Director of Database Architecture and Operations

Who we are

We're a leading, global security authority that's disrupting our own category.  Our encryption is trusted by the major ecommerce brands, the world's largest companies, the major cloud providers, entire country financial systems, entire internets of things and even down to the little things like surgically embedded pacemakers.  We help companies put trust - an abstract idea - to work. That's digital trust for the real world.

 

Job summary

We are seeking an experienced Director of Database Architecture and Operations to lead and manage our Database Administration (DBA) teams in supporting a high-volume, high-transactional distributed system. The ideal candidate is a seasoned leader with deep technical expertise in MariaDB, MySQL, SQL Server, Cassandra and other data tier technologies, capable of architecting and engineering database solutions that meet stringent performance requirements, achieve five-nines (99.999%) uptime, and ensure high availability and resiliency.

This role goes beyond database administration—it is a leadership position focused on engineering and architecting optimal solutions in partnership with cross-functional teams to deliver exceptional results for our customers. You will lead the team in both strategic initiatives and daily operations, ensuring optimal database performance, scalability, and reliability.

 

What you will do

Leadership and Strategy

• Lead and mentor a team of Database Administrators and Engineers, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and excellence.
• Drive architectural best practices and strategic initiatives for database systems to support high availability, scalability, and performance.
• Develop and enforce database standards, guidelines, and processes to ensure consistency, quality, and compliance.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Development and SRE, to ensure database solutions align with application and business requirements.

Database Engineering and Architecture

• Architect and design robust database solutions for high-volume transactional workloads, ensuring five-nines (99.999%) uptime.
• Implement and maintain distributed database systems, optimizing for performance, fault tolerance, and disaster recovery.
• Evaluate, recommend, and implement tools and technologies to improve database operations and meet evolving business needs.
• Ensure effective database versioning, schema management, and backward/forward compatibility to support continuous deployment.

Operations and Administration

• Oversee the day-to-day management and administration of MariaDB, MySQL, MS SQL Server, Cassandra systems and our platform data tier.
• Establish and monitor key performance metrics, identifying and addressing potential bottlenecks or vulnerabilities.
• Ensure robust backup, restore, and recovery strategies to minimize downtime and data loss.
• Lead root cause analysis (RCA) and resolution for database-related incidents, driving accountability and improvement.

Collaboration and Communication

• Partner with development teams to ensure database design supports application performance and scalability needs.
• Work with SRE teams to optimize database reliability and integrate best practices into CI/CD pipelines.
• Provide clear communication to stakeholders regarding database performance, uptime metrics, and strategic initiatives.

 

What you will have

Technical Expertise

• Proven experience managing and architecting large-scale MariaDB, MySQL, Cassandra database systems and other database technologies.
• Strong understanding of high availability architectures, distributed systems, and disaster recovery strategies.
• Deep knowledge of query optimization, indexing strategies, and database internals.
• Experience with database automation, infrastructure as code (IaC), and CI/CD integration.
• Familiarity with cloud database technologies and hybrid deployment models.

Leadership and Experience

• 10+ years of database engineering and administration experience, with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
• Track record of driving architectural best practices and leading cross-functional initiatives.
• <