Principal Database Engineer

Namely; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Namely is seeking an expert-level Database Operations Engineer to administer and support Cornerstone’s database infrastructure using AI and intelligent automation. You will ensure high availability, security, and performance across production and non-production environments supporting critical apps and automation platforms.

You will drive AI-powered monitoring, automated remediation, and autonomous diagnostics while collaborating on LLM-based database agents, knowledge bases, and incident

Qualifications

• 5+ years of database administration in production environments.
• Experience with AI-driven monitoring and automation.
• Strong understanding of security, compliance, and DR concepts.

Responsibilities

• Support AI-powered monitoring and alerting systems that autonomously detect anomalies and suggest remediation.
• Develop and maintain LLM-based database agents and knowledge bases.
• Document incidents, resolutions, and runbooks for AI-driven reference in the RAG workflow.
• Support root cause analysis workflows using real-time metrics and historical patterns.
• Maintain and enhance automated playbook engines for self-healing remediation.
• Refine prompt engineering for database AI agents to improve diagnostics.
• Feed telemetry into AI/ML pipelines for trend detection and capacity forecasting.
• Enable natural language query interfaces for database health metrics.

Skills

High availability

On-call support

Root cause analysis

Tools

SQL Server

PowerShell

Python

LLM-based tooling

Job description

To provide expert-level administration, maintenance, and support of the Cornerstone’s database infrastructure, while leveraging AI and intelligent automation to enhance operational efficiency, proactive monitoring, and autonomous remediation. The role ensures high availability, optimal performance, security, and compliance across production and non-production environments supporting business-critical applications and automation platforms.

Key Responsibilities

AI-Driven Database Operations Intelligent Automation

• Support and develop AI-powered monitoring and alerting systems that autonomously detect anomalies, diagnose root causes, and recommend remediation actions.
• Collaborate on the development and maintenance of LLM-based database agents (Text-to-SQL, knowledge retrieval, automated diagnostics).
• Contribute to the RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) knowledge base by documenting incidents, resolutions, and runbooks for AI-driven reference.
• Support AI-driven root cause analysis workflows that use real-time metrics and historical patterns to diagnose database incidents.
• Maintain and enhance automated playbook execution engines that trigger self-healing remediation workflows.
• Develop and refine prompt engineering for database-specific AI agents to improve accuracy of diagnostics and recommendations.
• Feed performance data, incident patterns, and operational telemetry into AI/ML pipelines for trend detection and capacity forecasting.
• Support natural language query interfaces enabling stakeholders to query database health and metrics without writing SQL.

Database Administration Maintenance

• Install, configure, and maintain database instances across production, staging, pilot and development environments.
• Perform daily health checks, proactive monitoring, and maintenance of database platforms.
• Manage database storage, capacity planning, and growth forecasting.
• Execute database patching, version upgrades, and service pack deployments following change management procedures.
• Maintain database documentation including configurations, runbooks, and operational procedures.

Performance Monitoring Optimization

• Monitor and tune database performance including CPU utilisation, memory pressure, I/O throughput, and query execution.
• Identify and resolve blocking, deadlocks, long-running queries, and tempdb contention.
• Analyse execution plans, wait statistics, and DMV outputs to diagnose root causes of performance degradation.
• Implement and manage indexing strategies, statistics maintenance, and database integrity checks.
• Provide recommendations for query optimization and schema improvements to development teams.

High Availability Disaster Recovery

• Administer and maintain High Availability.
• Design, implement, and test backup and recovery strategies ensuring RPO/RTO targets are met.
• Perform regular disaster recovery testing and validate restore procedures.
• Execute failover and switchover operations during planned maintenance and unplanned incidents.
• Monitor replication health and resolve synchronisation issues.

Security Compliance

• Implement and manage database security including role-based access control, encryption (TDE), and auditing.
• Ensure data is accessible only to appropriately authorised personnel.
• Support compliance requirements including data protection, access reviews, and audit responses.
• Manage database user accounts, permissions, and authentication configurations.
• Implement data masking and obfuscation for non-production environments.

Automation Operational Efficiency

• Develop and maintain automation scripts using T-SQL, PowerShell, and Python for routine database operations.
• Support and maintain database provisioning and refresh pipelines.
• Configure and manage SQL Server Agent jobs, alerts, and notifications.
• Identify opportunities to automate manual processes and reduce operational overhead.
• Support CI/CD pipelines and deployment processes related to database changes.

Incident Management Support

• Provide expert-level troubleshooting and resolution for complex database incidents.
• Participate in on-call rotation for production database support.
• Perform root cause analysis for incidents and implement preventive measures.
• Collaborate with application teams, infrastructure teams, and third‑party vendors to resolve cross‑functional issues.
• Escalate critical issues appropriately and communicate status to stakeholders.

Project Support Continuous Improvement

• Support database-related projects including migrations, platform upgrades, and new system implementations.
• Participate in capacity planning and infrastructure scaling initiatives.
• Contribute to the evaluation and adoption of new database technologies and best practices.
• Participate in change advisory processes and provide technical assessment of proposed changes.
• Share knowledge with team members and contribute to team development.