DevOps Engineer - Databases

Humankind Global Recruitment; Málaga; Hybrid; EUR 60,000 - 74,000; Full time

Job summary

Humankind Global Recruitment is seeking a hands-on DevOps Engineer to join our Data team in Málaga on a hybrid model (2 days in the office). You will deploy, automate, and maintain databases on Kubernetes serving 500+ developers across multiple environments.

This role emphasizes practical engineering, working with Kubernetes operators, Helm, Ansible, and CI/CD pipelines to keep databases running reliably at scale.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in a DevOps, SRE, or Infrastructure Engineer role with real production responsibilities.
• Kubernetes experience: deployed and operated workloads in production with stateful apps.
• Database deployment experience on Kubernetes using an operator or Helm chart (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Elasticsearch, MongoDB, etc.).
• Automation skills: practical experience with at least two of Ansible, Terraform, Helm.
• Linux fundamentals: troubleshooting, networking, and system administration on Linux.
• CI/CD familiarity: GitLab CI, ArgoCD, or similar tools.
• Communication: fluent in English, written and spoken, in a distributed team.

Responsibilities

• Deploy and operate databases on Kubernetes using operators (e.g., CloudNativePG, ECK).
• Write and maintain automation with Ansible, Helm, and Terraform for DB lifecycle management.
• Automate backups, scaling, provisioning, and failover; manage credentials and drift detection.
• Collaborate on monitoring, alerting, and access control for databases; document procedures.

Skills

DevOps

Kubernetes

DB on Kubernetes

Automation

Linux fundamentals

CI/CD

English communication

Tools

Ansible

Terraform

Helm

Job description

Devops Engineer - Databases

Location Malaga - Hybrid 2 days per week in office

Salary up-to 67,000 Euros per year

About the Role

We are looking for a hands-on DevOps Engineer to join our Data team. You will deploy, automate, and maintain databases primarily on Kubernetes serving 500+ developers across multiple environments.

This is a practical, engineering-heavy role. You will work daily with Kubernetes operators, Helm charts, Ansible playbooks, and CI/CD pipelines to keep databases running reliably at scale. If you have deployed and managed any database on Kubernetes (PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, MySQL, MongoDB anything counts), and you enjoy solving real operational problems rather than just writing YAML, this role is for you.

You will join a small, focused team of experienced engineers and start contributing from day one. We value practical experience over theoretical knowledge.

What You Will Do

Deploy and operate databases on Kubernetes

• Deploy and manage database clusters using Kubernetes operators (e.g., CloudNativePG, ECK, or any equivalent operator you have worked with).
• Handle day-to-day database operations: provisioning, scaling, backups, failover, upgrades, and user management.
• Troubleshoot production issues across multiple database engines (PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, MySQL, Cassandra, ClickHouse, MongoDB).

Build and maintain automation

• Write and maintain Ansible playbooks, Helm charts, and Terraform modules for database lifecycle management.
• Automate repetitive operational tasks: credential rotation, configuration drift detection, backup verification.
• Integrate database services with GitOps workflows (ArgoCD) and secrets management (External Secrets Operator, OpenBao).

Support the platform and the team

• Create operational runbooks and documentation for database procedures.
• Collaborate with other teams on monitoring, alerting, and access control for databases.

What We Are Looking For

Must Have

• 3+ years in a DevOps, SRE, or Infrastructure Engineer role with real production responsibilities.
• Kubernetes experience: you have deployed and operated workloads on Kubernetes in production — not just local clusters. Understanding of StatefulSets, PVCs, operators, and how stateful applications behave on K8s.
• Database deployment experience on Kubernetes: you have deployed at least one database engine on K8s using an operator or Helm chart. You know the caveats — storage classes, backup strategies, failover behavior, data persistence. Any database counts (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Elasticsearch, MongoDB, Redis, etc.).
• Automation skills: practical experience with at least two of: Ansible, Terraform, Helm. You write automation that others can read, use, and maintain.
• Linux fundamentals: comfortable with troubleshooting, networking, and system administration on Linux.
• CI/CD familiarity: experience with GitLab CI, ArgoCD, or similar pipeline/GitOps tools.
• Communication: able to work effectively in English (written and spoken) in a distributed team.

Nice to Have (We Will Teach the Rest)

• Experience with PostgreSQL administration (tuning, replication, HA/DR).
• Familiarity with Elasticsearch or other search/analytics databases.
• Experience with monitoring and observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK).
• Python, Go, or Bash scripting for building automation and tooling.
• Exposure to secrets management (Vault/OpenBao, External Secrets Operator).
• Experience migrating databases from VMs to Kubernetes.