Senior Postgresql Database Reliability Engineer

At Okta, we’re always pushing the bounds of the entire identity landscape. Data is a critical component of our product and our mission as a data store team is to provide a highly available, reliable, secure and performant transactional persistent data layer which we do by leveraging our vast experience and through the skillful use of automation. We would love to hear from you if you are passionate about solving problems at scale with automation, testing, and tuning. The ideal candidate exemplifies the ethics of, “If you have to do something more than once, automate it” and who can rapidly self-educate on new concepts and tooling. 

We seek a skilled PostgreSQL Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE) with specialized expertise in Aurora PostgreSQL and a strong foundation in PostgreSQL itself. As a crucial member of our database operations team, you will be responsible for ensuring the performance, availability, and security of our database systems. This role demands database design expertise, query and schema tuning, and proactive monitoring to ensure reliability and scale required to support our growing business needs.

Key Responsibilities:

• Deploy infrastructure as code using terraform, configure, and maintain Aurora PostgreSQL database instances to ensure high availability, disaster recovery, and backups are properly implemented.
• Conduct thorough performance analysis and tuning to meet application SLAs, optimizing database schema, indexes, and SQL queries. Quickly troubleshoot and resolve database performance issues.
• Develop automation scripts (e.g., Go/Python) to streamline tasks and enhance efficiency. Implement robust monitoring tools and proactive alerts for effective management and mitigation of database instances.
• Implement and enforce stringent database security practices, including data encryption (at rest and in transit), certificate management, access controls, and comprehensive audit logging.
• Collaborate closely with developers and infrastructure teams to support seamless application deployments and resolve complex database-related issues. Provide mentorship and knowledge sharing to other DBREs on the team.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Proven experience as a PostgreSQL DBRE, especially with specific expertise in Aurora PostgreSQL.
• In-depth knowledge of PostgreSQL internals, performance tuning, and query optimization.
• Experience in database design, implementation, and maintenance in a high-availability environment.
• Strong proficiency in SQL and scripting languages (especially Go and Python).
• Familiarity with database monitoring tools (e.g., CloudWatch, Grafana).
• Solid understanding of database security practices and compliance requirements.
• Ability to troubleshoot and resolve database performance issues and outages promptly.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work effectively in a team environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent work experience).

Preferred Skills:

• AWS Certified Database - Specialty or related certifications demonstrating proficiency in AWS database services and cloud infrastructure management.
• Familiarity or hands-on experience with MySQL or other relational database management systems (RDBMS), understanding their differences and implications for database management.
• Understanding of containerization technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes and their impact on database deployments and scalability.
• Proven track record of applying innovative solutions to complex database challenges and a strong problem-solving mindset in a dynamic operational environment.

Why Join Us:
Joining our team means being part of a dynamic environment where your expertise in Aurora PostgreSQL and PostgreSQL will have a direct and very valued contribution to our mission-critical database operations. You’ll have opportunities for professional growth, working with cutting-edge technologies and collaborating with a diverse and geographically distributed  talented team dedicated to achieving our business goals.