Database Engineer

Job Summary:

The Database Engineer has deep expertise in MySQL to design, build, and maintain our core data infrastructure. This role is responsible for developing robust ETL/ELT pipelines, optimizing complex relational database schemas, and ensuring high-availability data delivery for our analytics and engineering teams. The ideal candidate bridges the gap between traditional database administration and modern data pipeline development, maximizing the performance and reliability of our MySQL ecosystems.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Pipeline Development: Design, implement, and automate scalable data ingestion, transformation, and loading (ETL/ELT) pipelines sourcing from operational MySQL databases.
• Database & Schema Design: Model efficient relational schemas, build transactional (OLTP) tables, manage primary/foreign keys, and establish clean normalization patterns.
• Performance Tuning: Optimize complex SQL queries, manage table partitioning, structure indexes efficiently, and utilize execution plans (EXPLAIN) to eliminate system bottlenecks.
• Data Integration & Warehousing: Replicate and sync data between MySQL production environments, staging areas, and downstream cloud data warehouses or analytics tools.
• Data Integrity & Governance: Implement rigorous automated data validation checks, monitoring alerts, and lineage tracking to maintain high data quality and security.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Software Engineers, Data Scientists, and BI Analysts to translate raw application data into reliable, optimized views for downstream consumption.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Professional experience working heavily as a Data Engineer, Database Engineer, or Back-End Engineer with a relational focus.
• Advanced SQL mastery, including deep experience troubleshooting, optimizing, and rewriting complex queries specifically within MySQL.
• Hands-on experience with modern data pipeline orchestration tools (e.g., Apache Airflow, Prefect) and ingestion frameworks (e.g., Fivetran, Airbyte).
• Strong proficiency in a programming language used for data manipulation, preferably Python.
• Proven experience with database optimization techniques, such as indexing strategies, partitioning, and connection pooling.
• Exceptional analytical problem-solving skills and the ability to articulate technical data structures to non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS RDS, GCP Cloud SQL, or Azure Database for MySQL) and cloud data warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery, or Redshift).
• Experience with dbt (data build tool) for managing transformations within the data stack.
• Understanding of database administration tasks, including backup/restore verification, replication strategies, and high-availability/disaster-recovery (HA/DR) design.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related quantitative field.

Physical and Work Location Requirements:

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 20 pounds at times.
• A hybrid work location is authorized for this position. Schedule is set by manager.
• Company specifications must be met for internet connectivity when working from home.