[Hiring] Technical Lead, Senior Database Engineer @Canopy

Role Description

We're hiring a Senior Database Engineer who takes real pride in databases that run well and enjoys writing great SQL. If you're eager to own a fleet of roughly 100 Postgres databases, obsessed with query performance, and opinionated about what good schema design looks like on a modern SaaS platform, you're the person we're looking for. You'll be central to our backend engineering efforts, working alongside developers, product managers, and QA engineers to shape our data models and keep our platform fast and reliable.

Our DevOps tooling and microservices architecture let teams ship to production hundreds of times a month—your job is to make sure the database layer keeps up.

What You'll Do:

• Oversee the maintenance of 100+ managed databases to ensure optimal performance, security, and reliability.
• Regularly monitor database health, identifying bottlenecks, and recommending actionable solutions.
• Own database cost and capacity planning across the fleet—right-sizing instances, forecasting spend, and making the case for where we should invest versus trim.
• Use historical performance and growth trends to plan for busy season, scaling up before the load arrives and scaling back down when it doesn't need to be there.
• Refine and refactor our database structures to align with best practices and enhance the ease of data access for backend developers.
• Own index and query health across the fleet: plan analysis, slow query review, index coverage and bloat, autovacuum tuning, and connection pooling.
• Advise on and implement modern database best practices to elevate our platform's reliability and efficiency.
• Collaborate with teams to write and optimize complex database queries and migrations.
• Serve as the database reviewer on squad design docs, shaping data models, schema changes, and query patterns for performance, scale, and reporting.
• Spearhead initiatives to minimize downtime during database maintenance, ensuring a seamless experience for our users.
• Provide mentoring and training to team members on database insights and optimizations.
• Develop and communicate SQL “best practices” to engineering teams.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of experience as a Database Engineer, with a track record of managing and optimizing databases.
• 5+ years of experience writing SQL and experience with relational database systems - specifically PostgreSQL.
• Acute ability to diagnose database performance issues and provide solutions.
• Proven experience in implementing database best practices and ensuring minimal downtime.
• Experience with managed cloud database infrastructure (RDS preferred).
• Excellent communication skills, fostering collaboration and understanding across teams.
• A relentless passion for ensuring data integrity and accessibility, combined with a drive to build innovative, scalable solutions.

Requirements

• Experience with warehousing techniques, enabling better analytics and reporting functionalities (bonus).
• Proficiency with various programming languages (Python and/or Java/Kotlin are a plus).

Benefits

• 🌴 Flexible Paid Time Off - that you’re actually encouraged to use plus 10 company holidays!
• ❤️‍🩹 Health Benefits - including Medical, Dental, and Vision and an HSA Match. Canopy covers Medical premiums at 100% for Employees only.
• 💰 401(k) - we match 100% up to 3% of your contribution. Eligibility is immediate with 100% vesting.
• 🧠 Mental Health - all employees have access to Impact Suite & to our Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• 👶 Paid New Parent Leave & Birthing Parent Leave - so you’re able to care for your little ones.
• ➕ Supplemental Benefits - including 100% company paid Basic Life & AD&D insurance and long & short-term disability coverage.
• 🌟 Motivosity - our peer-to-peer recognition program to help our employees recognize the amazing work being done by other Canopians!
• 🥳 Company Events - including monthly company-wide meetings, summer parties, and more.
• 💡 DEIB Committee - to plan initiatives around continuing education, community outreach, recruiting, onboarding, and more.
• ☕ Fully-stocked kitchen - Keto? Vegan? Flexitarian? Mandalorian? We’ve got you covered.