Staff Database Engineer

Jobtailor; California (MO); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

PayPal is seeking a seasoned cloud database engineer to lead architectural efforts for cloud-native database systems and drive automation and AI-driven optimization. You will mentor engineers, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and ensure high availability and scalable data services.

Responsibilities include designing and implementing database solutions, managing operations with AWS tools, and communicating complex topics to non-technical stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 5+ years relevant experience with a Bachelor's degree or equivalent
• Infrastructure as code using AWS CLI, CloudFormation, Terraform, Ansible, Puppet
• Programming/scripting with Lambda, API Gateway, Python, Java, Bash
• Database design for relational and non-relational stores
• AWS DynamoDB, DocumentDB, Cassandra, MySQL, Aurora, Redis, Elasticsearch
• Experience mentoring leads/engineers and strong communication
• AWS Solutions Architect is preferred

Responsibilities

• Act as a project or system leader, coordinating other engineers
• Determine technical tasks for engineers to follow
• Achieve customer, operational, program, or service objectives
• Improve existing structures and processes proactively
• Reconcile competing priorities involving time, quality, complexity, and risk
• Identify patterns and develop generalized solutions
• Collaborate with management to set and improve engineering rigor standards
• Design, implement, automate, and operate cloud-native database systems
• Drive operational excellence through automation and AI-driven optimization
• Collaborate with infrastructure and product teams to support data-driven innovation, resilience, and growth
• Mentor engineers and product owners to improve service availability, reliability, and scalability

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Communication

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Tools

AWS CLI

CloudFormation

Terraform

Ansible

Puppet

Lambda

API Gateway

Python

Java

Bash

DynamoDB

DocumentDB

Cassandra

MySQL

Aurora

Redis

Elasticsearch

AWS Solutions Architect

Job description

• Act as a project or system leader, coordinating other engineers
• Determine technical tasks for engineers to follow
• Achieve customer, operational, program, or service objectives
• Improve existing structures and processes proactively
• Reconcile competing priorities involving time, quality, complexity, and risk
• Identify patterns and develop generalized solutions
• Collaborate with management to set and improve engineering rigor standards
• Represent PayPal to partners, customers, and industry organizations
• Design, implement, automate, and operate cloud-native database systems
• Drive operational excellence through automation and AI-driven optimization
• Collaborate with infrastructure and product teams to support Venmo’s data-driven innovation, resilience, and growth
• Mentor engineers and product owners to improve service availability, reliability, and scalability

Requirements

• 5+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR any equivalent combination of education and experience
• Infrastructure as code: AWS CLI, AWS CloudFormation, Terraform, Ansible, Puppet
• Programming and scripting: Lambda, API Gateway, Python, Java, Bash
• Database design for relational and non-relational data stores
• Database operations with AWS DynamoDB, AWS DocumentDB, Cassandra, MySQL, AWS Aurora, Redis, Elasticsearch
• Experience mentoring and developing leads and engineers
• Strong communication skills and ability to explain technical issues to non-technical audiences
• AWS Solutions Architect preferred

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in designing, implementing, and operating cloud-native database systems while driving operational excellence through automation and AI-driven optimization. Proven ability to mentor engineers and collaborate with cross-functional teams to enhance service availability, reliability, and scalability.