Senior Researcher – AI Data Systems

About the role

Huawei Canada’s Distributed Scheduling and Data Engine Lab is seeking a Senior Researcher to design and prototype next‑generation data systems that power AI applications such as large language models, AI agents, and multimodal workloads. The role focuses on creating scalable architectures for agent memory, semantic retrieval, vector search, and AI data lifecycle management.

Key responsibilities

• Research, design, and prototype data systems supporting LLMs, AI agents, RAG pipelines, and multimodal workloads.
• Design scalable architectures for agent memory, semantic retrieval, vector search, knowledge management, and AI data lifecycle.
• Investigate state‑of‑the‑art technologies in vector and graph databases, data lake houses, retrieval systems, and cloud‑native infrastructure.
• Develop proof‑of‑concept and production‑grade components using modern database and distributed systems principles.
• Review recent research from top conferences and translate innovative ideas into product‑ready technologies.

Required profile

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, or related field.
• Strong research mindset with a record of publications, patents, or open‑source contributions in databases, distributed systems, or AI infrastructure.
• Experience collaborating with engineers and researchers to move ideas from prototype to production.

Required skills

• Proficiency in systems programming languages such as C++, Rust, or Go.
• Deep understanding of database internals: storage engines, query processing, indexing, transaction management, and distributed architectures.
• Familiarity with PostgreSQL and open‑source extensions (e.g., pgvector, Apache Arrow, Spark, DuckDB, Milvus, Weaviate, LanceDB).
• Experience with vector databases, graph databases, knowledge graphs, and AI data infrastructure.
• Knowledge of cloud‑native technologies, distributed storage, consistency protocols, and large‑scale system design.
• Hands‑on experience with modern hardware accelerators such as GPUs, NPUs, or TPUs.