Software Engineer III (Database Engineer)

Digital Media Solutions; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Digital Media Solutions is seeking a Software Engineer III (Database Engineer) to own the reliability, performance, and scalability of our production database systems in high-availability OLTP environments.

You’ll work across MySQL, PostgreSQL, and DynamoDB, supporting replication strategies, ELT/ETL pipelines, and streaming integrations. Collaborate with backend, data, and infrastructure teams to protect transactional systems while enabling scalable data movement.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of database engineering in production environments.
• Hands-on with MySQL and/or PostgreSQL.
• Experience with high-availability OLTP systems.
• Knowledge of binlog or logical replication.
• Experience integrating OLTP with Kafka streaming.
• Experience with ELT/ETL pipelines and data workflows.
• Understanding ACID principles and isolation levels.
• Familiar with AWS managed databases (RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB).

Responsibilities

• Operate and optimize production database systems including MySQL, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, and Elastic.
• Design and manage binlog and logical replication strategies.
• Support ELT/ETL pipelines and CDC workflows for safe data movement.
• Integrate transactional systems with Kafka-based streaming architectures.
• Optimize database performance through query tuning, indexing, and scaling.
• Manage backups, failover processes, and disaster recovery (PITR).
• Monitor system health and drive infrastructure cost efficiency.
• Enforce data integrity, security, and compliance standards.
• Lead and support database-related incident response.

Skills

High-availability OLTP

Performance tuning

Data integrity

Kafka integration

Tools

MySQL

PostgreSQL

DynamoDB

Elastic

Kafka

RDS/Aurora

Job description

Database Engineering | OLTP Systems, Replication & Data Reliability

(AL,AZ,CA,CO,CT,DC,FL,GA,ID,IL,IN,MA,MD,MI,MO,NC,NH,NJ,NV,NY,OH,PA,RI,TN,TX,UT,VA,WA,WI)

About DMS

Digital Media Solutions (DMS) is a performance-driven digital marketing company that connects consumers and brands through data, technology, and proprietary media platforms. Operating in high-volume, transaction-intensive markets, DMS manages complex unit economics, multiple revenue streams, and real-time decisioning across its marketing marketplace. The company partners closely with clients to deliver measurable outcomes through analytics, optimization, and disciplined execution.

About The Role

We’re looking for a Software Engineer III (Database Engineer) to own the reliability, performance, and scalability of our production database systems. This role focuses on high-availability OLTP environments and ensures safe, efficient integration with downstream data systems.

You will work across MySQL, PostgreSQL, and DynamoDB systems, supporting replication strategies, ELT/ETL pipelines, and streaming integrations. This role partners closely with backend, data, and infrastructure teams to protect transactional systems while enabling scalable data movement across the organization.

This position requires strong ownership, attention to detail, and the ability to balance performance, cost, and data integrity in production environments.

Why Join DMS?

At Digital Media Solutions, you’ll work on systems that power a high-scale marketing marketplace, processing millions of transactions and data signals daily. Your work will directly impact how data flows across systems, ensuring reliability, performance, and accuracy in revenue-critical workflows.

In this role, you won’t just manage databases—you’ll protect the core of the business. You’ll design and operate systems that support real-time decisioning, high-throughput data movement, and scalable infrastructure. You’ll work in a fast-paced environment where your decisions directly influence system stability, performance, and cost efficiency.

If you enjoy solving complex data challenges, optimizing systems at scale, and owning critical infrastructure that drives business outcomes, this is an opportunity to make a meaningful impact.

Requirements

What You’ll Do

• Operate and optimize production database systems including MySQL, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, and Elastic
• Design and manage binlog and logical replication strategies
• Support ELT/ETL pipelines and CDC workflows to ensure safe data movement
• Integrate transactional systems with Kafka-based streaming architectures
• Optimize database performance through query tuning, indexing, and scaling strategies
• Manage backups, failover processes, and disaster recovery (PITR)
• Monitor system health and drive infrastructure cost efficiency
• Enforce data integrity, security, and compliance standards
• Lead and support database-related incident response

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of database engineering experience in production environments
• Deep hands-on experience with MySQL and/or PostgreSQL
• Experience owning and supporting high-availability OLTP systems
• Experience with binlog or logical replication
• Experience integrating OLTP systems with Kafka or similar streaming platforms
• Experience supporting ELT/ETL pipelines and data workflows
• Strong understanding of ACID principles and transaction isolation levels
• Experience troubleshooting performance issues (locking, replication lag, indexing)
• Familiarity with AWS-managed database services (RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB)
• Ability to balance performance, cost, and data integrity in production systems

Nice to Have

• Experience implementing CDC workflows
• Experience with large-scale database migrations
• Understanding of OLTP vs OLAP workload separation
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform
• Background in high-volume, transaction-intensive environments
• Technical Environment
• Streaming: Kafka (CDC, event streaming)
• Cloud: AWS (RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB)
• Tooling: Go, Python, Bash
• Expectations at Level III
• Independently owns the health and performance of production database systems
• Designs safe and scalable replication and streaming architectures
• Protects transactional systems from downstream risk
• Anticipates scaling, reliability, and cost challenges
• Establishes best practices and guardrails across engineering teams

Compensation

The anticipated annual base salary range for this position is $140,000–$180,000. Actual compensation may vary based on work experience, education, and skill level.