Senior Database Engineer - GCP (Contract Position)

About

Looking to hire a database Engineer to design, manage, and optimize our data ecosystem within Google Cloud Platform (GCP). In this role, you will be the bridge between our application development teams and our data infrastructure. You will manage a diverse portfolio of Relational (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MSSQL) and NoSQL (Firestore, Datastore, BigTable, Elastic) databases while building robust ETL/ELT pipelines to feed our BigQuery data warehouse. This role requires a blend of deep SQL expertise, sophisticated data pipeline orchestration, and a commitment to 24/7 production reliability.

Key Responsibilities

• Database Administration: Manage, monitor, and tune Cloud SQL (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MSSQL) and NoSQL instances (Datastore, Firestore, BigTable, Elastic) for high availability and performance.
• Data Modeling & Development: Design scalable schemas using normalization/denormalization techniques. Develop and maintain complex stored procedures, views, functions, and automated database jobs. Knowledge on MSSQL Change Tracking and Change Data Capture feature is required.
• Data Integration (ETL/ELT): Build and orchestrate data pipelines using Apache Airflow (Cloud Composer) and Apache Beam (Dataflow) to move data across the ecosystem.
• Analytics & Reporting: Architect reporting solutions on BigQuery and design insightful, automated dashboards in Looker Studio and other BI solutions.
• Infrastructure & Change Management: Manage Linux-based VMs for database hosting or utility tasks. Implement and oversee database version control and migrations using Liquibase.
• Monitoring and observability: Deploy granular monitoring at the database level to enable high-fidelity observability and streamlined incident response.
• Collaboration: Act as a subject matter expert for application teams, assisting with query optimization, schema design, and production deployments. Participate in deployment calls and provide 24/7 support for mission-critical database incidents.

Requirements

• Cloud Platforms: Extensive experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) services, specifically Cloud SQL, BigQuery, and NoSQL offerings.
• Database Mastery: Expert-level SQL skills and deep knowledge of MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MSSQL.
• NoSQL Proficiency: Experience managing and querying document-based stores like Firestore/Datastore or Elastic.
• Data Engineering: Hands-on experience with workflow orchestration (Airflow) and stream/batch processing (Dataflow/Beam).
• DevOps for Data: Proven experience with database change management and version control (e.g. Liquibase).
• Systems & Scripting: Good command of Linux/Unix environments and proficiency in Python for automation and data manipulation.
• Performance Tuning: Expertise in query optimization, partitioning, indexing strategies, and database bottleneck analysis.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Experience: 5+ years of experience in Database Engineering, Data Engineering, or a Senior DBA role.
• Agile Support: Demonstrated ability to support multiple application teams in an Agile environment.
• Communication: Strong communication skills to translate complex data requirements into technical solutions.

Nice to have

• GCP Professional Data Engineer or Cloud Database Engineer certification.
• Experience working on DevOps tasks.
• Knowledge of data governance and security best practices within GCP.