Data Engineer III

Are you passionate about designing scalable, high-performing data platforms that power mission-critical applications? Do you enjoy solving complex database challenges, optimizing performance, and building reliable systems that enable software engineers and business teams to move faster? If so, the Data Engineer III position at Patriot may be the perfect fit for you.

This role is ideal for an experienced data engineer who enjoys taking ownership of complex technical challenges while helping shape Patriot’s data platform. You’ll work closely with software engineers, analytics engineers, and business stakeholders to build scalable data solutions, optimize PostgreSQL environments, improve data pipelines, and ensure our data infrastructure remains secure, reliable, and highly available.

As a senior member of the team, you’ll influence technical direction, mentor other engineers, establish engineering best practices, and help ensure Patriot’s data ecosystem is built to support today’s applications while preparing for future technologies, including AI-powered solutions.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Design, build, and maintain scalable, reliable, and highly available PostgreSQL databases and supporting data infrastructure.
• Own complex data engineering initiatives from architecture through implementation, deployment, and long-term operational support.
• Design efficient relational data models that support transactional applications, integrations, reporting, and future business growth.
• Optimize database performance through query tuning, indexing strategies, execution plan analysis, partitioning, and server configuration.
• Troubleshoot complex production issues involving databases, replication, storage, infrastructure, and application performance.
• Design and maintain high availability, backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity solutions for critical data systems.
• Build and maintain data pipelines, ETL/ELT processes, and supporting infrastructure that move data reliably between operational systems and downstream consumers.
• Collaborate with software engineers to improve application performance through efficient schema design, ORM usage, and database access patterns.
• Serve as the subject matter expert for PostgreSQL and database technologies across multiple engineering teams.
• Evaluate and recommend database technologies, storage solutions, and cloud services that improve scalability, reliability, security, and operational efficiency.
• Develop cloud-native data solutions using AWS services such as RDS, Lambda, S3, EventBridge, and related technologies.
• Improve observability by implementing monitoring, alerting, automation, and operational tooling for Patriot’s data platform.
• Identify technical debt and proactively improve database architecture before issues become operational challenges.
• Review database changes, migrations, and application designs to ensure long-term maintainability, scalability, and performance.
• Guide engineering teams on best practices for database design, query optimization, and efficient data access.
• Mentor Level I and II Data Engineers through pairing, design reviews, code reviews, and technical coaching.
• Communicate technical decisions through design documents, architecture reviews, technical discussions, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Support secure and responsible data management by promoting best practices for governance, compliance, privacy, and secure adoption of modern technologies, including AI.
• Support Patriot’s values through leadership, collaboration, and customer-focused decision-making.

Please note: this is a sample of your responsibilities. You’ll need to adapt quickly as priorities evolve to support an exceptional customer experience., * All interviews are conducted via video with cameras on to maintain compliance and security standards.

• Patriot is a camera-on company for all video interactions.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, or equivalent professional experience.
• 4-7 years of professional experience in Data Engineering, Database Engineering, or Software Engineering with significant database responsibilities.
• Advanced expertise with PostgreSQL, including:
• Utilizes software engineering principles for data engineering projects
• Strong understanding of relational database design, normalization, data modeling, and schema design.
• Experience designing and supporting highly available, fault-tolerant production database environments.
• Experience building and maintaining ETL/ELT pipelines and data integration solutions.
• Professional experience with SQL and at least one programming language such as Python, C#, Go, or similar.
• Experience with AWS cloud services such as RDS, Lambda, S3, EventBridge, IAM, and CloudWatch.
• Strong understanding of ORM technologies and how application design impacts database performance.
• Ability to debug complex problems across applications, databases, and cloud infrastructure.
• Strong understanding of software architecture and how data platforms support scalable application development.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize competing work, and make sound technical decisions with minimal oversight.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and mentoring skills.
• Passion for continuous learning and improving engineering practices.
• Consistent, reliable high-speed internet access.
• Dedicated, quiet workspace free from distractions.

Work Requirements:

• This role requires sitting or standing for extended periods (8+ hours) while working on a computer, including prolonged screen time and extended, repetitive use of a keyboard and mouse.
• To deliver a professional customer experience, this role requires a workspace that supports focused, distraction-free work and clear, quiet audio during scheduled hours. If you require a reasonable accommodation to meet this need, please let us know.
• Maintain reliable, high-speed internet access sufficient to support video, chat, and email-based work, * Experience with data warehousing technologies and modern analytical data platforms.
• Experience with workflow orchestration tools such as Airflow, Dagster, dbt, or similar technologies.
• Experience with event-driven architectures, streaming technologies, or messaging platforms.
• Experience administering additional database technologies beyond PostgreSQL.
• Experience supporting AI, machine learning, or large language model workloads through scalable data infrastructure.
• Experience designing and supporting event-driven data architectures using technologies such as Redpanda, Apache Kafka, Debezium, or similar streaming and change data capture (CDC) platforms
• Familiarity with data governance, metadata management, and data cataloging.
• Experience in AWS/RDS cost optimization
• Experience working in financial technology or other regulated industries.
• Experience leading cross-functional technical initiatives or serving as a technical lead.

Location & Commitments:

• Full-time, direct-hire, 100% remote role
• Open to candidates residing in and legally authorized to work in the United States
• Not open to applicants residing in: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Washington D.C.
• Core hours: 8 am-5 pm EST, Monday-Friday
• Some flexibility is required during busy seasons or critical “right-now” moments

We’re Patriot Software - a remote-first, product-led tech company on a mission to make accounting and payroll fast, simple, and affordable for millions of American businesses. With 175+ team members across the U.S. and a collaborative office hub in Canton, Ohio, we’re building software that empowers the backbone of the American economy.

What We Believe In

Creating great products starts with creating an environment where people thrive. That means connection, clarity, growth, high trust, and a culture where ideas move quickly and quality matters.

Our team lives by six core values that guide how we work, build, and serve:

• Be Customer Obsessed: We start with our customers and work backward to deliver exceptional value.
• Lead With Speed: We move fast, take smart risks, and stay ahead by acting boldly.
• Don’t Cut Corners: We own our technologies and operations to deliver a high-quality, end-to-end experience.
• Create a Better Us: We simplify, automate, spend wisely, and continuously improve.
• Follow The Golden Rule: We treat others with respect, invite feedback, and commit even when we disagree.
• Grow, Be a Leader: We expect leadership at all levels and pursue excellence as a high-accountability, high-trust team.

If this sounds like a place where you’d thrive, keep reading-your next opportunity might be here.