Location: Hybrid, 2 times a week minimum onsite
Job Summary
Hands-on senior PostgreSQL contractor responsible for establishing enterprise database architecture, operational standards, HA/DR, backup/recovery, monitoring, performance, security, automation, lifecycle management, and knowledge transfer.
1. Key Responsibilities
- Assess and remediate enterprise PostgreSQL environments across DEV, TEST, PROD, and DR.
- Design and implement PostgreSQL reference architectures and standardized database builds.
- Engineer and test HA using streaming replication, Patroni or equivalent, DCS quorum, HAProxy/service endpoints, PgBouncer, fencing, and failover/failback.
- Implement pgBackRest or equivalent enterprise backup, WAL archiving, PITR, retention, encryption, and automated restore validation.
- Design and test DR architectures, promotion/failback procedures, and RPO/RTO controls.
- Implement monitoring and alerting for PostgreSQL, replication, WAL, autovacuum/XID, queries, locks, storage, backup, HA/DCS, DR, OS, and capacity.
- Diagnose and tune SQL, execution plans, indexes, vacuum/bloat, memory, checkpoints, WAL, I/O, and concurrency.
- Establish security/IAM, TLS, pg_hba, role/privilege, secrets, logging, pgAudit, and SIEM integration standards.
- Lead minor patching and major-version upgrade planning/execution, including EOL remediation.
- Automate builds and operations with Git, Ansible, Terraform, Python/shell, and CI/CD.
- Create runbooks, architecture diagrams, standards, operational procedures, and conduct knowledge transfer.
2. Required Qualifications:
Education
- Minimum: Bachelor s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, or a closely related technical field.
Experience
- 8-10+ years in database administration with preferably 5+ years of substantial production PostgreSQL administration in enterprise environments.
PostgreSQL
- Strong hands-on expertise with architecture, configuration, WAL, MVCC, VACUUM/autovacuum, XID wraparound, locking, query plans, indexing, partitioning, statistics, extensions, replication, upgrades, migration, and troubleshooting.
HA
- Hands-on Patroni or equivalent HA framework; etcd/Consul; streaming replication; HAProxy; PgBouncer; quorum, fencing, split-brain prevention, failover and failback.
Backup/Recovery
- pgBackRest; WAL archiving; PITR; full/differential/incremental backup; encryption; retention; large-database recovery and restore testing.
Monitoring
- pg_stat* views, pg_stat_statements, exporters/Prometheus/Grafana or enterprise monitoring, alerting, centralized logging and SIEM integration.
Linux
- Strong RHEL/Linux skills including systemd, filesystem/LVM, networking, SELinux, firewall, kernel/sysctl, ulimits, storage/I/O diagnostics and shell scripting.
Automation
- Ansible, Git, Terraform, Python and/or shell, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, and automated database builds.
Operations
- Demonstrated 24x7 production troubleshooting, incident response, RCA, change management, performance analysis, patching and upgrade experience.
3. Preferred Qualifications
- Large enterprise or multi-TB PostgreSQL estates.
- Mission-critical / 24x7 database services.
- Client or enterprise virtualization and enterprise storage.
- OpenShift/Kubernetes PostgreSQL experience.
- Oracle-to-PostgreSQL migration experience.
- Active Directory / enterprise IAM integration.
- Regulated or critical-infrastructure environments.
- Experience with EDB, Percona, Crunchy Data, or upstream PostgreSQL.
- Cloud PostgreSQL services and hybrid architectures.
- PostgreSQL community contributions or relevant certifications.
4. Core Technical Competencies
Architecture
- Design resilient PostgreSQL services across compute, storage, network, HA, backup and DR layers.
Troubleshooting
- Diagnose failures across PostgreSQL, Linux, virtualization, storage and network boundaries.
Performance
- Use PostgreSQL statistics and EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS) to identify and remediate bottlenecks.
Recovery
- Recover to latest state or precise PITR target and produce recovery evidence.
Automation
- Turn manual build/operations procedures into repeatable version-controlled automation.
Documentation
- Produce clear architecture, standards, runbooks, diagrams and operational handoff materials.
Communication
- Work effectively with DBAs, infrastructure, application, security, management and vendor support teams.
5. Practical Interview / Technical Evaluation
Primary PostgreSQL VM disappears at 2 AM.
- Capability Being Assessed:
- HA, failover, client routing, incident handling
Patroni cannot reach the DCS while PostgreSQL remains running.
- Capability Being Assessed:
- Quorum, fencing, split-brain prevention
Replica is significantly behind primary.
- Capability Being Assessed:
- Replication and WAL diagnostics
pg_wal is filling the filesystem.
- Capability Being Assessed:
- Archive, replication slots, WAL and capacity troubleshooting
Database approaches XID wraparound.
- Capability Being Assessed:
- MVCC, vacuum/freeze and emergency response
Backup job is green. Prove the database is recoverable.
- Capability Being Assessed:
- Restore validation and recovery discipline
Recover the database to a specific timestamp yesterday.
- Capability Being Assessed:
Primary data center is unavailable.
- Capability Being Assessed:
- DR declaration, fencing, RPO/RTO, promotion and routing
CPU rises from 30% to 95%.
- Capability Being Assessed:
- Performance troubleshooting
Upgrade a multi-TB PostgreSQL database to a new major version.
- Capability Being Assessed:
- Upgrade architecture, downtime minimization and rollback
6. Success Measures
- Documented and approved PostgreSQL standards.
- Production-ready HA, backup/PITR, DR and monitoring controls.
- Reduced manual configuration through automation.
- EOL/technical-debt remediation plan.
- Validated failure and recovery tests.
- Operational runbooks and dashboards adopted by internal teams.
- Successful knowledge transfer with no contractor-only operational dependency.
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EEO:
Mindlance is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of Minority/Gender/Disability/Religion/LGBTQI/Age/Veterans.