Database Engineer
About The Position
We are looking for a highly skilled Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE) with deep expertise in PostgreSQL at scale. In this role, you will design, operationalize, and optimize the data persistence layer that powers large-scale, mission-critical systems. You’ll work closely with SRE, Platform, and Engineering teams to ensure performance, reliability, automation, and operational excellence across the database environment. This is a hands-on engineering role focused on building resilient data infrastructure—well beyond traditional database administration. This role is a remote position open to applicants based in Canada.
Requirements
- Deep understanding of PostgreSQL internals: MVCC, WAL processing, vacuum behavior, locking, query planning
- Experience designing and operating highly available database clusters with automated failover
- Strong performance tuning skills (query optimization, indexing, workload tuning)
- Ability to diagnose database and system issues: Query plans, I/O, memory usage, WAL growth, table/index bloat
- Experience with backup and recovery strategies: Point-in-time recovery (PITR), durability planning
- Familiarity with observability and monitoring: Metrics, alerting, and performance dashboards (Grafana)
- Understanding of distributed systems concepts: Service discovery, consensus (e.g., Consul)
- Strong Linux systems knowledge (performance tuning, resource management)
- Experience with scripting and infrastructure-as-code automation
- Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in production environments
- Knowledge of: Security, compliance, encryption, auditing, access control
- Ability to work independently in high-availability, production-critical systems
- Familiarity with AI-assisted tools (e.g., Claude, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot)
- 7+ years of hands-on PostgreSQL experience in large-scale, high-volume production environments
- Strong expertise in PostgreSQL internals: WAL, MVCC, vacuum tuning, query planner, indexing, logical replication
- Advanced SQL and strong schema design and query optimization skills
- Solid experience with Linux systems and networking fundamentals
- Experience building automation using Go or Python
- Experience with monitoring tools such as: Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, PMM, pg_stat_statements
Nice To Haves
- Experience with connection pooling and load balancing: PgBouncer, HAProxy
- Experience with high-availability solutions: Patroni or similar tools
- Exposure to event streaming and CDC: Kafka, Debezium
- Experience supporting 24/7 production environments
- Experience with PostgreSQL backup tools: Barman, pgBackRest, WAL-G
- Familiarity with Traefik or similar infrastructure components
Responsibilities
- Design, implement, and operate highly available PostgreSQL clusters (physical/logical replication, sharding, partitioning, failover automation)
- Optimize query performance and indexing strategies
- Perform capacity planning, growth forecasting, and workload modeling
- Own high-availability strategies, including: Automatic failover Multi-region deployments Disaster recovery
- Build and maintain automation for: Provisioning and configuration Backups and recovery Failovers Vacuum tuning Schema management
- Use tools such as Terraform, Ansible/SaltStack, Bash, Python, etc.
- Develop monitoring and alerting systems for PostgreSQL clusters
- Lead response during database incidents (e.g., performance regressions, replication lag, deadlocks, bloat, storage failures)
- Conduct root-cause analysis and implement long-term fixes
- Partner with software engineers to: Review SQL queries Optimize schemas Ensure effective use of PostgreSQL features
- Provide guidance on: Database design patterns Migrations and version upgrades Best practices
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
