Senior Database Reliability Engineer

QLYS_IN Qualys Security TechServices Private Ltd.; Pune District; On-site; INR 4,500,000 - 6,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualys, Inc. seeks a Senior Database Reliability Engineer to own OpenSearch/Elasticsearch clusters, Kafka and Redis operations, and Python automation. You will drive reliability, performance, and automation across distributed data platforms in production.

The role requires hands-on expertise, strong Linux debugging skills, and collaboration with SRE and cloud teams to deliver production-readiness standards.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of relevant DBRE/SRE or distributed-systems operations experience in production environments.
• Strong hands-on OpenSearch and/or Elasticsearch experience, including shards, indexing, search, lifecycle management, JVM behavior, and snapshot/restore.
• Production experience with at least one of Kafka or Redis; experience with both is strongly preferred.
• Strong Linux and systems troubleshooting skills across CPU, memory, storage I/O, networking, and process behavior.
• Ability to write maintainable Python automation beyond simple one-off shell scripts.
• Experience with monitoring, incident response, controlled production changes, upgrades, and operational documentation.
• Clear communication, sound judgment, and willingness to elevate risk early.

Responsibilities

• Operate, scale, and improve assigned OpenSearch/Elasticsearch clusters and node topologies.
• Troubleshoot shard allocation, indexing throughput, slow search and aggregation workloads, cluster state, JVM heap/GC, disk, memory, and recovery issues.
• Implement and maintain index templates, shard strategies, ISM/ILM policies, rollover, retention, snapshot, restore, and rolling‑upgrade procedures.
• Operate Kafka topics, partitions, replication, retention, consumer groups, and broker health; diagnose lag, rebalance storms, and capacity bottlenecks.
• Operate Redis Cluster and Sentinel environments; address memory fragmentation, eviction behavior, persistence, replication lag, connection limits, and failover issues.
• Develop clean, modular Python automation for health checks, maintenance, validation, reporting, and safe remediation.
• Use Terraform, Ansible, GitOps workflows, or Kubernetes operators where applicable to make platform operations repeatable.
• Instrument actionable metrics and alerts using Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry; participate in on-call and post-incident reviews.

Skills

OpenSearch/Elasticsearch

Kafka

Redis

Python automation

Linux

Tools

Terraform

Ansible

Kubernetes

Job description

Come work at a place where innovation and teamwork come together to support the most exciting missions in the world! Senior Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE) - Data Platform OpenSearch Must-Have | Kafka | Redis | Python Automation | Production Reliability Level Senior DBRE (Senior Individual Contributor) Domain Distributed Data Infrastructure Primary Focus Hands-on reliability and operational ownership for assigned OpenSearch/Elasticsearch, Kafka, and Redis services; Python automation and disciplined production execution

1. Role Summary

We are seeking an experienced Senior DBRE to improve the reliability, performance, scalability, and automation of mission-critical distributed data platforms. OpenSearch/Elasticsearch is the core must-have technology, complemented by production experience with Kafka, Redis, Linux systems, observability, and Python automation. This is a hands‑on role. The Senior DBRE independently operates assigned clusters and services, troubleshoots production issues, performs upgrades and lifecycle work, builds practical automation, and contributes to platform design and production-readiness standards.

2. Level Scope and Leadership Expectations

• Expectations at This Level Scope of Ownership Owns assigned clusters, services, maintenance activities, incidents, upgrades, backup/restore, capacity reviews, and operational improvements with limited supervision.
• Technical Depth Diagnoses common and moderately complex issues involving shards, indexing, search, Kafka lag, Redis memory behavior, JVM, Linux, storage, and networking.
• Automation Builds and maintains tested Python tools, operational CLIs, API integrations, dashboards, alerts, and runbooks that reduce recurring toil.
• Execution Executes migrations, rolling upgrades, scaling, and DR exercises with change‑management discipline and appropriate technical review.
• Collaboration Partners with Lead and Staff engineers, SRE, application, infrastructure, storage, network, and cloud teams; documents findings and communicates risks early.
• Architecture Influence Contributes evidence and operational experience to design reviews; does not independently set enterprise‑wide platform architecture.

