Senior Staff Database Engineer

Servicenow; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 166,000 - 290,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health plans

401(k) Plan with company match

ESPP

Matching donations

Flexible time away plan

Family leave programs

Job summary

ServiceNow in Santa Clara, CA seeks a senior database engineer to own complex incident RCA across multi-tenant PostgreSQL/MariaDB fleets. You'll support production databases, reason across large-scale distributed systems, and contribute to both on-prem and hyperscaler environments.

You will develop observability tooling, influence infrastructure decisions, and mentor engineers while tackling high-stakes incidents end-to-end. On-call rotation applies.

Qualifications

• 12 years of related database engineering experience with a Bachelor's; 8 years with a Master; 5 years with a PhD; equivalent experience in large-scale enterprise environments.
• Deep PostgreSQL expertise including MVCC, transaction management, vacuum, WAL, performance tuning, buffering, backup/restore.
• Experience with multi-tenant SaaS/PaaS/cloud infrastructures and strong Unix/Linux skills.
• Familiarity with ServiceNow platform, scripting, tuning, and troubleshooting is highly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Become an SME in production database troubleshooting and platform performance (on-prem and Hyperscaler).
• Own complex incident root cause analyses across multi-tenant PostgreSQL/MariaDB fleets at scale.
• Develop observability tooling and automation to prevent recurrence of critical issues.
• Influence infrastructure decisions shaping our multi-tenant cloud platform.
• Mentor and collaborate with engineers across operations, support, and development.

Skills

PostgreSQL

Linux performance

Query tuning

Problem solving

Logical reasoning

AI integration experience

Education

Bachelor's degree, or higher (required)

Tools

Kubernetes

CI/CD pipelines

Ansible

Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Job description

Please Note: This role includes on-call rotation responsibilities.

Team

Our SWAT (Software Action Team) ensures the production stability of customer applications and infrastructure services. Our engineers are the last line of defense - production champions who own stability at every service level and act as the ultimate escalation point for internal and external customers.

We are looking for a strong database engineer with deep technical expertise, sharp logical reasoning, and the flexibility to thrive in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment. If you are passionate about chasing down complex issues in large-scale distributed systems under real-world load, this role is for you. In this role you will support the infrastructure by learning the platform from end to end.

What you get to do in this role

• Become an SME in production database troubleshooting, ServiceNow instance performance, and Linux performance analysis - both on-prem and on Hyperscaler
• Own complex incident root cause analysis across multi-tenant PostgreSQL/MariaDB fleets at scale.
• Develop observability tooling and automation to prevent recurrence of critical issues
• Influence infrastructure decisions that shape our multi-tenant cloud platform
• Mentor and collaborate with engineers across operations, support, and development.

To be successful in this role you have

• Experience in leveraging or critically thinking about how to integrate AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving. This may include using AI-powered tools, automating workflows, analyzing AI-driven insights, or exploring AI's potential impact on the function or industry.
• 12 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 8 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 5 years experience; or equivalent experience in database engineering in large-scale, enterprise environments - database-focused background required.
• Deep PostgreSQL expertise including MVCC, transaction management, vacuum mechanics, WAL architecture, advanced query performance tuning, buffer management, and backup/restore
• Experience supporting large-scale, multi-tenant SaaS, PaaS, or cloud infrastructure platforms
• Strong Unix/Linux skills - file system navigation, permissions, process management, performance diagnostics.
• Deep understanding of RedHat Linux internals with hands-on expertise diagnosing CPU, memory, and I/O issues at the OS level
• Experience with public cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Strong problem-solving ability, logical thinking, and a genuine curiosity to understand complex systems end to end.

Desired Skills

• Experience with ServiceNow platform, scripting, tuning, and troubleshooting is highly preferred.
• Scripting proficiency: shell, Python, JavaScript, Ansible.
• Experience with schemas, replication, indexing, and query optimization techniques
• Familiarity with Kubernetes and CI/CD pipelines

What sets the right candidate apart

You are not a generalist. You are a database engineer first - someone who has spent years going deep on database internals in production environments at large organizations. You bring strong logical reasoning, adapt quickly to new problems, and are comfortable owning high-pressure incidents end to end.

Compensation

For positions in this location, we offer a base pay of $165,500 - $289,600 , plus equity (when applicable), variable/incentive compensation and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the base pay shown is a guideline, and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, and work location. We also offer health plans, including flexible spending accounts, a 401(k) Plan with company match, ESPP, matching donations, a flexible time away plan and family leave programs. Compensation is based on the geographic location in which the role is located and is subject to change based on work location.

Work Personas

We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible, remote, or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here. To determine eligibility for a work persona, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.

Equal Opportunity Employer

ServiceNow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, gender identity, veteran status, or any other category protected by law. In addition, all qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with legal requirements.

Accommodations

We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates.