Senior Database Developer, AWS Data Platforms

Peregrine Advisors; Washington; Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance fully paid

401(k) with 100% match up to 4%

Unlimited paid time off

Spons. professional certifications

Job summary

Peregrine Advisors seeks a senior database engineer to own the physical design, data models, and performance of a federal agency data layer. You will optimize Aurora and DynamoDB schemas, tune heavy queries, and build secure ETL/ELT patterns across S3 and AWS services.

The role requires 7+ years in database development, a Bachelor’s, and AWS DevSecOps practices. This is a hybrid Washington, DC area position with a $150k–$170k salary and full benefits.

Qualifications

• 7+ years hands-on database development and engineering experience.
• Bachelor's degree.
• Expertise with Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-compatible, including schema design and execution-plan analysis.
• Experience with DynamoDB, data modeling, and GSI/LSI design.
• Advanced SQL across complex queries and data modeling.
• ETL/ELT development and data integration across AWS services.
• Data security controls, encryption, auditing, and compliance.
• AWS CI/CD and DevSecOps practices with monitoring and recovery.
• Proficiency in PowerPoint and Excel.

Responsibilities

• Own the physical design, data models, and performance of the data layer.
• Design and tune Aurora and DynamoDB schemas for large datasets.
• Tune queries and manage high-volume execution plans.
• Develop ETL/ELT patterns across AWS data services and set access controls.
• Deliver a scalable, governed platform for analysts and systems.

Skills

7+ years experience

Database development

Aurora PostgreSQL

DynamoDB

SQL & data modeling

ETL/ELT

AWS/DevSecOps

CI/CD

PowerPoint & Excel

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-compatible

Amazon DynamoDB

Amazon S3

CloudWatch / Performance Insights

Datadog / Splunk

Job description

At Peregrine Advisors, you will own the database layer of a federal agency's enterprise data platform. But we hire people, not seats. As the work evolves, you will learn new systems and tools, take on greater responsibility, and help develop the firm's capabilities, tools, and lines of business. We move our best to where the hardest problems are.

This is a full-time W-2 position with a salary of $150,000 to $170,000 per year. It is a hybrid work arrangement based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and the commuting cadence varies by assignment. The initial engagement requires United States citizenship and the ability to obtain a Public Trust determination.

We are a data and technology innovation hub and a Benefit Corporation working at the center of the federal government's mission to deliver for client stakeholders and the US public.

Your first project

Your first project will likely have you owning the physical design, the data models, and the performance of that layer under real query volume. Depending on the assignment, you may:

• Design and tune Amazon Aurora (PostgreSQL-compatible) and DynamoDB schemas, including indexing and partition and key design for large datasets.
• Tune queries and execution plans against high volumes, resolving slow queries, locking, and deadlocks.
• Build logical and physical data models that hold up within the wider platform architecture.
• Develop ETL/ELT and data-integration patterns across Aurora, DynamoDB, and Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), and set the security and access controls a governed platform requires.

You deliver a database layer analysts and systems can trust at scale. You automate migration and load patterns that would otherwise be hand-run, and you build the access controls that keep a governed platform governed.

This is where you start, not the shape of your career here.

• 7+ years of hands‑on database development and database engineering experience supporting enterprise applications
• Bachelor's degree
• Expertise with Amazon Aurora (PostgreSQL-compatible), including schema design, stored procedures and functions, indexing, and execution‑plan analysis
• Experience with Amazon DynamoDB, including data modeling, partition and key design, and Global and Local Secondary Indexes (GSIs and LSIs)
• Advanced Structured Query Language (SQL) across complex queries, views, stored procedures, and functions, plus relational design, normalization, and data modeling
• Query and performance tuning across slow queries, locking, deadlocks, indexing, and execution plans
• Extract, transform, and load (ETL) and extract, load, and transform (ELT) development and data integration across Amazon Web Services (AWS) data services, including Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), S3, and data migration services
• Data security controls, including encryption, access management, auditing, and compliance
• Cloud‑native application support in AWS using continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) and development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) practices, with monitoring, backup and recovery, high availability, and disaster recovery
• Proficiency in writing, PowerPoint, and Excel

Preferred

• AWS certification, such as Database Specialty, Developer Associate, or Solutions Architect
• Federal government systems requiring security controls and compliance frameworks
• High‑volume transactional processing, large‑scale data platforms, or regulatory reporting
• Database observability and monitoring tools such as Amazon CloudWatch, Performance Insights, Datadog, or Splunk
• AWS Redshift, Glue, Database Migration Service (DMS), or Lake Formation, with Infrastructure as Code, including Terraform, CloudFormation, and the AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK), and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted development tooling

Who you are

You make databases fast and keep their data trustworthy. You have designed and tuned large data platforms and understand why the physical model matters. You experiment, fail, learn, and repeat quickly. You would rather own an outcome than be handed a task.

What you bring

• Deep, hands‑on ownership of a database layer spanning Amazon Aurora (PostgreSQL-compatible), DynamoDB, and S3, including physical design, tuning, data modeling, and database‑architecture decisions within the broader platform.
• The practical craft of stored procedures, schema migration, S3 load patterns into the platform stores, and governed access.
• Sound judgment in a regulated environment where accuracy and auditability are not optional.

You adapt your development workflow as AI tools evolve, using them to help implement, test, and improve the components you own. You give the tools clear context, review and test their output, and remain accountable for the code you deliver.

When we talk

Be prepared to discuss a difficult problem you worked through, the decisions you made, what happened, and what you learned.

Medical, dental, and vision with the employee premium fully paid and half of dependent premiums; employer‑paid life, accidental death, and short‑term and long‑term disability insurance; a 401(k) matched 100% up to 4% of salary, vesting immediately; unlimited paid time off; and sponsored professional certifications and continuing education.

What we offer

You will work alongside developers, engineers, data scientists, architects, and strategists, on work ranging from strategy to implementation. We support your development across assignments and clients through extensive onboarding, sponsored professional certifications such as the Data Management Capability Assessment Model (DCAM) and AWS technical certifications, and rotation across functions to expand your skills and perspective. The mission is real, the problems are hard, and you own what you ship.

What we commit to

As a Benefit Corporation, our commitment runs three ways: real, measurable value for our clients; government that works better for the public; and a team that makes everyone in it better.

We hire people who want to help build the firm, not just work at it. If that is you, apply.

Peregrine Advisors is an equal opportunity employer.