Senior Database Engineer

Ruby Labs; Remote; ZAR 600 000 - 900 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading tech company is looking for a Database Engineer to manage their AWS Aurora databases and optimize data performance. The role involves designing databases for high-volume environments, analyzing slow queries, and collaborating with product teams. Candidates should have strong experience with PostgreSQL, ideally in high-load systems. Ruby Labs offers a fully remote environment with benefits like unlimited PTO and a company-provided MacBook.

Benefits

Unlimited PTO

Remote Work Environment

Company-provided MacBook

Flexible Contractor Agreement

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with PostgreSQL in a production environment.
• Ability to manage large databases with hundreds of millions of rows.
• Understanding of indexing strategies and query execution.

Responsibilities

• Own and operate AWS Aurora in a high-load production environment.
• Analyze and optimize queries for performance.
• Design search solutions for large datasets in internal tools.

Skills

PostgreSQL

Performance optimization

Database design

AWS Aurora

Query optimization

Education

Relevant degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

AWS

ClickHouse

Job description

About us

Ruby Labs is a leading tech company that creates and operates innovative consumer products. We offer a diverse range of opportunities across the health, education, and entertainment industries. Our innovative teams are driving the future of consumer-led products, and we're always looking for passionate individuals to join us. Learn more about our story at: https://rubylabs.com/about-us/

About the role

We are looking for a strong Database Engineer who will own, scale, and evolve our data infrastructure, ensuring it remains fast, reliable, and ready for long-term growth.

As a Database Engineer at RubyLabs, you will be responsible for designing, operating, and optimizing databases in a high-volume payments environment. This role goes far beyond basic CRUD operations — you will work with large datasets, complex queries, performance bottlenecks, migrations on massive tables, and analytics pipelines.

You will collaborate closely with backend engineers and product teams to ensure our data layer supports both transactional workloads and analytical use cases, including internal CRM search and observability.

You will be joining a high-talent, fully remote engineering organization with strong backend, infrastructure, and product teams. We value ownership, technical excellence, and pragmatic decision-making. Engineers at RubyLabs work on real scale, real money, and real impact.

Key Responsibilities

Database Ownership & Scalability

• Own and operate AWS Aurora (PostgreSQL) in a high-load production environment
• Design and evolve schemas for large transactional domains (payments, customers, subscriptions, events)
• Implement and maintain:
  • Table partitioning strategies (time-based, tenant-based, hybrid)
  • Advanced indexing (B-Tree, GIN, partial indexes)
  • Query optimization and execution-plan tuning
• Handle databases with millions of new records per month while maintaining predictable performance

Performance Optimization

• Analyze and optimize slow queries and production metrics
• Identify and resolve:
  • Lock contention
  • Vacuum / autovacuum issues
  • Connection pool saturation
  • Long-running or inefficient queries
• Proactively prevent performance regressions as data volume grows

Search & Internal Tools

• Design high-performance search solutions for large operational datasets used in internal CRM tools
• Implement efficient search strategies
• Balance flexibility, correctness, and performance at scale

Analytics & Logging

• Work with event and log data pipelines, including Tinybird / ClickHouse-based analytics
• Decide which data belongs in transactional databases vs analytical stores
• Enable fast, real-time insights for product, finance, and operations teams

Reliability & Operations

• Ensure data integrity and consistency in financial workflows
• Define and monitor database health metrics (latency, replication lag, storage, IOPS)
• Plan and execute safe schema changes and migrations on large tables
• Participate in incident analysis related to data performance or availability
• Work in backups, replication, and disaster-recovery strategies

Qualifications

• Strong hands-on experience with PostgreSQL in production
• Experience managing large databases (hundreds of millions of rows or more)
• Solid understanding of:
  • Indexing strategies
  • Query planners and execution paths
  • Transactions, isolation levels, and locking
• Experience working with AWS-based infrastructure, ideally AWS Aurora
• Ability to independently investigate and resolve complex performance issues

Nice to have

• Experience in payments, billing, fintech, or financial systems
• Familiarity with analytical databases (ClickHouse, Tinybird, or similar)
• Experience designing data models for multi-tenant systems
• Understanding of event-driven architectures and data pipelines
• AWS certifications (e.g., Solutions Architect, Database Specialty)

How You Think & Work

• You think in terms of scale, growth, and long-term impact
• You care deeply about correctness, performance, and reliability
• You’re proactive — you identify problems before they become incidents
• You’re comfortable owning critical infrastructure components
• You communicate clearly and collaborate effectively in a remote environment

Location

Ruby Labs operates within the CET (Central European Time) zone. Applicants from any country are welcome to apply for the position as long as they are located within approximately ± 4 hours of CET. This ensures optimal collaboration and communication during working hours.

Benefits

Discover the perks of being part of our vibrant team! We offer:

• Remote Work Environment: Embrace the freedom to work from anywhere, anytime, promoting a healthy work-life balance.
• Unlimited PTO: Enjoy unlimited paid time off to recharge and prioritize your well-being, without counting days.
• Paid National Holidays: Celebrate and relax on national holidays with paid time off to unwind and recharge.
• Company-provided MacBook: Experience seamless productivity with top-notch Apple MacBooks provided to all employees who need them.
• Flexible Independent Contractor Agreement: Unlock the benefits of flexibility, autonomy, and entrepreneurial opportunities. Benefit from tax advantages, networking opportunities, reduced employment obligations, and the freedom to work from anywhere. Read more about it here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tzxGX4Uu7Ts_HCLFXESKLnKaaBfVCPf1f9AYZPrkjJM/preview?tab=t.0

Be part of our fast-growing team and seize this excellent opportunity for personal and professional growth!

Interview Process

After submitting your application, we conduct a thorough review which typically takes 3 to 5 days, but may occasionally take longer due to the volume of applications received. If we see a potential fit, we proceed with the following steps:

• Recruiter Screening (40 minutes)
• Technical Interview (60 minutes)
• Final Interview (30 minutes)

Life at Ruby Labs

At Ruby Labs, we move fast, aim high, and expect the same from our team. We’re not here to play small—we’re here to build, grow, and win. That means we look for people who are ambitious, driven, and ready to give their best every single day.

This is a place for individuals who thrive under pressure, embrace challenges, and see opportunity in every obstacle. If you’re hungry to achieve, motivated by impact, and want to grow at the speed of your own ambition, Ruby Labs offers the platform to make it happen.

Here, effort is matched with reward. We recognize those who go all in and deliver results, and we create space for people who want more—more responsibility, more growth, and more success.

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