Staff Database Engineer II

Quick Facts

• Staff Database Engineer within Site Reliability Engineering
• Focus: performance, reliability, security, scalability of database systems
• Compensation: 9,400 - 11,800 USD per month (B2B)

Description

As a Staff Database Engineer, you improve the performance, reliability, security, and scalability of database systems. You design and maintain resilient data solutions, optimize database usage patterns, and help engineering teams make sound decisions about schema design, queries, migrations, and integrations. You apply deep database expertise to complex production challenges and contribute to system design, cloud architecture, continuous delivery, and business continuity practices.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain secure, reliable, and scalable database schemas and storage systems
• Optimize MySQL and PostgreSQL databases for performance, stability, security, and efficient resource use
• Develop and implement database scaling strategies, including replication, partitioning, and sharding
• Partner with engineering teams to improve schema designs, queries, data migrations, and application integrations
• Monitor and troubleshoot production databases, resolving issues that affect availability, performance, or data integrity
• Analyze database incidents, identify root causes, and implement corrective and preventative solutions
• Contribute database expertise to architecture and design reviews for new systems and enhancements
• Support cross-functional initiatives involving disaster recovery, data classification, software upgrades, ETL, security, and compliance
• Establish and promote effective practices for database observability, high availability, backup, recovery, and maintainability
• Evaluate emerging database technologies and practices that may improve scalability, reliability, or efficiency

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience designing, implementing, and managing relational database systems in complex production environments
• Experience in database engineering, DevOps, software engineering, site reliability engineering, or a related technical field
• Deep knowledge of database architecture, data modeling, indexing, transactions, constraints, and query optimization
• Hands-on experience optimizing and supporting MySQL, PostgreSQL, or comparable relational database technologies
• Experience with database backup and recovery, high availability, replication, partitioning, and scaling strategies
• Knowledge of database security practices, access controls, data protection, and compliance requirements
• Experience diagnosing production database issues and developing durable solutions that reduce recurring risk
• Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform, CloudFormation, or Pulumi
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain database concepts and technical trade-offs to varied audiences
• Strong problem-solving skills and a commitment to building high-quality, maintainable systems

Benefits

• Paid holidays and flexible, scheduled time off (take-it-as-you-need-it)
• A culture built on innovation that values big ideas
• MacBook set up and ready from day one, plus a $500 stipend to design your ideal workspace
• Central European Time (CET) hours for a balanced schedule for the Poland-based team
• Equity in a rapidly growing startup backed by top-tier VCs