Senior Database Consultant, PostgreSQL

Pythian

1d•CA$80,000 - CA$130,000•Remote

About The Position

The Senior Database Consultant will provide comprehensive support for all database and application infrastructure aspects to a diverse client base. This role is crucial for delivering and consulting on services, as well as for implementing improvements and optimizations for managed services customers.

Requirements

Knowledge and experience in installing, configuring and upgrading PostgreSQL databases & tools relevant in PostgreSQL Administration.
Experience administering PostgreSQL in virtualized and cloud environments, especially AWS, GCP or Azure.
Experience with scripting (bash/python) and software development (C++, Java, Go).
Automation technologies such as Ansible, Terraform, Puppet, Chef, SALT experience.
Debugging skills and the ability to troubleshoot methodically, identifying and applying fixes for known errors, and when necessary, capacity to think outside of the box to resolve complex issues.
Very good documentation skills.
Experience with High Availability (HA) solutions for PostgreSQL, including Patroni, and repmgr, is required. The candidate should be proficient in configuring and managing automated failover, replication, and cluster health monitoring to ensure database resilience and minimal downtime.
Experience with PostgreSQL backup tools, including Barman, pgBackRest, pg_basebackup, etc. is required. The candidate should be proficient in configuring full, incremental, and differential backups, as well as managing Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR) and WAL archiving for disaster recovery.
Experience in database migrations from different database engines, including Oracle, MySQL, and MSSQL, to PostgreSQL. Using migration tools such as ora2pg, AWS/GCP/Azure Database Migration Services (DMS), and other CDC-based techniques to ensure a smooth transition with minimal downtime.
Experience migrating between on-premises and cloud-based databases.
Experience analyzing and optimizing schema conversions, SQL compatibility issues, and performance tuning post-migration.

Nice To Haves

Understanding of current IT service standards such as ITIL.
Being a contributor to projects relevant to PostgreSQL, or other database or infrastructure software.
Hands-on experience in monitoring PostgreSQL databases using industry-standard tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, SolarWinds, pgAdmin, Zabbix, Nagios and Datadog.
Experience with cloud-native and managed database monitoring tools, including AWS CloudWatch, Google Cloud Operations (Stackdriver), and Azure Monitor. This includes configuring monitoring solutions, analyzing performance metrics, setting up alerts, and troubleshooting database issues in cloud environments.
Experience in setting up, configuring, and administering PostgreSQL on Kubernetes is a nice-to-have.
Knowledge in monitoring and observability solutions with Prometheus, Grafana is a nice-to-have.
Additionally, experience with EnterpriseDB (EDB) solutions, such as EDB Postgres Distributed (PGD) for multi-master replication and EDB BigAnimal for managed PostgreSQL in the cloud, would be highly beneficial.
Familiarity with automatic failover strategies, consensus-based leader election, and cloud-based database resilience is a plus.
Experience with Debezium and Striim is not mandatory but beneficial.

Responsibilities

Coordinate, design, implement, and administer IT solutions, including database server configuration and ongoing maintenance.
Analyze client infrastructure and processes, recommending best practices to enhance current operational procedures, ensuring maximum uptime and recoverability for all databases.
Administer backup procedures and disaster recovery plans, including proactive monitoring, responding to alerts, and troubleshooting operational problems.
Oversee backup, clustering, mirroring, replication, failover, and the restoration of corrupted databases.
Develop and review action plans for maintenance, deployment, and upgrades, ensuring all relevant client documentation is completed and maintaining a thorough understanding of client information.
Develop, implement, and maintain complex data architectures (e.g., normalized and/or dimensional data models and DDL generation). Perform data transformation and migration using scripts or stored procedures.
Lead problem management efforts by assessing incidents for recurring patterns, designing technical procedures for regular requests and changes, and developing/reviewing action plans and associated documentation.
Participate equally in the team’s on call rotation, typically one weekend per month.
Make, manage, and meet client commitments in collaboration with team members.
Prepare client status and incident reports, review client reports regularly, and respond to client requests and inquiries.
Maintain alignment with client operating procedures, including change control, and manage client allotments, alerting the Team Manager to any pacing concerns.
Take on technical client affinity as assigned by the Team Manager.
Participate in and, at times, lead efforts to suggest, recommend, and potentially design/implement new monitoring checks, enhancements to DBC toolkits, and other process improvements (e.g., Initial Reviews, Performance Reviews, Audits). Focus on initiatives that increase the value Pythian provides to clients.

Benefits

Competitive total rewards package.
Blog during work hours.
Take a day off and volunteer for your favorite charity.
Flexibly work remotely from your home, there’s no daily travel requirement to an office!
All you need is a stable internet connection.
Collaborate with some of the best and brightest in the industry!
Hone your skills or learn new ones with our substantial training allowance; participate in professional development days, attend training, become certified, whatever you like!
We give you all the equipment you need to work from home including a laptop with your choice of OS, and an annual budget to personalize your work environment!
Pythian cares about the health and well-being of the team.
You will have an annual wellness budget to make yourself a priority (use it on gym memberships, massages, fitness and more).
Additionally, you will receive a generous amount of paid vacation and sick days, as well as a day off to volunteer for your favorite charity.