Principal Database Engineer - Oracle Modernization

Company Description

insightsoftware is a global provider of comprehensive solutions for the Office of the CFO. We believe an actionable business strategy begins and ends with accessible financial data. With solutions across financial planning and analysis (FP&A), accounting, and operations, we transform how teams operate, empowering leaders to make timely and informed decisions. With data at the heart of everything we do, insightsoftware enables automated processes, delivers trusted insights, boosts predictability, and increases productivity. Learn more at insightsoftware.com

Job Description

As a Principal Database Engineer specializing in database architecture, optimization, and modernization, you will serve as the technical authority for all database initiatives across the Equity Management platform, reporting to the Sr Director of Engineering and working closely with the Solution Architect. This is a specialized technical leadership role that combines strategic data architecture thought leadership with hands-on implementation and influential team leadership - you'll analyze our current Oracle database architecture, identify optimization opportunities, and architect its transformation into a modern, performant data platform while rolling up your sleeves to execute key technical implementations. You'll need to not only identify and implement solutions but also teach, influence, drive change, and hold teams accountable to data engineering standards and best practices.

Important: This is an application database architecture role, NOT a data warehousing, ETL/ELT pipeline, or analytics platform engineering position. We have separate teams handling data warehousing and BI infrastructure. This role focuses exclusively on our operational Oracle 19c transactional database that powers our equity compensation SaaS application - optimizing its performance, modernizing its architecture, and supporting application development teams.

You will be joining the team at a pivotal transformation point as we modernize our data architecture to fully leverage cloud capabilities and support next-generation analytics. We are looking for someone who can evaluate our current Oracle database architecture, lead optimization initiatives for performance and scalability, and architect solutions that enhance integration with modern BI platforms. You'll work day-to-day with our Solution Architect and team of Principal Engineers to set the data roadmap and execute the transformation of our database systems.

This role focuses on operational database architecture and OLTP performance optimization - not data science or analytics. You'll bridge the gap between application development and data operations, ensuring our database infrastructure supports both current operations for existing 1200+ enterprise clients and future cloud-native capabilities.
 

Responsibilities

Database Architecture & Strategy:

• Evaluate and lead efforts to normalize the database architecture and optimize data models for performance and scalability
• Assess current database bottlenecks, long-running queries, and performance issues, designing and implementing optimization strategies
• Design data architecture patterns to migrate business logic from Oracle stored procedures to proper application tiers in collaboration with application engineers
• Develop database modernization roadmap for read-optimization and tighter integration with modern BI tools
• Lead strategic decisions on database patterns, indexing strategies, partitioning, and data lifecycle management

Database Modernization & Tooling:

• Evaluate and replace our custom-built database deployment tool with enterprise-grade solutions (DACPAC, Liquibase, Flyway, or similar)
• Design and implement robust database deployment pipelines across multiple environments (Dev, QA, UAT, Prod)
• Architect database CI/CD processes that ensure reliability, repeatability, and auditability of schema changes
• Lead database migration strategies from write-optimized to read-optimized architectures
• Design and implement database observability, monitoring, and alerting solutions

Hands-On Implementation & Optimization:

• Analyze and optimize long-running queries and database performance issues impacting customer experience
• Design and implement database changes that support cloud-native application patterns
• Develop proof-of-concepts for database modernization approaches and data architecture improvements
• Implement database normalization initiatives while maintaining system stability
• Work hands-on with Oracle 19c to solve immediate performance challenges while planning long-term improvements

Cross-Team Collaboration & Technical