Database Engineer III, Amazon Games

Amazon • San Francisco, CA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Amazon Games is seeking a talented Database Engineer III to support our live service games Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty. You'll design, build, and optimize database solutions that power millions of players' experiences, working with the latest technology at massive scale in a fast-paced gaming environment. A typical day involves reviewing database performance metrics and operational health for live games, leading design reviews for new feature data models, troubleshooting complex query performance issues, or architecting database solutions for upcoming content releases. The role balances tactical execution with strategic planning to ensure database infrastructure scales to meet growing player demand while maintaining high reliability and performance. The Technical Operations team at Amazon Games publishes and operates live service games, ensuring they run smoothly 24/7 by building the necessary infrastructure and tools. The team values innovation, operational excellence, and customer obsession in a collaborative environment where technical expertise directly impacts player satisfaction.

Requirements

• Experience in Database Administration and strong troubleshooting skills (tuning and optimization, deadlocks, schema design) with any Relational Database Engines (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQLServer)
• Knowledge of writing and optimizing SQL queries in a business environment with large-scale, complex datasets
• Experience with automation or working with scripting languages like Python, Java, Perl, PHP, Ruby, Bash, Shell, or equivalent
• 5+ years of database engineering experience
• Experience with database architecture, high availability, and scalability patterns
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to troubleshoot complex database issues

Nice To Haves

• Experience in Games Industry (supporting title Development, Release, or Live Ops), or experience with interrupt service routines
• Experience with AWS database services (RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB, Redshift)
• Knowledge of database migration and replication technologies
• Experience with NoSQL databases and understanding of when to use them
• Familiarity with database monitoring, observability, and performance tuning tools

Responsibilities

• Lead database architecture and design for Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty live game operations, ensuring high availability, performance, and scalability for millions of concurrent players
• Own team-level database solutions spanning the full lifecycle: design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance
• Solve complex database problems involving multiple constraints, making strategic trade-offs between performance, cost, and reliability
• Work independently on database solutions where business problems are defined but technology implementation is not, bringing clarity through expert technical judgment
• Collaborate with game developers, software engineers, and operations teams to optimize database performance and resolve production issues
• Mentor other engineers on database best practices, code reviews, and architectural decisions
• Drive operational excellence by identifying root causes of database issues and implementing permanent solutions
• Use query languages (SQL, HiveQL), schema definition languages (DDL), and scripting languages (Python, Shell) to build robust database automation
• Review database performance metrics and operational health for our live games
• Lead a design review for a new feature's data model
• Troubleshoot a complex query performance issue affecting player experience
• Work with game teams to architect database solutions for upcoming content releases
• Balance tactical execution with strategic planning, ensuring our database infrastructure scales to meet growing player demand while maintaining the highest standards of reliability and performance

Benefits

• sign-on payments
• restricted stock units (RSUs)
• health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage)
• 401(k) matching
• paid time off
• parental leave

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed