Database Administrator
Quick Summary
Kestrel Dataworks is hiring a Database Administrator to keep our customer and product data fast, reliable, and secure. You will manage PostgreSQL and MySQL fleets on AWS, automate backups and failover, tune slow queries, and partner with engineering to evolve our data platform. We welcome early-career applicants with strong SQL fundamentals and a passion for learning, and we equally encourage experienced DBAs who want to mentor and raise the bar.
At-a-Glance
Project Category or Industry: SaaS analytics and data infrastructure for mid-market ecommerce and subscription businesses
Type: Full-time employment
Experience Level: Entry to mid level, with mentorship and a clear growth path to senior
Duration: Ongoing role
Location: Remote-first across the Americas or Europe, with at least three hours overlap with US Eastern time
Salary: USD 78,000–102,000 base, plus annual bonus, stock options, and benefits
Payment Mode: Monthly payroll; contractor arrangement available in select countries
Hiring Company Name
Kestrel Dataworks
Required Skills or Tools
Candidates should bring solid SQL skills, practical familiarity with relational database concepts, and eagerness to automate routine work. Experience with PostgreSQL or MySQL in Linux environments, basic shell scripting, version control with Git, infrastructure as code such as Terraform, and cloud platforms like AWS will be helpful. Exposure to query planning, indexing strategies, replication, and observability with tools such as Datadog or Prometheus will set you up for success.
Job Details
Project Description
This role sits within the Platform Engineering team and exists to ensure that the databases powering our analytics pipelines and customer-facing features remain available, consistent, and performant. You will work across development, staging, and production environments that serve tens of billions of rows, helping us scale predictably while reducing operational toil.
Core Responsibilities and Expected Deliverables
You will provision and maintain managed database services on AWS, configure high-availability topologies, and implement encryption, backups, and point-in-time recovery. You will analyze query plans, introduce indexes or schema adjustments, and collaborate with developers to optimize migrations and connection usage. You will instrument health checks and alerts, document runbooks, and contribute small utilities or scripts that automate routine tasks. Deliverables include stable database clusters with documented recovery procedures, performance reports with clear recommendations, and safe rollout plans for schema changes.
Required Experience and Preferred Qualifications
We are open to applicants beginning their careers who can demonstrate strong SQL competency and clear, methodical problem-solving. Prior internships or projects administering PostgreSQL or MySQL are a plus. Candidates with two to four years in a production setting will be considered for mid-level scope. Familiarity with replication strategies, connection pooling, and capacity planning is valued. Preferred certifications include AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner or an equivalent cloud foundation, though neither is mandatory.
Tools or Platforms to Be Used
Day to day you will work with PostgreSQL, MySQL, AWS services such as RDS and Aurora, Linux, Bash, GitHub, Terraform, psql and mysql client tools, pgbouncer, Datadog dashboards and alerts, and a mix of Python or Go utilities for automation. We also rely on Jira for work tracking and Confluence for documentation.
Language Requirement
Strong written and spoken English is required. Additional languages are welcome but not necessary.
Communication Style
We default to asynchronous communication using Slack and written design proposals, with weekly Zoom standups and incident reviews. Email is used for external coordination and formal change approvals.
Time Commitment or Working Window
This is a 38–40 hour workweek with flexibility for personal commitments. We ask for a minimum three-hour overlap with US Eastern time for pairing and incident response. After onboarding, team members participate in a light on-call rotation supported by runbooks and senior backup.
Payment Terms
This is a salaried role paid monthly via payroll. For contractor arrangements in supported countries, payment can be milestone based for major deliverables or weekly through approved invoicing.
Evaluation Criteria
Candidates will be assessed on clear communication, SQL fluency, grasp of relational fundamentals, and practical troubleshooting. The process includes a résumé review, a thirty-minute introduction call, a technical screen focused on indexing and query plans, a short practical exercise on performance tuning, and a final panel discussing reliability trade-offs and incident handling.
Other Requirements
New hires sign a standard confidentiality agreement and follow least-privilege access policies. For production access, we require security training and adherence to change management. We use lightweight time-tracking during incidents and major migrations to aid postmortems. Reasonable background checks are conducted in accordance with local laws.
About the Company
Kestrel Dataworks is a remote-first software company that builds analytics and personalization tools for ecommerce brands. Our platform ingests customer, product, and order data to power dashboards, lifecycle messaging, and revenue insights without heavy engineering lift from our clients. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with team members across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Poland.
We operate in the software and data infrastructure space and are profitable, founder-led, and growing steadily. Learn more at www.kestreldataworks.com and reach our talent team at careers@kestreldataworks.com.