3. Key Responsibilities

A. OpenSearch and Elasticsearch Operations

• Operate, scale, and improve assigned OpenSearch/Elasticsearch clusters and node topologies.
• Troubleshoot shard allocation, indexing throughput, slow search and aggregation workloads, cluster state, JVM heap/GC, disk, memory, and recovery issues.
• Implement and maintain index templates, shard strategies, ISM/ILM policies, rollover, retention, snapshot, restore, and rolling‑upgrade procedures.

B. Kafka and Redis Operations

• Operate Kafka topics, partitions, replication, retention, consumer groups, and broker health; diagnose lag, rebalance storms, and capacity bottlenecks.
• Operate Redis Cluster and Sentinel environments; address memory fragmentation, eviction behavior, persistence, replication lag, connection limits, and failover issues.

C. Automation and Infrastructure as Code

• Develop clean, modular Python automation for health checks, maintenance, validation, reporting, and safe remediation.
• Use Terraform, Ansible, GitOps workflows, or Kubernetes operators where applicable to make platform operations repeatable.

D. Reliability and Incident Response

• Instrument actionable metrics and alerts using Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, or comparable platforms.
• Participate in on‑call, stabilize incidents, document root cause, and complete preventive actions.
• Contribute to capacity planning, production‑readiness reviews, runbooks, and design reviews.

4. Required Qualifications and Experience

• 5+ years of relevant DBRE, SRE, database, or distributed‑systems operations experience in production environments.
• Strong hands‑on OpenSearch and/or Elasticsearch experience, including shards, indexing, search, lifecycle management, JVM behavior, and snapshot/restore.
• Production experience with at least one of Kafka or Redis; experience with both is strongly preferred.
• Strong Linux and systems troubleshooting skills across CPU, memory, storage I/O, networking, and process behavior.
• Ability to write maintainable Python automation beyond simple one‑off shell scripts.
• Experience with monitoring, incident response, controlled production changes, upgrades, and operational documentation.
• Clear communication, sound judgment, and willingness to elevate risk early.

5. Preferred Qualifications

• Hands‑on experience with both Kafka and Redis.
• Terraform, Ansible, GitOps, Kubernetes, ECK/OpenSearch, Strimzi, or Redis operators.
• Cloud‑managed data services in AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Familiarity with ClickHouse, Pinot, vector databases, Flink, Spark Streaming, or Kafka Connect.

6. Expected Outcomes in the First 6-12 Months

• Establish measurable baselines and deliver material improvements in reliability, alert quality, MTTR, and recurring operational toil for assigned services.
• Automate high‑frequency maintenance and validation workflows using maintainable Python tooling.
• Improve runbook coverage, upgrade readiness, backup/restore confidence, and capacity visibility.
• Contribute a well‑supported evaluation or operational‑readiness recommendation for one relevant emerging technology when business needs require it.

7. What This Role Does Not Include

• This is not a people‑management role.
• This is not passive monitoring, ticket routing, or a generic operations queue; hands‑on troubleshooting and improvement are expected.
• This role does not independently own enterprise‑wide architecture or technical strategy.
• This role does not own application code or product feature delivery, although close partnership with application teams is required.
• The role does not require equal mastery of every listed platform; OpenSearch/Elasticsearch is the anchor expertise, with complementary Kafka and/or Redis depth.

8. Work Expectations and Location

This role requires working during U.S. Eastern Time (ET) business hours and participating in on‑call support as required.

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS) is a pioneer and leading provider of disruptive cloud‑based security, compliance and IT solutions with more than 10,000 subscription customers worldwide, including a majority of the Forbes Global 100 and Fortune 100. Qualys helps organizations streamline and automate their security and compliance solutions onto a single platform for greater agility, better business outcomes, and substantial cost savings.