Director / Head Database Engineer

Vallum Associates
Sheffield, United Kingdom
2 days ago

Role details

Contract type
Permanent contract
Employment type
Part-time (≤ 32 hours)
Working hours
Regular working hours
Languages
English
Experience level
Senior
Compensation
£ 182K

Job location

Remote
Sheffield, United Kingdom

Tech stack

Automation of Tests
BASIC (Programming Language)
Code Review
Databases
Continuous Integration
DevOps
PostgreSQL
Microsoft SQL Server
MongoDB
NoSQL
Performance Tuning
Reliability Engineering
Software Engineering
SQL Databases
Api Design
Microservices

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Principal Engineer with deep expertise in database technologies and strong engineering skills to help accelerate the delivery of DBaaS in 2026. Role Overview As a Principal Engineer, you will play a key role in shaping our technology direction and delivering solutions. This is a hands-on leadership position, working closely with cross-functional teams to design and implement new products and services that meet business needs., * Co-lead the design and architecture of on-premises DBaaS solutions for Postgres, MongoDB, and SQL Server, and work with teams to implement these solutions.

  • Develop and maintain the long-term strategy for database infrastructure, ensuring alignment with Client's IT and business objectives.
  • Serve as a subject matter expert and advisor on database technologies, providing guidance to senior leadership and IT teams.
  • Collaborate with Product Owners, Architects, and stakeholders to define technical requirements and specifications.
  • Stay up to date with industry trends and advancements in engineering practices, and recommend relevant solutions. Support the Platform Lead in identifying and addressing engineering challenges. Facilitate the development of cross-functional capabilities to address common technical gaps.
  • Act as a key decision-maker for technical and risk-related engineering matters.
  • Identify opportunities to improve and automate processes.

Requirements

  • Strong technical proficiency in database technologies (relational, NoSQL, distributed SQL), deployed on laaS or as part of DBaaS, with an understanding of consumer use cases and infrastructure capabilities.

  • Proven experience leading large, enterprise-level engineering projects and delivering quality solutions. 10+ years of engineering experience, with at least 5 years in a senior or principal engineering role..

  • Expertise in infrastructure components, performance tuning, and capacity planning.

  • Hands-on experience with microservices, software development, infrastructure automation, API development, and basic application systems design. Strong understanding of Site Reliability Engineering, DevOps practices (CI/CD/CT pipelines, automated testing, code scanning), and Infrastructure as Code.

  • Knowledge of industry-standard testing practices and tools.

  • Demonstrated technical leadership, team-building, and influencing skills.

  • Experience working in a global, matrixed organization.

  • Familiarity with regulatory requirements and best practices in the financial industry.

  • Ability to communicate complex technical information clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

  • Experience evaluating multiple technology solutions to determine the best fit for specific use cases.

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