SENIOR DATABASE ENGINEER

Requirement Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Database Engineer to join our team as the primary owner and architect of our database ecosystem. The successful applicant will have an excellent understanding of database design, performance optimisation, and scalability, with deep expertise in MySQL and AWS RDS environments. The ideal applicant will have a proven track record of delivering high quality, maintainable, and scalable database solutions. As the bridge between our data layer and Java-based application services, you will be expected to demonstrate your expertise in proactively driving performance improvements, leading complex migrations, and ensuring our database infrastructure can scale with the evolving needs of our business. This role involves regular interaction with internal stakeholders across all departments, including Solution Architects, as well as direct engagement with application development teams to ensure database health and design best practices are upheld at every level.

The initial engagement is expected to run for six months. Resources will operate remotely from India whilst working directly with Client’s engineering teams, architects, product teams and management stakeholders in UK shift hours.

This is a highly visible customer-facing role requiring an individual who combines strong technical expertise with excellent communication skills, stakeholder engagement capability and the ability to operate autonomously.

Key Responsibilities

• Take shared ownership of the health, performance, and scalability of our MySQL database environments.
• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks through query optimisation, indexing strategies, and schema design improvements.
• Partner with Solution Architects, Product Owners, and Software Developers to design robust data models and enforce best practices for new features and services.
• Manage and optimise AWS RDS (MySQL) instances, including instance sizing, storage scaling, and high-availability configurations.
• Plan and execute database migrations and version upgrades with minimal disruption to live services.
• Analyse Java application workloads to improve database interaction efficiency, including connection pooling and ORM optimisation.
• Troubleshoot and resolve database and infrastructure issues within our cloud-based environment.
• Provide technical guidance on the selective adoption of NoSQL solutions, such as AWS DynamoDB, as our data architecture evolves.
• Optimisations at the database level.
• Optimisations at the database infrastructure level (AWS RDS).
• Optimisations at an application code level. This is critical because often it’s not the database at fault but the way in which we interact with it.
• Use their expertise as well to help advise on database topics.

Essential Technical Skills

Candidates proposed for this role must demonstrate:

• 5+ years' experience as a Database Engineer or similar role, with a primary focus on MySQL in production environments.
• Deep understanding of MySQL internals, including the InnoDB storage engine, locking mechanisms, and transaction management.
• Proven experience with advanced SQL tuning, query optimisation, and schema design for high-scale environments.
• Strong experience managing AWS RDS (MySQL) at scale, including instance sizing, storage scaling, and high-availability configurations.
• Hands-on experience with AWS monitoring and diagnostic tools, such as CloudWatch and Performance Insights.
• Working knowledge of Java and experience troubleshooting database issues arising from frameworks such as Spring Boot, Hibernate, and JDBC.
• Ability to read application logs and APM data to correlate code level changes with database performance impacts.
• Exposure to, or a strong interest in, NoSQL solutions such as AWS DynamoDB for high throughput use cases.
• Excellent problem solving and communication skills, with the ability to consult effectively with both technical and non technical stakeholders.

Desirable Technical Skills

• Familiarity with Infrastructure as code (i.e. Terraform).
• A good understanding of scripting languages, including Python and Bash, for task automation and operational efficiency.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and the integration of automated database deployment processes.

Essential Behavioural Characteristics

Candidates proposed for this role must demonstrate:

• Highly self-motivated and driven with a professional and positive approach.
• Desire to contribute to improving our development quality and the overall quality of our product set.
• An analytical mind, with good attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently, mentor & collaborate with team members.
• Ability to solve problems quickly and completely.
• Ability to multi-task and stay organised in a dynamic work environment.