Database Engineer (PostgreSQL/Google Cloud Platform)

We''re looking for a Database Engineer with strong, hands-on PostgreSQL ownership experience to support database migration and real-time replication work on Google Cloud. This is a build-and-run role — you''ll be the person accountable for the database itself: sizing, securing, deploying, operating, and migrating it, not just connecting to it or transforming data that flows through it. Day-to-day, this role leans DBA/DataDevOps rather than pipeline development.

 

What Success Looks Like:

The databases you own are fast, available, recoverable, and cost-efficient — and you''re the one who gets paged when they''re not.

 

Key Responsibilities:

Migration:

Plan and execute database migrations to Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL), including schema conversion, data validation, and cutover planning

Use Database Migration Service (DMS) to migrate on-prem or cloud-based databases into Cloud SQL with minimal downtime

Configure and manage Datastream for change data capture (CDC) and near real-time replication from source databases

Own rollback planning for migrations — able to explain what happens if a cutover goes wrong, not just what happens if it goes right

 

Day-to-Day Operations:

Administer and tune Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL) instances — performance, indexing, backups, high availability

Diagnose slow-running databases: query analysis, missing indexes, CPU/memory/IO bottlenecks, locking/contention

Set up and maintain monitoring and alerting (CPU, memory, storage, connections, replication lag, error rates)

Manage database users, permissions, and secure connectivity (private networking, encryption, connection pooling)

Own backup strategy and — critically — have actually performed a restore, not just configured a backup schedule

Plan and execute database version upgrades and maintenance windows on live systems

Automate recurring database work (provisioning as code, scheduled maintenance, index upkeep)

 

Design & Sizing:

Size database instances (CPU, memory, storage) based on workload and growth projections

Design and configure high-availability setups (multi-zone/multi-region, read replicas)

Make and justify cost/performance tradeoffs

 

Required Skills & Experience:

Strong hands-on PostgreSQL experience — administration, performance tuning, schema design.

Experience with Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL) on Google Cloud Platform — ideally provisioned and configured, not just used

Experience with Database Migration Service (DMS) and Datastream (or equivalent CDC tools) for migration and replication

Demonstrated on-call/incident-response experience for a database (not just for pipeline job failures)

Solid understanding of migration best practices — minimal-downtime cutovers, validation, rollback strategies

Comfortable troubleshooting replication lag and data consistency issues

 

Preferred:

Experience with heterogeneous migrations (e.g., Oracle → PostgreSQL)

Google Professional Cloud Database Engineer certification, or willingness to complete it (client requests this post-hire)

Experience with Terraform or similar for database infrastructure automation