Couchbase Engineer

The Architecture Senior Analyst is a seasoned professional role. Applies in-depth disciplinary knowledge, contributing to the development of new techniques and the improvement of processes and work-flow for the area or function. Integrates subject matter and industry expertise within a defined area. Requires in-depth understanding of how areas collectively integrate within the sub-function as well as coordinate and contribute to the objectives of the function and overall business. Evaluates moderately complex and variable issues with substantial potential impact, where development of an approach/taking of an action involves weighing various alternatives and balancing potentially conflicting situations using multiple sources of information. Requires good analytical skills in order to filter, prioritize and validate potentially complex and dynamic material from multiple sources. Strong communication and diplomacy skills are required. Regularly assumes informal/formal leadership role within teams. Involved in coaching and training of new recruits. Significant impact in terms of project size, geography, etc. by influencing decisions through advice, counsel and/or facilitating services to others in area of specialization. Work and performance of all teams in the area are directly affected by the performance of the individual.

Responsibilities:

• Analyzes system / application architecture; ensures that architecture conforms to enterprise blueprints.
• Evaluates and tests potential IT architecture solutions to ensure they meet user needs and requirements.
• Creates and produces moderately complex IT architecture designs to translate user requirements to solutions.
• Researches and produces standards documents.
• Researches future industry trends; acts as resource for development staff regarding the use of new technologies.
• Applies hardware engineering and software design theories and principles in researching, designing, and developing product hardware and software interfaces.
• Translates complex business problems into sound technical solutions.
• Exhibits sound understanding of concepts and principles in architecture and basic knowledge of these elements in other areas.
• Requires in-depth understanding of how the area integrates within architecture and has basic commercial awareness.
• Trains and mentors junior team members.
• Uses evaluative judgment based on the analysis of factual information in complicated or novel situations; uses multiple sources of information.
• Has direct impact to the architecture area by ensuring the quality of the tasks/services/ information provided by self and others.
• Exhibits sound and comprehensive communication and diplomacy skills to exchange complex information.
• Performs other job duties and functions as assigned
• Appropriately assess risk when business decisions are made, demonstrating particular consideration for the firm's reputation and safeguarding Citigroup, its clients and assets, by driving compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, adhering to Policy, applying sound ethical judgment regarding personal behavior, conduct and business practices, and escalating, managing and reporting control issues with transparency.

Qualifications:

• 8-15 years relevant experience
• Consistently demonstrates clear and concise written and verbal communication
• Management and prioritization skills
• Ability to develop working relationships, manage multiple activities and changing priorities
• Ability to work under pressure and to meet tight deadlines
• Self-starter with ability to take the initiative and master new tasks quickly
• Methodical, attention to detail

Education:

• Bachelor’s/University degree or equivalent experience

This job description provides a high-level review of the types of work performed. Other job-related duties may be assigned as required.

Couchbase Engineer - Assistant Vice President

A Couchbase Engineer is a specialized database professional responsible for designing, deploying, managing, and optimizing Couchbase Server clusters. Couchbase is a distributed, high-performance NoSQL document database that combines a flexible JSON model with a powerful SQL-like query language (N1QL) and an integrated caching layer.

To be successful, a Couchbase Engineer must possess a blend of core database administration (DBA) skills, NoSQL data modeling expertise, system performance tuning capabilities, and modern DevOps/automation skills.

1. Core Couchbase Administration & Architecture

• Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS): Ability to design and configure clusters where specific services (Data, Query, Index, Search, Eventing, Analytics, Backup) are assigned to dedicated nodes to optimize resource utilization and prevent resource contention.
• Cross-Datacenter Replication (XDCR): Expertise in setting up, monitoring, and troubleshooting high-performance, low-latency replication across geographically distributed clusters (active-active or active-passive) for disaster recovery and localized data access.
• Cluster Operations: Proficiency in node initialization, joining nodes to existing clusters, rebalancing data across nodes, and performing rolling upgrades without downtime.
• Security & Compliance: Implementing Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), configuring TLS/SSL certificates for secure node-to-node and client-to-node communication, and managing administrative secrets securely.

2. Data Modeling & Query Optimization

• JSON Document Design: Designing efficient document schemas, understanding document keys, sub-documents, and choosing between referencing (normalization) and embedding (denormalization) based on access patterns.
• N1QL (SQL for NoSQL): Writing and optimizing complex queries using N1QL, understanding query execution plans (using EXPLAIN), and leveraging query parameters.
• Global Secondary Indexes (GSI): Creating and managing indexes, understanding index partitioning, and choosing the appropriate index storage engine (Standard GSI vs. Memory-Optimized GSI).
• Full-Text Search (FTS) & Analytics: Configuring search indexes for natural language queries and setting up the Analytics service for complex, ad-hoc analytical queries without impacting operational workloads.

3. Performance Tuning & Sizing

• Memory Quota Allocation: Sizing and allocating RAM quotas for different services (Data, Index, Search, Eventing, Analytics) based on workload requirements.
• Eviction Policies: Understanding and configuring bucket eviction policies (Value Eviction vs. Full Eviction) and choosing between Couchbase buckets and Ephemeral buckets (in-memory only).
• Disk I/O & Storage Paths: Configuring custom disk paths for data, indexes, eventing, and analytics to optimize disk write queues and read performance.
• Operating System Tuning: Configuring Linux system limits (ulimits), such as soft/hard user processes and soft/hard open files, to handle high concurrent connections and file descriptors.

4. DevOps, Automation & Infrastructure (Enterprise Context)

Modern enterprise environments require Couchbase Engineers to automate database lifecycles:

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with Ansible:
  • Automating Couchbase installation, cluster initialization, node management, bucket creation, user provisioning, backups, and upgrades.
  • Familiarity with Ansible catalog roles such as couchbase_install, couchbase_cluster, couchbase_node, couchbase_rebalance, couchbase_bucket, couchbase_user, couchbase_backup, couchbase_upgrade, and couchbase_upload_logs.
  • Managing hosts inventories and group variables (e.g., hosts.yaml, all.yaml, cb_cluster.yaml) to define cluster topologies and service allocations.
• Containerization & Orchestration: Deploying and managing Couchbase on Kubernetes or Red Hat OpenShift using the Couchbase Autonomous Operator (CAO).
• Linux Administration: Strong command of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL 7/8), including package management, systemd service configuration, network troubleshooting, and log analysis.

5. General NoSQL & Distributed Systems Concepts

• CAP Theorem: Understanding the trade-offs between Consistency, Availability, and Partition Tolerance in distributed databases.
• Consistency Models: Configuring write durability and read consistency levels (e.g., eventual consistency vs. strong consistency).
• ACID Transactions: Implementing multi-document ACID transactions in Couchbase when strong transactional guarantees are required.

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Job Family Group:

Technology

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Job Family:

Architecture

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Time Type:

Full time

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Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

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Other Relevant Skills

For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

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