Senior Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE)

Okta; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 143,000 - 196,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

401(k)

Flexible spending account

Paid leave including PTO and parental leave

Job summary

Okta is seeking a Senior Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE) based in Chicago to design and optimize resilient data infrastructure using PostgreSQL. This role calls for 4+ years of experience in high-volume production environments, solid MySQL knowledge, and skills in automation.

The successful candidate will lead incident responses, develop automation tooling, and collaborate with software engineering teams to enhance database solutions. In-person onboarding is required at our Chicago office.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of hands-on PostgreSQL experience in production environments.
• Strong knowledge of PostgreSQL internals.
• Experience building automated solutions.
• Production experience with cloud environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and operate highly available PostgreSQL clusters.
• Optimize query performance and storage engines.
• Develop automation for provisioning and configuration.
• Lead responses during database incidents.

Skills

PostgreSQL expertise

MySQL experience

Automation with Go or Python

Understanding of schema design

Experience with monitoring tools

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Terraform

Ansible

Kubernetes

Job description

Secure Every Identity, from AI to Human

Identity is the key to unlocking the potential of AI. Okta secures AI by building the trusted, neutral infrastructure that enables organizations to safely embrace this new era. This work requires a relentless drive to solve complex challenges with real-world stakes. We are looking for builders and owners who operate with speed and urgency and execute with excellence.

This is an opportunity to do career-defining work. We're all in on this mission. If you are too, let's talk.

Senior Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE)

Experience Level: Mid-Senior (4+ years PostgreSQL experience)

About the Role

We are looking for a highly skilled Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE) with deep expertise in PostgreSQL at scale and solid experience with MySQL. In this role, you will design, operationalize, and optimize the data persistence layer that powers our large-scale, mission-critical systems. You will work closely with SRE, Platform, and Engineering teams to ensure performance, reliability, automation, and operational excellence across our database environment.

This is a hands‑on engineering role focused on building resilient data infrastructure, not just administering it.

Responsibilities

Architecture, Reliability & Performance

• Design, implement, and operate highly available PostgreSQL clusters (physical replication, logical replication, sharding/partitioning, failover automation).
• Optimize query performance, indexing strategies, schema design, and storage engines.
• Perform capacity planning, growth forecasting, and workload modeling.
• Own high‑availability strategies including automatic failover, multi‑AZ/multi‑region setups, and disaster recovery.

Automation & Tooling

• Develop automation for any and all tasks including but not limited to: provisioning, configuration, backups, failovers, vacuum tuning, and schema management using tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes Operators, or custom tooling.
• Build monitoring, alerting, and self‑healing systems for PostgreSQL and MySQL.

Operations & Incident Response

• Lead response during database incidents-performance regressions, replication lag, deadlocks, bloat issues, storage failures, etc.
• Conduct root‑cause analysis and implement permanent fixes.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with software engineers to review SQL, optimize schemas, and ensure efficient use of PostgreSQL features.
• Provide guidance on database‑related design patterns, migrations, version upgrades, and best practices.

Required Qualifications

• 4 plus years of hands‑on PostgreSQL experience in high-volume, distributed, or large-scale production environments.
• Strong knowledge of PostgreSQL internals (WAL, MVCC, bloat/vacuum tuning, query planner, indexing, logical replication).
• Production experience with MySQL (InnoDB internals, replication, performance tuning).
• Advanced SQL and strong understanding of schema design and query optimization.
• Experience with Linux systems, networking fundamentals, and systems troubleshooting.
• Experience building automation with Go or Python.
• Production experience with monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, PMM, pg_stat_statements, etc.).
• Hands‑on experience with cloud environments (AWS or GCP).

Preferred/Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with PgBouncer, HAProxy, or other connection‑pooling/load‑balancing layers.
• Exposure to event streaming (Kafka, Debezium) and change data capture.
• Experience supporting 24/7 production environments with on‑call rotation.
• Contributions to open‑source PostgreSQL ecosystem.

This position requires the ability to access federal environments and/or have access to protected federal data. As a condition of employment for this position, the successful candidate must be able to submit documentation establishing U.S. Person status (e.g. a U.S. Citizen, National, Lawful Permanent Resident, Refugee, or Asylee. 22 CFR 120.15) upon hire.

Requires in‑person onboarding and travel to our San Francisco, CA HQ office or our Chicago office during the first week of employment.

Below is the annual base salary range for candidates located in San Francisco Bay Area. Your actual base salary will depend on factors such as your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Okta offers equity (where applicable), bonus, and benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), flexible spending account, and paid leave (including PTO and parental leave) in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. To learn more about our Total Rewards program please visit: https://rewards.okta.com/us.

The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in the San Francisco Bay area is between: $160,000 — $220,000 USD.

Below is the annual base salary range for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Washington. Your actual base salary will depend on factors such as your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Okta offers equity (where applicable), bonus, and benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), flexible spending account, and paid leave (including PTO and parental leave) in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. To learn more about our Total Rewards program please visit: https://rewards.okta.com/us.

The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Washington is between: $143,000 — $196,000 USD.

The Okta Experience

• Supporting Your Well-Being
• Driving Social Impact
• Developing Talent and Fostering Connection + Community

We are intentional about connection. Our global community, spanning over 20 offices worldwide, is united by a drive to innovate. Your journey begins with an immersive, in‑person onboarding experience designed to accelerate your impact and connect you to our mission and team from day one.

Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws.

If reasonable accommodation is needed to complete any part of the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation.

Notice for New York City Applicants & Employees: Okta may use Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT), as defined by New York City Local Law 144, that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automated processes to assist in our recruitment and hiring process. In accordance with NYC Local Law 144, if you are an applicant or employee residing in New York City, please click here to view our full NYC AEDT Notice.