlight your experience in performance engineering, especially with database and AI systems. We want to see how your skills align with the role, so don’t hold back on showcasing relevant projects!

Showcase Your Technical Skills: Since this role is all about deep systems expertise, be sure to include specific examples of your hands-on experience with benchmarking frameworks and performance profiling tools. We love seeing practical applications of your knowledge!

Communicate Clearly: When writing your application, aim for clarity and conciseness. We appreciate candidates who can translate complex technical concepts into straightforward language, as this reflects your ability to communicate effectively across teams.

Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to submit your application through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your details and ensures you’re considered for this exciting opportunity. Don’t miss out!

How to prepare for a job interview at Jobgether

✨Know Your Performance Metrics

Before the interview, brush up on key performance metrics relevant to database and AI systems. Be ready to discuss concepts like latency distributions and concurrency, as these will likely come up in conversation. Showing that you understand how to measure and optimise performance will impress your interviewers.

✨Showcase Your Hands-On Experience

Prepare to share specific examples of your hands-on experience with benchmarking frameworks like pgbench or HammerDB. Discuss any custom performance harnesses you've developed and how they contributed to performance improvements. Real-world examples will demonstrate your practical skills and problem-solving abilities.

✨Collaborate and Communicate

Since this role involves working closely with engineering and product teams, be ready to talk about your collaboration experiences. Highlight instances where you translated complex performance data into actionable insights for non-technical stakeholders. This shows you can bridge the gap between technical and business needs.

✨Prepare for Technical Questions

Expect technical questions that test your understanding of database systems and performance engineering principles. Review common tools and techniques used in performance profiling, such as Linux tools like perf and flamegraphs. Being well-prepared will help you answer confidently and showcase your expertise.

Principal Performance Engineer (Database & AI Benchmarking) in London
Jobgether
Location: London

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