> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/2720731-site-reliability-engineer-database-infrastructure](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/2720731-site-reliability-engineer-database-infrastructure). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Site Reliability Engineer, Database Infrastructure - **Company:** Zello Inc. - **Location:** Austin, TX, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Query Performance, Artificial Intelligence, Amazon Web Services, Audit Trail, Microsoft Azure, Backup Devices, Bash Shell, Databases, Shard (Database Architecture), Linux, DevOps, Disaster Recovery, Elasticsearch, Python (Programming Language), MongoDB, MySQL, Query Optimization, Redis, Reliability Engineering, Prometheus, Google Cloud, Cloud Platform System, System Availability, Database Performance, Containerization, Kubernetes, Information Technology, Cassandra, Bare Metal, Docker, Golang - **Published:** September 4, 2026 - **Apply:** https://startup.jobs/senior-site-reliability-engineer-database-infrastructure-zello-8018487 ## About the Role * You've operated highly available MySQL and MongoDB in production at scale; replication, sharding, backups, point-in-time recovery, and failover drills you've actually run, not just designed on paper. * You diagnose database performance end-to-end; query plan, indexes, locking, OS, storage, network - and can point to specific incidents where you found and fixed root cause that others had missed. * You've shipped meaningful work on at least two of bare metal Linux, containerized workloads (Docker, Kubernetes, or similar), and a major cloud (GCP preferred; AWS or Azure equivalent is fine). * You instrument what you build. You've used Prometheus, OpenTelemetry, or comparable systems to close real incidents, and you've written the dashboard the next on-call engineer will actually open. * You write code that runs in production: Python, Go, Bash, or similar for automation, tooling, or operators. You don't hand off scripting to someone else. * You communicate clearly under pressure and after the fact. Your postmortems are blameless, specific, and lead to changes that stick - and the people you've worked with describe collaborating with you as straightforward. * You bring an opinion on managed vs. self-managed databases, and can defend the trade-off based on availability, cost, and operational burden. * 7+ years in SRE, DevOps, platform, infrastructure, or database reliability roles, with at least 3 years owning production databases. * BSc in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience. * ScyllaDB/Cassandra or Elasticsearch experience is a plus * You've used AI tooling: copilots, agents, or custom automation to expedite incident response, root-cause analysis, or developer workflows. We hire for potential, passion for our mission, and a knack for solving difficult problems over checking every qualification box. We have competitive pay, equity with significant upside, and intentionally design our benefits to encourage healthy and well-balanced employees, flexible schedules and time off. We even offer a sabbatical after every five years of service so you're able to pursue and enjoy what matters most to you. And of course, we wouldn't be a technology company without a ping-pong table and free snacks in our break room. Join us! ## Description We're seeking a Senior Site Reliability Engineer who can own our data tier at high availability while also pulling weight across the broader platform. As Zello scales, the line between "database problem" and "platform problem" keeps blurring. We want someone who can sit on either side of it. This hire owns our data tier reliability (MySQL, MongoDB, ScyllaDB, Elasticsearch, Redis) and contributes to monitoring, on-call, and our ongoing cloud modernization efforts., You'll join the Platform team and report to the Director of Platform Engineering. You'll own the reliability of our MySQL and MongoDB footprint across Google Cloud, work alongside application engineers on performance and schema decisions, and contribute to the broader platform, observability with Prometheus, Loki, and Tempo; on-call; incident response;. This role suits someone who likes operating real production systems, doesn't get stage fright in incidents, and writes the runbook for the next person who hits the same problem. We're investing in AI to compress incident response, build agents and tooling that speed up root-cause analysis, and lift developer productivity across engineering. We want someone curious about what that looks like for an SRE and excited to help shape it. After a Successful First Year, You Will Have: * Operated Zello's MySQL and MongoDB clusters to documented availability targets, with automated backups, regularly tested restores, and failover the on-call team trusts under real incident pressure. * Cut latency or capacity cost on at least one critical database workload through measurable performance work - index strategy, query tuning, schema changes, or sharding. * Extended our Observability coverage so incidents are diagnosed in minutes rather than hours, with dashboards and alerts the team actually uses. * Owned a slice of the Platform on-call rotation and led postmortems that turned recurring incidents into permanent fixes. What You'll Do * Design, deploy, and operate highly available MySQL and MongoDB clusters across our cloud environments; replication, sharding, backups, point-in-time recovery, upgrades, and disaster recovery. * Tune query performance, schema, and index strategy in partnership with application engineers and push fixes upstream into the application when that's the right answer. * Extend our observability stack - Prometheus, Loki, and Tempo - so the data tier is as well instrumented as the application tier, and traces actually reach the root cause. * Participate in the Platform on-call rotation, lead incident response for data-tier issues, and write postmortems that drive durable change. * Improve disaster recovery, security posture, and compliance for our database footprint - encryption, access control, audit logging, backup integrity. * Evaluate and operate ScyllaDB/Cassandra and Elasticsearch where they fit the workload, and bring an opinion on when they don't. * Write the automation, tooling, and operators that take repetitive work off the team's plate. * Use AI to compress incident response and root-cause analysis; building agents, automation, and developer-enablement tooling that scale the team's reliability work ## Related Videos - [How building an industry DBMS differs from building a research one](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/768-how-building-an-industry-dbms-differs-from-building-a-research-one) - [Docker network without Docker](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1418-docker-network-without-docker) - [MySQL Protocol Features You Should Be Aware Of](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100267-mysql-protocol-features-you-should-be-aware-of) - [Reducing LLM Calls with Vector Search Patterns - Raphael De Lio (Redis)](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1714-reducing-llm-calls-with-vector-search-patterns-raphael-de-lio-redis) - [Branch your database like your code: How schema changes and pull requests go hand in hand](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/350-branch-your-database-like-your-code-how-schema-changes-and-pull-requests-go-hand-in-hand) - [Shipping Faster with Less: Render on Cloud Hosting, AI Workloads, and the Future of DevOps](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1894-shipping-faster-with-less-render-on-cloud-hosting-ai-workloads-and-the-future-of-devops) ## Related Articles - [How We Built a Worry-Free System That Runs for 10+ Years – And What We’d Do Again](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/751-how-we-built-a-worry-free-system-that-runs-for-10-years-and-what-we-d-do-again) - [Fully Remote Software Engineer Jobs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/447-fully-remote-software-engineer-jobs) - [Find a Developer Job: 12 Best Job Sites For Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/165-find-a-developer-job-12-best-job-sites-for-developers) - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers) - [Highest Paying Tech Companies for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/220-highest-paying-tech-companies-for-developers) - [Dev Digest 121 - AI goes offline](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/456-dev-digest-121-ai-goes-offline)