Senior Software Engineer (Microservices & PostgreSQL)

Realta; Limerick; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous annual leave

Healthcare plan

Pension plan

Learning and career development

Diversity, equity and inclusion

Job summary

Realta is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to design, build, and maintain a low-latency, high-throughput platform using PostgreSQL-backed microservices. The role focuses on API design, complex schemas, and production observability within a Fraud & Risk Management R&D Centre of Excellence in Limerick.

You will collaborate with engineers, architects, SDETs, product managers, and stakeholders to deliver secure, scalable solutions and will contribute to documentation and architectural reviews in a

Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend engineering with PostgreSQL at scale
• Proficient in Java 17+ or Go
• Experience designing high-concurrency microservices
• Strong database design and query optimization skills
• Knowledge of MVCC, autovacuum, index/tables bloat and locking issues
• Experience with migrations (Flyway/Liquibase) and connection pooling
• Familiar with SpringBoot or Quarkus and modern CI/CD
• Experience with REST/gRPC and OpenAPI
• Solid knowledge of Git workflows and DevOps practices
• Background in financial services or risk management is a plus

Responsibilities

• Architect, build, and maintain high-performance microservices interfacing with PostgreSQL
• Lead code reviews and promote secure, robust coding practices
• Design scalable schemas, data models, and complex queries for distributed systems
• Implement partitioning and data retention for low-latency, high-volume workloads
• Diagnose production DB bottlenecks and query performance issues
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and stakeholders
• Produce high-quality technical documentation and runbooks
• Mentor and share knowledge to improve engineering excellence

Skills

PostgreSQL expertise

Java 17+ / Go

Microservices architecture

RESTful APIs & gRPC

Performance tuning & MVCC

Containerization

Cloud deployment (AWS/GCP)

Security & compliance (OAuth2/OIDC,JWT

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

Quarkus

SpringBoot

Maven

Gradle

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

OpenAPI

Flyway

Liquibase

JUnit

Mockito

TestContainers

Job description

Realta is a dynamic and innovative technology company dedicated to reshaping the landscape of financial risk and compliance management. We seek a product-minded Senior Software Engineer with deep expertise in developing scalable microservices and strong proficiency in PostgreSQL to join our talented team at the Fraud & Risk Management Research & Development Centre of Excellence in Limerick.

At Realta, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive. We welcome applications from all qualified people of all backgrounds, experiences and identities. We believe that different perspectives strengthen our team and help us grow together. Visa sponsorship may be available for the right candidate, in line with Irish employment permit regulation.

Position Overview:

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will work towards designing, building and maintaining our low-latency and high-throughput platform using the best database and software engineering practices while collaborating with other software engineers, architects, SDETs, product managers and stakeholders.

This platform will leverage the power of artificial intelligence to address the complex challenges of fraud detection, risk assessment, and regulatory compliance in the financial industry. This position will be responsible for the full software development life cycle, including, but not limited to: designing highly concurrent microservices, API design and implementation, complex database schema design and query optimization, system architecture, unit testing, and production observability.

How you will contribute:

• Architect, build, and maintain high-performance microservices (using Java/Go) that interact seamlessly with our PostgreSQL infrastructure.
• Execute code reviews and other peer review processes (e.g., pair programming) to ensure code quality and security practices.
• Design efficient database schemas, data models, and complex queries to support distributed microservice architectures.
• Implement efficient table partitioning strategies (e.g., declarative partitioning) and data retention models to support low-latency querying at high volume.
• Diagnose and resolve database execution bottlenecks in production, analyzing EXPLAIN ANALYZE query plans, locking issues, and table/index bloat.
• Triage product and systems issues, including debugging and monitoring, aiming to resolve problems and identify root causes.
• Research new technologies, including hands-on technical evaluation and POCs.
• Collaborate with software engineers, architects, UI/UX designers, and product managers to deliver high-quality solutions.
• Produce and contribute to high-quality documentation.
• Participate in conversations and workshops with stakeholders to understand requirements and identify solutions and opportunities.
• Lead technical design reviews and cultivate a culture of engineering excellence through proactive mentorship and knowledge sharing.

What we need from you:

• 5+ years professional engineering, including ownership of backend services in production backed by PostgreSQL at scale (e.g., self-hosted, AWS RDS/Aurora, CloudSQL).
• In-depth knowledge of a selected programming language (e.g., Java 17+, Go).
• In-depth knowledge of database engine and mechanics (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL), including MVCC, autovacuum behavior, table/index bloat, transaction isolation levels, and lock escalation.
• Experience with application-side database optimization: managing complex schema migrations (e.g., Flyway/Liquibase), implementing advanced indexing, partitioning data for application scale, and configuring application-layer connection pooling.
• Experience working with Java-based microservices frameworks (e.g., Quarkus, SpringBoot).
• Experience in analysing and optimising Java memory footprints for containerised environments.
• Experience with testing frameworks (e.g., JUnit, Mockito, JaCoCo, TestContainers).
• Experience working with RESTful APIs and familiarity with gRPC (Protobuf).
• Experience with building and package tools (e.g., Maven, Gradle).
• Experience with containerisation tools (e.g., Docker, Podman, Buildpack, Jib).
• Experience deploying applications onto cloud-native environments (e.g., AWS, GCP).
• Experience implementing security standards and best practices ensuring compliance with data privacy and security regulations (e.g., OAuth2/OIDC and JWT, Encryption, OWASP Top 10).
• Knowledge of OpenAPI specification.
• Knowledge of software versioning control using Git and related platforms (e.g., GitHub, GitLab).
• Experience working in the financial services, financial technology and risk management industry.
• Experience in defending architectural choices to stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, comfortable discussing technical information.

We offer a competitive and inclusive benefits package designed to support your wellbeing and work-life balance. Our benefits include:

• Generous annual leave
• Family friendly policies
• Comprehensive healthcare plan and support
• Pension plan
• Opportunities for learning and career development
• A workplace culture that values diversity, equity and inclusion

We understand everyone has commitments outside of work, and where possible we aim to help you balance your career and personal life.

Additional information:

This is a hybrid role in our Limerick City office that includes work from home and assigned office days set by your manager.

Disclaimer:

The above information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

Realta reserves the right to alter this description at any time. Realta practices the concept of equal employment opportunity with respect to hiring, promotions, transfers, pay, discipline, fringe benefits, and all other terms and conditions of employment. No individual will be discriminated against, and no employment decisions will be made, on the basis of an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, protected disability, marital status, familial status, veteran status, height, weight or citizenship.