TRM is on a mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people. We deliver a blockchain intelligence data platform to financial institutions, crypto companies, and governments to fight cryptocurrency fraud and financial crime. We consider our business — and our profit — as a way to move towards our mission sustainably and at scale.
The Data Platform team collaborates with an experienced group of data scientists, engineers, and product managers to build highly available and scalable data infrastructure for TRM’s products and services. As a Senior Database Engineer, you will be responsible for developing, managing, and scaling TRM’s robust database infrastructure that will ultimately help to build a safer financial system for billions of people.
The impact you will have here:
- Design, implement, and maintain Petabyte scale relational database systems with a focus on availability, security, performance, and scalability.
- Work closely with cross-functional teams to plan and execute database infrastructure build-outs, upgrades, and migrations.
- Serve as an expert in database performance, scalability, query tuning, monitoring, and incident response.
- Manage data replication in environments serving both batch and real-time use cases.
- Independently troubleshoot and resolve production and pre-production issues in a timely manner.
- Contribute to major system upgrades, deployment automation, monitoring enhancements, and production changes.
- Create operational playbooks, contribute to documentation, and gain domain expertise to drive changes within the team.
- Tune and configure databases, as well as build tools and scripts to monitor, troubleshoot, and automate our systems.
What we’re looking for:
- 5- 8 years of hands-on experience in database design, development, and enterprise-class operations with one or more of the following technologies: PostgreSQL, MySQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, Aurora MySQL.
- Experience managing a highly reliable database platform with a focus on security, performance, and scale to meet the requirements of enterprise customers.
- Experience migrating mission-critical database applications from on-premise to the cloud or managing a hybrid cloud environment for large enterprise applications.
- Proficient in data modeling for OLTP and OLAP workloads.
- Extensive experience in performance monitoring, troubleshooting, and performance tuning.
- Experience influencing product roadmap and strategy, and prioritizing existing database initiatives to drive business outcomes.
- Experience writing high-performance Postgres modules and extensions to optimize database performance.
About the Team:
- The Data Platform team is the funnel between all of TRM’s data world and product world. We care about all layers of stack including petabyte of data stores, pipelines, and processes.
- We have quite a big scope as a the team with new and exciting projects every quarter. As a result, we collaborate across the board with most teams at TRM.
- We believe in async communication and are also not afraid to jump on a quick huddle if that helps to move things faster. We are both scrappy when the situation demands and also process-oriented when we need to achieve our OKRs.
- We are always looking for people who can elevate the quality our tech and our execution. If you enjoy a remote-first and async friendly environment to achieve efficacy and efficiency at petabyte scale, our team could be a great pick for you!
- Team members are based in the US across almost all timezones! Our on-call tends to be in EST/PST shift, whatever suits you the best.
- We do try to reserve some overlap in the day for meetings. Our north star - no IC spends more than 3-4 hours/week in meetings.
Learn about TRM Speed in this position:
- Build scalable engines to optimize routine scaling and maintenance tasks like create self-serve automation for creating new pgbouncer, scaling disks, scaling/updating of clusters, etc.
- Enable tasks to be faster next time and reducing dependency on a single person.
- Identify ways to compress timelines using 80/20 principle. For instance, what does it take to be operational in a new environment? Identify the must have and nice to haves that are need to deploy our stack to be fully operation. Focus on must haves first to get us operational and then use future milestones to harden for customer readiness. We think in terms of weeks and not months.
- Identify first version, a.k.a., "skateboards" for projects. For instance, build an observability dashboard within a week. Gather feedback from stakeholders after to identify more needs or bells and whistles to add to the dashboard
About TRM’s Engineering Levels:
Engineer: Responsible for helping to define project milestones and executing small decision decisions independently with the appropriate tradeoffs between simplicity, readability, and performance. Provides mentorship to junior engineers, and enhances operational excellence through tech debt reduction and knowledge sharing.
Senior Engineer: Successfully designs and documents system improvements and features for an OKR/project from the ground up. Consistently delivers efficient and reusable systems, optimizes team throughput with appropriate tradeoffs, mentors team members, and enhances cross-team collaboration through documentation and knowledge sharing.
Staff Engineer: Drives scoping and execution of one or more OKRs/projects that impact multiple teams. Partners with stakeholders to set the team vision and technical roadmaps for one or more products. Is a role model and mentor to the entire engineering organization. Ensures system health and quality with operational reviews, testing strategies, and monitoring rigor.
The following represents the expected range of compensation for this role:
- The estimated base salary range for this role is $190,000 - $215,000.
- Additionally, this role may be eligible to participate in TRM’s equity plan.
Life at TRM Labs
Leadership Principles
Our Leadership Principles are foundational element of our strategy, guiding how we make decisions, how we treat each other, and how we behave day-to-day.
- Impact-Oriented Trailblazer: We put customers first, driving for speed, focus, and adaptability.
- Master Craftsperson: We prioritize speed, high standards, and distributed ownership.
- Inspiring Colleague: We value humility, candor, and a one-team mindset.
Build a Career
Joining TRM means being part of a mission-driven team comprised of industry leaders. At TRM, you’ll experience:
- Purpose and Mission: Have a real-world impact, from disrupting terrorist networks to returning stolen funds.
- Inspiring Colleagues: Collaborate with industry leaders and learn something new daily.
- Personal Growth: We’re not just using technology; we’re inventing it and taking category-defining products to market.
Work Environment
- Remote First: Our HQ is online. Tools like Zoom and Slack ensure seamless collaboration, but we also value in-person interactions, organizing regular meetups and offsites for team bonding. Clear communication is key in our decentralized setup. With tools like Slack, Loom, and voice notes, we document meetings and decisions, promoting transparency and efficiency.
- Ownership & TRM Speed: Small teams drive big goals at TRM. Every team member has significant ownership and responsibility, fostering an environment of initiative and direct impact. While there’s no strict clocking in or out, we expect team members to balance personal schedules and team needs. We move “surprisingly fast” while maintaining a high bar in service of our customers and mission. This can feel both intense and rewarding. Our unique approach to projects emphasizes quick wins, rapid iterations, and constant feedback.
- Diversity and Inclusion: Diversity at TRM encompasses backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Every day is an opportunity to learn from a colleague, whether they’re a law enforcement expert or a tech pioneer.
- Annual Company Offsite: Once a year, TRMers come together from around the world to attend a 1-week mandatory company offsite. This is designed to foster in-person relationships, creativity, and strategic alignment. Employee attendance is required of all TRMers.
Benefits and Perks
At TRM, we know that supporting our team members can take many forms. Our goal is to enable you to care for yourself, your family, and your community while eliminating stress through our diverse and curated benefits package for full-time employees.
- Remote-first work environment
- Competitive salaries and stock options
- Health insurance
- Life & disability coverage
- Generous paid time for vacation, holidays, and parental leave
Join Us
We’re looking for team members who love building from the ground up and want to work hard in a fast-paced and ambitious environment. We are remote-first, with exceptionally talented team members located around the world. If you like solving tough problems quickly and seeing your work improve the lives of billions of people, we want you at TRM.
We encourage you to reach out even if your experience doesn’t precisely match the job description. Don’t worry about picking exactly the right job; we can always explore other options after starting the conversation. Your passion and interests will set you apart, especially if your background or career is unconventional.
To all recruitment agencies: TRM Labs does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to TRM Labs employees. TRM Labs is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes and will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company that does not have a signed agreement with the Company.
