PostgreSQL DBA SME

Key Responsibilities

• Architecture & Design
• Design, implement, and optimize PostgreSQL database architectures for OLTP, OLAP, and hybrid workloads.
• Develop logical and physical data models, indexing strategies, partitioning schemes, and storage optimization plans.
• Lead database modernization, migration, and consolidation initiatives (onprem to cloud, crossversion upgrades, Oracle/MySQL to PostgreSQL conversions).
• Performance Engineering
• Conduct deepdive performance tuning across queries, indexes, schemas, and system parameters.
• Analyze execution plans, optimize slow-running SQL, and resolve bottlenecks at the database, OS, and network layers.
• Implement monitoring, alerting, and capacity planning using tools such as pg_stat_statements, pgBadger, Prometheus, Grafana, or equivalent.
• Operations & Administration
• Manage installation, configuration, patching, and version upgrades of PostgreSQL clusters.
• Implement and maintain high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) solutions using replication, failover, and backup strategies (e.g., streaming replication, Patroni, pgBackRest).
• Ensure database reliability, security hardening, encryption, auditing, and compliance with organizational and regulatory standards.
• Cloud & Automation
• Architect and support PostgreSQL deployments on AWS RDS/Aurora, Azure PostgreSQL, or Google Cloud Platform Cloud SQL.
• Automate provisioning, scaling, and maintenance using Terraform, Ansible, or CI/CD pipelines.
• Support containerized and Kubernetes-based PostgreSQL environments (e.g., CrunchyData, CloudNativePG).
• CrossFunctional Leadership
• Serve as the primary PostgreSQL expert for engineering, DevOps, analytics, and application development teams.
• Provide guidance on SQL best practices, schema design, and data access patterns.
• Troubleshoot complex production issues and lead root cause analysis (RCA) efforts.

Required Skills & Experience

• 8 to 15+ years of hands-on experience with PostgreSQL database engineering and administration.
• Expert-level knowledge of SQL, PL/pgSQL, indexing, partitioning, replication, and performance tuning.
• Strong understanding of Linux internals, storage systems, networking, and system performance.
• Experience with cloud-native PostgreSQL services and automation frameworks.
• Familiarity with ETL/ELT pipelines, data integration tools, and analytics workloads.
• Proven ability to support large-scale, high-availability, mission-critical environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience migrating from Oracle, SQL Server, or MySQL to PostgreSQL.
• Knowledge of NoSQL or complementary data platforms (Redis, MongoDB, Elasticsearch).
• Certifications in cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform).
• Experience supporting federal, healthcare, or regulated environments.