Senior Platform Engineer – Database Administration (AWS Focus)

Mastercard • O'fallon, MO

2d • $96,000 - $163,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Platform Engineer – Database Administration is responsible for designing, implementing, and managing scalable, secure, and highly available database platforms on AWS Cloud, supporting critical business applications. This role emphasizes PostgreSQL as the primary database platform, with Oracle expertise as a strong advantage. The position focuses on cloud-native database engineering, automation, platform reliability, and operational excellence, ensuring modern, resilient data platforms in a 24x7 enterprise environment.

Requirements

• Hands-on experience with Amazon RDS (PostgreSQL), Aurora PostgreSQL, EC2-based database deployments.
• Strong understanding of VPC, networking, security groups, IAM roles and policies, CloudWatch, CloudTrail monitoring.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform / CloudFormation).
• Strong expertise in PostgreSQL DBA (mandatory).
• Experience in Oracle DBA (add-on / good to have).
• Database platform engineering and lifecycle management.
• Query optimization and performance tuning.
• Monitoring and alerting.
• Troubleshooting and RCA.
• High availability and resilience design.
• Backup and disaster recovery strategies.
• Scripting: Python, Bash.
• Automation frameworks and tooling.
• CI/CD integration for database deployments.
• Configuration management.
• Linux/Unix administration.
• Networking fundamentals.
• Virtualized and distributed environments.
• Database and cloud security best practices.
• Encryption, access control, auditing.
• Risk mitigation and compliance adherence.
• Agile methodology.
• Cross-functional collaboration.
• ITSM practices (incident, change, problem management).
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• 7+ years in database administration / platform engineering.
• Strong experience with PostgreSQL in AWS environments.
• Experience managing production database systems in 24x7 environments.
• Hands-on experience with AWS database services and cloud-native architecture.
• Experience with database migrations (on-prem → AWS).

Nice To Haves

• Oracle DBA experience (RAC, Exadata, OEM).
• Experience with PostgreSQL on Aurora vs self-managed comparison.
• Exposure to multi-cloud or hybrid environments.
• Experience with Redis / caching technologies.
• Knowledge of data replication and distributed database systems.
• Experience driving standardization, compliance, and operational excellence initiatives.
• Experience architecting large-scale AWS database platforms.
• Advanced PostgreSQL performance tuning.
• Experience with database observability tools.
• Strong background in automation and DevOps practices.
• Understanding of microservices and cloud-native application architecture.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and manage AWS-based database solutions, including Amazon RDS, Aurora PostgreSQL, EC2-hosted databases, and hybrid architectures.
• Build and maintain cloud-native, scalable, and highly available database platforms aligned with enterprise standards.
• Collaborate with architecture teams to design secure and resilient cloud database architectures.
• Administer and support PostgreSQL databases (primary focus) in production environments.
• Support Oracle database environments (on-prem / cloud) as an additional skillset.
• Manage database lifecycle activities including provisioning, patching, upgrades, and migrations.
• Monitor database performance using AWS CloudWatch, Performance Insights, and native tools.
• Perform query tuning, indexing strategies, and performance optimization.
• Conduct root cause analysis (RCA) for performance and availability incidents.
• Implement capacity planning and scaling strategies for cloud-based workloads.
• Build and maintain automation for database provisioning, patching, backups, and failover using tools such as Terraform / CloudFormation (IaC) and Ansible / scripting (Python, Bash).
• Enable CI/CD pipelines for database changes and schema deployments.
• Drive standardization and process automation across environments.
• Implement and manage high availability configurations: Aurora multi-AZ, RDS Multi-AZ, PostgreSQL replication and failover.
• Design and execute backup, recovery, and disaster recovery strategies in AWS.
• Validate DR through regular testing and failover drills.
• Implement AWS and database security best practices, including IAM, encryption (KMS), and network isolation (VPC, SGs).
• Ensure compliance with organizational and regulatory policies.
• Proactively identify and mitigate risks related to database security and access.
• Collaborate with application, analytics, and infrastructure teams to optimize data solutions.
• Support release and deployment activities, including schema changes and validations.
• Participate in incident management, on-call rotation, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Provide technical guidance and mentoring to team members.

Benefits

• insurance (including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, disability, life insurance)
• flexible spending account and health savings account
• paid leaves (including 16 weeks of new parent leave and up to 20 days of bereavement leave)
• 80 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time, 25 days of vacation time and 5 personal days, pro-rated based on date of hire
• 10 annual paid U.S. observed holidays
• 401k with a best-in-class company match
• deferred compensation for eligible roles
• fitness reimbursement or on-site fitness facilities
• eligibility for tuition reimbursement

What This Job Offers

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