Database Engineer

Job Title: Database Engineer

About the Company

We build software that powers the daily operations of waste and recycling organizations globally. Our products sit at the intersection of logistics, operations, and data, enabling cities and private haulers to run safer, more efficient, and more sustainable operations at scale. The Elements platform is a core part of this ecosystem and is undergoing active modernization — technically and operationally. This role is for engineers who enjoy owning real systems, not just writing code in isolation.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Database Engineer to own and evolve the data layer of the Elements platform. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role focused on reliability, performance, scalability, and database modernization in cloud environments. You will work on production databases serving real customers while leading database migrations, improving performance, and partnering closely with application and platform engineers to raise the overall data engineering bar. This role suits engineers who think beyond maintenance and see databases as first-class production systems that directly impact customer experience and platform stability.

What You'll Do

• Own and operate SQL Server and PostgreSQL databases in production environments
• Design and optimize database schemas, indexing strategies, and query performance
• Plan and execute database migrations, including SQL Server PostgreSQL
• Implement and maintain backup, restore, and disaster recovery strategies
• Monitor database performance, capacity, and availability proactively
• Partner with application teams on data modeling and query optimization
• Support and troubleshoot production issues, including deep root cause analysis
• Contribute to database standards, best practices, and operational documentation
• Act as a steward of data reliability, integrity, and security across the platform
• Customer obsession — understand how database performance and availability directly impact customer trust and system reliability

Required Skills & Experience

• 5+ years of experience as a Database Engineer / DBA
• Strong hands-on experience with SQL Server
• Strong hands-on experience with PostgreSQL
• Proven experience leading or executing database migrations
• Advanced SQL skills, performance tuning, and indexing strategies
• Experience operating databases in AWS (RDS or self-managed)
• Experience with backup, recovery, and disaster recovery planning
• Experience supporting high-availability, production-critical systems
• Clear written and verbal communication for async, cross-functional collaboration

Nice to Have

• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform or similar)
• Experience supporting microservices-based architectures
• Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools
• Experience working with large, complex, or multi-tenant schemas
• Exposure to data security, compliance, or governance practices

Why Join Us

• Own mission-critical data systems with direct customer impact
• Play a key role in platform modernization and cloud transformation
• Work closely with senior engineers and platform leaders
• High-ownership, engineering-driven culture with real influence
• A platform that is evolving — technically and organizationally — with room to grow