Lead Database Engineer

JOB DESCRIPTIONDesignation: Lead Database EngineerLocation: Hyderabad, IndiaWork Mode: OfficeReporting to: Engineering Manager About US:Foundation AI automatically ingests incoming documents, emails, and attachments from across your firm. It profiles matches, classifies, and saves each to your DMS, and then automates document-dependent workflows according to your rules. Read more about us at Job Overview:At Foundation AI, we are looking for a Lead Database Engineer to oversee database architecture, optimization, security, and scalability. This role requires expertise in relational and NoSQL databases, performance tuning, cloud-based database solutions, and DevOps automation. The ideal candidate will lead a team of database engineers, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and drive best practices in database design, management, and high availabilityKey Responsibilities:Database Architecture & Design: Lead the design and implementation of scalable and high-performance database architectures..Performance Optimization: Identify, troubleshoot and automate performance monitoring ,  and resolve  performance bottlenecks, slow queries, and indexing issues.Database Administration: Manage, monitor, and optimize SQL and NoSQL databases (e.g., PostgreSQL)Cloud & Infrastructure: Design and implement multi-cloud database solutions across AWS/Azure/GCP, ensuring scalability and performance. Optimize cloud database performance, cost efficiency, and securityBackup & Recovery: Establish and maintain backup, disaster recovery (DR), and failover strategies.Security & Compliance: Ensure database security, encryption, access control, and compliance with regulatory requirements (GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2).Automation & DevOps: Automate database provisioning, schema changes, and CI/CD pipelines using Terraform, Ansible, or Kubernetes.Data Modeling: Design efficient database schemas and normalization strategies to support business needs.High Availability & Replication: Implement solutions for replication, clustering, and load balancing to ensure 99.99% uptime.Monitoring & Diagnostics: Utilize tools like Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch for proactive database monitoring.Mentorship & Leadership: Drives technical initiatives across teams, enabling teams to deliver complex solutions while fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, knowledge sharing and Mentors engineers driving best practices and ensures technical alignment., Documentation: Maintain technical documentation for reference and future developmentNote:Responsibilities will be tailored based on the candidate's experience and expertise, aligning with Lead Database Engineer I, II, or III levelsSkills and Tools: Database Design : Can design small-to-medium-sized databases with clear relationships between entities. Designs scalable databases and optimizes them for performance, ensuring the right level of normalization and denormalization.Leads the database design process for mission-critical applications, ensuring scalability and high availability. Works with leadership to set database strategy for the organization. SQL ProficiencyComfortable writing complex SQL queries to retrieve, manipulate, and aggregate data. Reviews and optimizes team SQL queries for performance and scalability. Leads the development of stored procedures and triggers.Manages complex SQL development processes, ensuring that queries are optimized for large databases. Reviews and improves the overall SQL architecture for better performance. Performance TuningFamiliar with tools for query analysis and performance monitoring.Tunes queries, indexes, and configurations for optimal performance.Leads performance audits and optimizes database infrastructure for mission-critical systems. Database Systems & ToolsHands-on with installing, configuring, and using RDBMS and cloud database tools.Leads teams in choosing and implementing appropriate database tools.Oversees database system upgrades and transitions across teams. Performance Tuning & OptimizationBench marking the performance threshold using the existing toolsAutomates performance monitoring. Coaches teams on query tuning best practices.Oversees performance optimization for mission-critical applications. Backup, Recovery, and MaintenanceConfigures backups and recovery solutions.Schedules automated maintenance jobs. Ensures successful recovery testing.Drives backup optimization and reduces recovery time objectives (RTO). Scripting & Programming LanguagesUses SQL, Bash, or PowerShell for automating repetitive tasks.Writes advanced automation scripts integrating DB, OS, and cloud services.Leads the development of scripting standards and contributes to internal tooling initiatives. Database SecurityConfigures roles, permissions, and encryption.Monitors user activity and enforces security guidelines.Leads security incident response related to databases. Problem-solvingDiagnoses and fixes common bugsResolves integration and performance issuesDevelops systemic solutions for recurring technical problems Critical ThinkingEvaluates technical feasibility of tasksAssesses architectural implications and trade-offsGuides team decision-making aligned with long-term objectives Effective CommunicationUpdates team on progress and blockers.Suggest the enhancement based on the feedback.Works within their team and with its business stakeholders to foster a culture of seeking out feedback and using it as a tool for growth. Actively demonstrates these behaviors.Fosters a culture of delivering praise and constructive feedback within their team and team's respective business stakeholders. Actively demonstrates these behaviours.Communicates design choices and technical challenges LeadershipLeads a project or feature team, coordinating tasks and ensuring delivery.Mentors engineers, promoting knowledge sharing , driving best practices and ensures technical alignment..Drives technical initiatives across teams, enabling teams to deliver complex solutions while fostering a culture of innovation. collaboration and knowledge sharing. OwnershipTakes ownership of a module or subsystem, ensuring quality delivery.Ensures delivery of end-to-end features, managing risks and dependencies.Owns the success of multiple features or systems, proactively driving improvements and ensuring long-term system health. Technical  Skills  Technical SkillsRequirement LevelRelational Databases (SQL-based) - PostgreSQLMust HaveNoSQL Databases – Redis, MongoDBGood to HaveAWS RDS, Aurora (Managed SQL databases on AWS)Must HavePgBouncer (Connection pooling for PostgreSQL)Good to HaveQuery Optimization (EXPLAIN ANALYZE, query hints, indexing strategies)Must HaveSharding & Partitioning (For horizontal scaling)Must HaveLoad Balancers (HA Proxy, AWS ELB, or Azure Load Balancer)Good to HaveReplication & Failover Solutions (PostgreSQL Streaming Replication, MySQL GTID Replication)Good to HaveCloud-based Backup Tools (AWS Backup, Azure Site Recovery, Google Cloud Snapshots)Good to HaveDisaster Recovery Planning (Automated backups, failover strategies)Good to HaveProficient in versioning systems like Git, or SVNGood to HaveDocker and Kubernetes knowledgeGood to HavePrometheus & Grafana (Database performance monitoring)Good to HaveApache Airflow (Workflow orchestration for data pipelines)Good to HaveQuery Performance Tracking Tools (e.g., pg_stat_statements, SQL Profiler, EXPLAIN ANALYZE)Must HaveDatabase Encryption (Transparent Data Encryption, Column-level Encryption)Must HaveWorking in Agile/ScrumMust HaveRole-based Access Control (RBAC) (PostgreSQL roles, AWS IAM policies)Must HaveVulnerability Scanning & Patching (Automated security updates)Good to HaveSQL & PL/pgSQL / T-SQL (Advanced SQL scripting)Must HaveBash / PowerShell (Database automation scripts)Must HaveGraph Databases (Neo4j, Amazon Neptune) (For relationship-based queries)Good to Have Education & Experience:A   B-Tech degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience relevant to the functional area. 7+ years of experience in database engineering, with 2+ years in a leadership role.Our Commitment:At Foundation AI, we're committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace. We value equal opportunity and affirmative action principles, giving everyone an equal chance to succeed. We're dedicated to offering equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or veteran status. Upholding these values and adhering to applicable laws is paramount to us.  For any feedback or inquiries, please contact us atLearn more about us