Staff Database Engineer

Solvd; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Solvd Inc. is hiring multiple Database Engineers to implement cross-region replication for a Tier-1 US payments platform migration. You will work under the Principal Database Architect, building multi-region DynamoDB deployments, CDC pipelines, and runbooks for failover in a regulated environment.

You will codify with Terraform or CDK, enhance observability with Datadog and CloudWatch, and partner with data/SRE teams across regions to meet RTO/RPO targets.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in production database engineering on AWS with hands-on responsibility for financial-services workloads.
• Deep production experience with DynamoDB and at least two of Aurora MySQL, Cassandra, ElastiCache, DocumentDB, Neptune, with working knowledge of two more.
• Practical experience with cross-region replication in production using DynamoDB Global Tables and handling replication conflicts, outages and delays.
• Strong Terraform (or CDK). Build multi-region modules from scratch and explain trade-offs.
• Comfort with CDC tooling (DMS, DDB Streams, Kafka Connect, Debezium) and operational gotchas.
• Linux, networking fundamentals (VPC, Transit Gateway, peering, DNS), and IAM/KMS proficiency.
• Solid written communication and ability to operate in a regulated client environment.

Responsibilities

• Implement and operate cross-region replication using DynamoDB Global Tables for multi-region data replication and DR.
• Codify everything in Terraform or CDK.
• Build the observability layer for replication health with lag metrics, checks, alarms, and runbook automation using Datadog and CloudWatch.
• Author and execute failover/failback runbooks and run game-days with AWS Fault Injection Service.
• Implement KMS cross-account replication and secrets/parameter strategy for region-local dependencies.
• Support data extraction from monolith to microservices: CDC pipelines (DMS, DynamoDB Streams, Kafka Connect, Debezium) and cutover sequencing.
• Collaborate with application engineers on connection-string abstraction, retry/idempotency, and graceful degradation during region failover.
• Write design docs and runbooks for client handover.

Skills

DynamoDB

Aurora MySQL

Cassandra

ElastiCache

DocumentDB

Neptune

Terraform

CDK

DMS

Kafka Connect

Debezium

Datadog

CloudWatch

Linux

Networking (VPC, TGW, DNS)

IAM/KMS

Cross-region replication

SQL

Tools

Terraform/CDK tooling

Datadog Monitoring

CloudWatch Metrics

DMS

Kafka Connect

Debezium

Job description

Solvd Inc. is a rapidly growing AI-native consulting and technology services firm delivering enterprise transformation across cloud, data, software engineering, and artificial intelligence. We work with industry-leading organizations to design, build, and operationalize technology solutions that drive measurable business outcomes.

Following the acquisition of Tooploox, a premier AI and product development company, Solvd now offers true end-to-end delivery—from strategic advisory and solution design to custom AI development and enterprise-scale implementation. Our capability centers combine deep technical expertise, proven delivery methodologies, and sector-specific knowledge to address complex business challenges quickly and effectively.

Solvd is migrating a Tier-1 US payments platform from a single AWS region to a multi-region architecture in three phases (pilot light by EOY 2026, warm standby by EOY 2027, full active-active by EOY 2028). The data layer spans Aurora MySQL, Cassandra, ElastiCache (Redis / Valkey), DynamoDB, DocumentDB, OpenSearch, and Neptune.

We're hiring multiple Database Engineers to implement the per-engine replication, failover, and operational tooling for this program. You'll work under the Principal Database Architect and partner with the client's data and SRE teams.

What you'll do

• Implement and operate cross-region replication using Amazon DynamoDB Global Tables, ensuring reliable multi-region data replication, high availability, consistency, and disaster recovery.

• Codify everything in Terraform (or CDK).

• Build the observability layer for replication health: lag metrics, consistency checks, alarm thresholds, and runbook automation. Datadog is the primary observability stack; CloudWatch is the baseline.

• Author and execute failover and failback runbooks. Run game-days using AWS Fault Injection Service. Measure and report against RTO and RPO targets.

• Implement KMS cross-account replication, IAM service principals for replication roles, and the secrets and parameter strategy for region-local dependencies.

• Support data extraction from the monolith into microservices: build CDC pipelines (DMS, DynamoDB Streams, Kafka Connect, Debezium), validate data integrity, and own the cutover sequence for individual extractions.

• Pair with application engineers on connection-string abstraction, retry and idempotency patterns, and graceful degradation during region failover.

• Write design docs and runbooks the client team can take over after the engagement.

What you'll bring (required)

• 8+ years in production database engineering on AWS, with hands-on responsibility for at least one of: payments, banking, brokerage, or comparable financial-services workloads.

• Deep production experience with DynamoDB and at least two of: Aurora MySQL, Cassandra, ElastiCache (Redis or Valkey), DocumentDB, Neptune. Working knowledge of at least two more.

• Practical experience with cross-region replication in production using DynamoDB Global Tables: you've configured and operated multi-region DynamoDB deployments and handled failure scenarios such as replication conflicts, regional outages, replication delays, and consistency or version-skew issues.

• Strong Terraform (or CDK). You can build a multi-region module from scratch and explain the trade-offs.

• Comfort with CDC tooling (DMS, DDB Streams, Kafka Connect, or Debezium) and the operational gotchas (schema drift, ordering guarantees, replay).

• Linux, networking fundamentals (VPC, Transit Gateway, peering, DNS), and IAM / KMS proficiency.

• Solid written communication and ability to operate in a regulated client environment.

Nice to have

• Cassandra multi-DC operations experience at scale (nodetool workflows, repair strategy, tombstone management, cross-region anti-entropy).

• AWS MSK or Kafka MirrorMaker 2 experience for cross-region event replication.

• Experience with Datadog Database Monitoring and custom CloudWatch metrics.

• AWS Database Specialty or Solutions Architect Associate / Professional certifications.

When you join Solvd, you'll…

• Shape real-world AI-driven projects across key industries, working with clients from startup innovation to enterprise transformation.

• Be part of a global team with equal opportunities for collaboration across continents and cultures.

• Thrive in an inclusive environment that prioritizes continuous learning, innovation, and ethical AI standards.

Solvd is an equal opportunity employer.