Staff Software Engineer, Database as a Service

Tesla•Fremont, CA

About The Position

The Database as a Service (DBaaS) engineering team builds a microservices platform that automates deployment, management, and orchestration of database clusters, messaging systems, and storage infrastructure at scale. As a Staff Software Engineer, you'll architect and implement mission-critical components including our API gateway with SPIFFE/AAD authentication, Temporal-based workflow orchestration, authorization services with sub-millisecond latency, and infrastructure automation via Ansible integration. Our platform follows a gateway-first architecture where all services communicate through a centralized gateway handling routing, authentication (AAD/SPIFFE mTLS), rate limiting, and OpenAPI aggregation. You'll work with technologies including FastAPI, MongoDB, Temporal workflows, authorization engines, and Kubernetes orchestration—all deployed via CI/CD with comprehensive observability through Prometheus and Grafana. Tesla operates in a fast-paced environment requiring rapid iteration and architectural flexibility. You'll need to dive deep into production code, debug complex distributed systems issues, and make critical decisions that impact platform reliability. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in building scalable distributed systems, strong software engineering fundamentals, and the ability to mentor engineers while driving technical excellence through code reviews and architectural guidance. Tesla is a fast-paced and dynamic environment that can pivot directions quickly, so the ability to quickly respond to changes in direction is critical – the answer is in the code, and you will dive in to code to find the solution(s) needed, and make changes, ensuring rapid iteration, and world-class support of our users. The ideal candidate will have a passion for building world-class software and a track record of success creating highly and scalable software systems. You will need strong software engineering skills, excellent interpersonal communication, and experience accepting and giving meaningful feedback on technical designs and pull requests.

Requirements

Degree in Computer Science, or equivalent, with 6+ years of working experience with deep expertise in Python (async/await, context managers, Pydantic models, type hints with mypy) and microservices architecture using FastAPI/Flask, REST APIs, OpenAPI specifications
Production experience with distributed systems technologies including MongoDB (replica sets, aggregation pipelines), PostgreSQL, and workflow orchestration frameworks (Temporal or similar)
Expert knowledge of authentication/authorization patterns: service-to-service authentication (OAuth2, mTLS, SPIFFE), JWT validation, JWKS, group-based access control, and client certificate validation
Hands-on experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes), CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI), and infrastructure automation tools (Ansible, Terraform)
Strong background in database systems: query optimization, schema design, and working with multiple engines (MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL) plus message queues (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
Experience implementing comprehensive observability: OpenTelemetry instrumentation, Prometheus metrics, Grafana dashboards, and distributed tracing in production environments
Excellent technical communication skills for documentation, architectural proposals, and cross-team collaboration

Nice To Haves

Experience with Go, gRPC, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Neo4j graph databases, or security frameworks is a plus

Responsibilities

Lead architecture and design of complex microservices components within the DBaaS platform, including gateway routing, workflow orchestration, and authorization systems
Own critical services end-to-end from design through production deployment, ensuring 99.9%+ uptime with comprehensive monitoring and alerting
Drive technical decisions on authentication patterns (SPIFFE mTLS, AAD OAuth), caching strategies (TTL vs LRU for security-critical data), and API design (OpenAPI spec management)
Implement and maintain strong testing discipline: pytest frameworks, unit/integration testing, mocking strategies, and >95% code coverage standards
Mentor junior engineers through code reviews, pair programming, and architectural guidance—setting the standard for Python type safety, testing practices, and FastAPI patterns
Collaborate with platform engineers, SREs, and product teams to deliver automated workflows for database deployment, resource management, and infrastructure provisioning
Champion DevOps practices including Docker/Kubernetes deployment, CI/CD pipeline optimization (Jenkins), and observability (OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Tempo tracing)
Respond rapidly to production incidents, performing root cause analysis and debugging across the stack (Python profiling, database query analysis, network tracing, Kubernetes troubleshooting)
Evolve platform architecture to support new database engines, messaging systems, and cloud infrastructure while maintaining backward compatibility
Lead code quality initiatives through Git workflows, code reviews, and maintaining high standards via linting (ruff, pylint) and static analysis (mypy)

Benefits

Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire:
Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction
Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution
Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA
Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
Company paid Basic Life, AD&D
Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)
Employee Assistance Program
Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays
Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs
Tesla Babies program
Commuter benefits
Employee discounts and perks program