Database Developer (Google Cloud)

JD Overview: We're looking for a Database Engineer with strong, hands-on PostgreSQL ownership experience to support database migration and real-time replication work on Google Cloud. This is a build-and-run role — you'll be the person accountable for the database itself: sizing, securing, deploying, operating, and migrating it, not just connecting to it or transforming data that flows through it. Day-to-day, this role leans DBA/DataDevOps rather than pipeline development. What Success Looks Like The databases you own are fast, available, recoverable, and cost-efficient — and you're the one who gets paged when they're not. Key Responsibilities Migration Plan and execute database migrations to Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL), including schema conversion, data validation, and cutover planning Use Database Migration Service (DMS) to migrate on-prem or cloud-based databases into Cloud SQL with minimal downtime Configure and manage Datastream for change data capture (CDC) and near real-time replication from source databases Own rollback planning for migrations — able to explain what happens if a cutover goes wrong, not just what happens if it goes right Day-to-Day Operations Administer and tune Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL) instances — performance, indexing, backups, high availability Diagnose slow-running databases: query analysis, missing indexes, CPU/memory/IO bottlenecks, locking/contention Set up and maintain monitoring and alerting (CPU, memory, storage, connections, replication lag, error rates) Manage database users, permissions, and secure connectivity (private networking, encryption, connection pooling) Own backup strategy and — critically — have actually performed a restore, not just configured a backup schedule Plan and execute database version upgrades and maintenance windows on live systems Automate recurring database work (provisioning as code, scheduled maintenance, index upkeep) Design & Sizing Size database instances (CPU, memory, storage) based on workload and growth projections Design and configure high-availability setups (multi-zone/multi-region, read replicas) Make and justify cost/performance tradeoffs Required Skills & Experience Strong hands-on PostgreSQL experience — administration, performance tuning, schema design, Experience with Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL) on GCP — ideally provisioned and configured, not just used Experience with Database Migration Service (DMS) and Datastream (or equivalent CDC tools) for migration and replication Demonstrated on-call/incident-response experience for a database (not just for pipeline job failures) Solid understanding of migration best practices — minimal-downtime cutovers, validation, rollback strategies Comfortable troubleshooting replication lag and data consistency issues Preferred Experience with heterogeneous migrations (e.g., Oracle → PostgreSQL) Google Professional Cloud Database Engineer certification, or willingness to complete it (client requests this post-hire) Experience with Terraform or similar for database infrastructure automation