Database Engineer

We’re ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life-saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With 3,000+ experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more.

As part of the global ALTEN Group—57,000+ engineers in 30 countries—we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing.

When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you’ll collaborate on some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.

Workplace: On-Site, 5 days per week
Location: Foster City, CA
Salary: $110-125k annually

We are looking for a Database Engineer to design, build, and operate scalable, secure data stores that power our applications and analytics. You’ll partner closely with application and data teams to shape schemas, tune performance, and automate operations using AWS and infrastructure-as-code. Your work will improve reliability, reduce cost, and accelerate delivery from development through production.

Responsibilities 
    • Design and develop efficient, scalable database solutions aligned to business requirements.
    • Install, configure, and upgrade database software and related tooling.
    • Monitor performance and optimize queries, indexes, and schemas for reliability and speed.
    • Implement and maintain database security controls to protect sensitive data.
    • Collaborate with application developers to optimize schema designs and SQL.
    • Troubleshoot incidents and provide timely resolution across environments.
    • Develop and maintain documentation for architecture, configuration, and runbooks.
    • Perform capacity planning and recommend infrastructure improvements.
    • Manage and support AWS database infrastructure (e.g., RDS/Aurora/Redshift).
    • Stay current on emerging database technologies, patterns, and best practices.

Required Qualifications 
    • Strong understanding of AWS and IaC for database resources.
    • Proven experience as a Database Engineer/DBA.
    • Deep knowledge of DBMSs (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Redshift).
    • Proficiency in SQL and query optimization.
    • Solid grasp of data modeling, normalization, and schema design principles.
    • Hands-on experience with performance tuning and monitoring.
    • Understanding of backup/restore and disaster recovery procedures.
    • Knowledge of database security best practices.
    • Excellent problem-solving, analytical, communication, and collaboration skills.
    • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

Preferred Qualifications 
    • AWS networking fundamentals.
    • Experience with Terraform Cloud and IaC workflows.
    • Automation/scripting with Python or Shell.
    • CI/CD for databases (e.g., Bamboo, Flyway, or similar).

Salary Range
    • $110,000 - 125,000
    • The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate’s combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience 

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or pregnancy.

Please beware of job seeker scams and see this important notice on our careers page for more information about our recruiting process.

Compliance Notice: Alten USA is a federal contractor subject to the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Executive Order 11246. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Drug Screening Requirement: As a federal contractor, Alten USA maintains a drug-free workplace. All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.