Senior Database Reliability Engineer

Checkr • Denver, CO

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

About Checkr Checkr is building the data platform to power safe and fair decisions. Established in 2014, Checkr’s innovative technology and robust data platform help customers assess risk and ensure safety and compliance to build trusted workplaces and communities. Checkr has over 100,000 customers including DoorDash, Coinbase, Lyft, Instacart, and Airtable. We’re a team that thrives on solving complex problems with innovative solutions that advance our mission. Checkr is recognized on Forbes Cloud 100 2025 List and is a Y Combinator 2024 Breakthrough Company . As a Senior Database Reliability Engineer at Checkr, you will be primarily responsible for managing cloud database and data storage infrastructure, backup policies and processes, data lifecycle management, and performance tuning and troubleshooting across a breadth of database platforms. Beyond this, you will help our software teams maximize their understanding and efficient use of our database systems. What a typical week may look like at Checkr: Design and recommend database architectures that address resiliency, durability, and high availability concerns Provision and administer database and database-adjacent cloud resources using Infrastructure as Code Maintain and troubleshoot database systems in production, staging, and sandbox environments Optimize database performance at the query, schema, and instance levels Embrace and extend BCDR and data protection practices across availability zones, accounts, and providers Work closely with the Infrastructure team to align on infrastructure best practices Implement security best practices for data stores Automate common database tasks to reduce toil Work closely with the SRE team and improve observability (alerting, metrics, monitoring) of the database schema and infrastructure Take part in incident response, diagnosis, and follow-up on system outages or alerts across Checkr’s customer-serving infrastructure

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience working with relational database concepts, storage systems, and architectures
• Advanced level of experience with Postgres, MySQL, and MongoDB database administration and replication topologies at scale
• Experience working with AWS cloud databases such as RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB, ElasticCache, and MongoDB Atlas
• Solid people skills and ability to guide software engineers through database best practices with regard to security, schema design, and migrations at scale
• Experience working with Infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform and Terragrunt
• An automation mindset that strives to reduce manual interventions wherever relevant

Nice To Haves

• GitLab, GitHub gh-ost, AWS S3, automation tooling knowledge
• An A-player mindset with a strong bias for action: you raise the bar, move with urgency, stay resilient through ambiguity, and take ownership to deliver meaningful outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Design and recommend database architectures that address resiliency, durability, and high availability concerns
• Provision and administer database and database-adjacent cloud resources using Infrastructure as Code
• Maintain and troubleshoot database systems in production, staging, and sandbox environments
• Optimize database performance at the query, schema, and instance levels
• Embrace and extend BCDR and data protection practices across availability zones, accounts, and providers
• Work closely with the Infrastructure team to align on infrastructure best practices
• Implement security best practices for data stores
• Automate common database tasks to reduce toil
• Work closely with the SRE team and improve observability (alerting, metrics, monitoring) of the database schema and infrastructure
• Take part in incident response, diagnosis, and follow-up on system outages or alerts across Checkr’s customer-serving infrastructure

Benefits

• A fast-paced and collaborative environment
• Learning and development allowance
• Competitive cash and equity compensation, and opportunity for advancement
• 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Up to $25K reimbursement for fertility, adoption, and parental planning services
• Flexible PTO policy
• Monthly wellness stipend

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees