Database Engineering Lead

Position Overview

Citi is seeking an experienced, high-caliber Database Technical Lead (C13 / VP) to lead the design, modernization, administration, and resiliency engineering of enterprise database platforms. As a C13 Database Lead, you will be responsible for defining technical strategies, driving cloud and database-as-a-service (DBaaS) transformations, ensuring strict data governance and security compliance, and leading senior technical engineers across critical multi-region banking systems.

Responsibilities & Requirements
1. Enterprise Database Architecture & Technical Strategy
Architect, design, and deliver end-to-end database solutions across relational (Oracle, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server) and NoSQL/Distributed databases (MongoDB, Cassandra, Redis).
Define enterprise standards for data modeling, partitioning, indexing strategies, and database scalability across high-volume transactional (OLTP) and analytical (OLAP) environments.
Drive the technical roadmap aligned with Citi's enterprise reference architectures, zero-trust infrastructure, and microservices ecosystem.
2. Modernization, DBaaS & Cloud Enablement
Lead migration initiatives from legacy on-premises databases to modern cloud and containerized platforms (AWS RDS/Aurora, OpenShift, internal private cloud DBaaS/PaaS).
Champion database containerization and modern provisioning frameworks, automating lifecycle management and cluster autoscaling.
Partner with application development and cloud architecture teams to re-platform and refactor applications for cloud-native persistence layers.
3. High Availability, Replication & Scalability Engineering
Architect, configure, and maintain robust High Availability (HA) topologies (e.g., Oracle Data Guard/Active Data Guard, Oracle RAC, PostgreSQL Streaming Replication / Patroni, MongoDB Replica Sets & Sharded Clusters).
Establish cross-region and multi-data-center replication strategies to support 24/7/365 mission-critical banking operations with minimal RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and zero RPO (Recovery Point Objective).
4. Advanced Performance Engineering, Tuning & Diagnostics
Spearhead deep-dive performance troubleshooting, query optimization, indexing reviews, execution plan analysis, and database profiling across production systems.
Establish automated monitoring, telemetry, and observability frameworks (using Prometheus, Grafana, OEM, AppDynamics, and APM tools) to proactively detect anomalies, locking/blocking, and resource bottlenecks.
Direct proactive capacity planning, I/O footprint optimization, and memory management across compute and storage tiers.
5. Security, Vulnerability Management & Access Control
Enforce end-to-end database security standards, including Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), data masking, tokenization, TLS encryption in-transit, and privileged access controls.
Drive automated security patching, configuration baseline compliance (CIS Benchmarks), and rapid remediation of vulnerabilities (CVEs), ensuring zero non-compliant instances across the fleet.
Integrate identity and credential workflows with enterprise secrets management tools (e.g., HashiCorp Vault, CyberArk) and role-based access control (RBAC).
6. Database DevOps, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) & CI/CD
Champion Database DevOps practices by integrating schema migrations and database deployments into automated CI/CD pipelines (via Harness, Tekton, Jenkins, Bitbucket/GitHub).
Develop and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) playbooks and configuration scripts using Ansible, Terraform, and Python/Bash automation.
Eliminate manual operational touchpoints through self-service database provisioning and automated routine maintenance.
7. Continuity of Business (COB) & Disaster Recovery (DR)
Own the disaster recovery framework for core database estates, designing and executing regular formal COB/DR failover drills.
Define and maintain backup and restore strategies (RMAN, storage snapshots, point-in-time recovery) to safeguard data integrity against hardware failures, corruption, and site-level disasters.
Ensure comprehensive auditability and validation of backup retention policies aligned with financial regulatory standards.
8. Governance, Risk, Audit & Regulatory Compliance
Serve as the primary database technical authority during internal and external audit reviews, regulatory examinations, and risk assessments.
Ensure full compliance with Citi's Information Security policies, data sovereignty regulations (e.g., GDPR, local residency laws), and financial record retention mandates.
Maintain comprehensive technical documentation, architecture runbooks, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and operational readiness checklists.
9. Technical Leadership, Mentorship & Vendor Engagement
Provide strong technical leadership, guidance, and mentorship to senior engineers, database administrators, and offshore support teams.
Collaborate closely with application squads, enterprise architects, site reliability engineers (SREs), and product owners to translate complex business requirements into robust database architectures.
Liaise with major database software vendors (Oracle, EnterpriseDB, MongoDB, AWS) on product escalations, feature enhancements, and roadmaps.
10. Required Qualifications, Experience & Certifications
Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
Experience: 12+ years of progressive experience in database engineering/administration, with at least 3+ years in a lead or architect capacity within a large-scale, enterprise financial services environment.
Core Technical Competencies:
In-depth expertise in Oracle (19c/21c, RAC, Data Guard) and/or PostgreSQL (v12+, Patroni, Connection Pooling).
Strong working proficiency with NoSQL platforms (MongoDB, Redis) and DBaaS architectures.
Demonstrated hands-on scripting and automation skills in Python, Bash, Ansible, or Terraform.
Solid understanding of Linux kernel OS tuning, storage architectures (SAN/NAS/NVMe), and networking protocols.
Certifications (Preferred):
Certified Oracle Database Administrator / Specialist
AWS Certified Database – Specialty or AWS Solutions Architect Professional
PostgreSQL / EDB Certified Professional
MongoDB Certified DBA Associate / Professional
Key Leadership & Soft Skills
Proven track record of managing high-impact technical incidents and driving root cause analysis (RCA) to conclusion.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to articulate complex technical topics to non-technical stakeholders and executive leadership.
Strong ownership mindset, problem-solving agility, and passion for continuous technology modernization.

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Job Family Group:

Technology

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Job Family:

Applications Development

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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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