Database Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Wavelo is a SaaS business on a mission to make telecoms a breeze.

We provide flexible software that modernizes how communication service providers (CSPs) do business, helping them drive more value, focus on customer experience, and scale their operations faster.

As part of Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX, TSX:TC)—one of the world's largest Internet services companies—Wavelo is backed by outstanding resources and talent. We embrace a people-first philosophy that is rooted in respect, trust, and flexibility. We believe that whatever works for our employees is what works best for us. It's also why the majority of our roles are remote-first, meaning you can work from anywhere you can connect to the Internet!

The work we do genuinely changes lives. If this sounds exciting, we'd love to hear from you!

About the Opportunity

We are looking for a highly skilled Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE) with deep expertise in PostgreSQL at scale.

In this role, you will design, operationalize, and optimize the data persistence layer that powers large-scale, mission-critical systems. You'll work closely with SRE, Platform, and Engineering teams to ensure performance, reliability, automation, and operational excellence across the database environment.

This is a hands-on engineering role focused on building resilient data infrastructure—well beyond traditional database administration.

This role is a remote position open to applicants based in Canada.

What You'll DoArchitecture, Reliability & Performance

• Design, implement, and operate highly available PostgreSQL clusters (physical/logical replication, sharding, partitioning, failover automation)
• Optimize query performance and indexing strategies
• Perform capacity planning, growth forecasting, and workload modeling
• Own high-availability strategies, including:
  • Automatic failover
  • Multi-region deployments
  • Disaster recovery

Automation & Tooling

• Build and maintain automation for:
  • Provisioning and configuration
  • Backups and recovery
  • Failovers
  • Vacuum tuning
  • Schema management
• Use tools such as Terraform, Ansible/SaltStack, Bash, Python, etc.
• Develop monitoring and alerting systems for PostgreSQL clusters

Operations & Incident Response

• Lead response during database incidents (e.g., performance regressions, replication lag, deadlocks, bloat, storage failures)
• Conduct root-cause analysis and implement long-term fixes

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with software engineers to:
  • Review SQL queries
  • Optimize schemas
  • Ensure effective use of PostgreSQL features
• Provide guidance on:
  • Database design patterns
  • Migrations and version upgrades
  • Best practices

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Deep understanding of PostgreSQL internals:
  • MVCC, WAL processing, vacuum behavior, locking, query planning
• Experience designing and operating highly available database clusters with automated failover
• Strong performance tuning skills (query optimization, indexing, workload tuning)
• Ability to diagnose database and system issues:
  • Query plans, I/O, memory usage, WAL growth, table/index bloat
• Experience with backup and recovery strategies:
  • Point-in-time recovery (PITR), durability planning
• Familiarity with observability and monitoring:
  • Metrics, alerting, and performance dashboards (Grafana)
• Understanding of distributed systems concepts:
  • Service discovery, consensus (e.g., Consul)
• Strong Linux systems knowledge (performance tuning, resource management)
• Experience with scripting and infrastructure-as-code automation
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in production environments
• Knowledge of:
  • Security, compliance, encryption, auditing, access control
• Ability to work independently in high-availability, production-critical systems
• Familiarity with AI-assisted tools (e.g., Claude, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot)

QualificationsRequired

• 7+ years of hands-on PostgreSQL experience in large-scale, high-volume production environments
• Strong expertise in PostgreSQL internals:
  • WAL, MVCC, vacuum tuning, query planner, indexing, logical replication
• Advanced SQL and strong schema design and query optimization skills
• Solid experience with Linux systems and networking fundamentals
• Experience building automation using Go or Python
• Experience with monitoring tools such as:
  • Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, PMM, pg_stat_statements

Preferred (Nice to Have)

• Experience with connection pooling and load balancing:
  • PgBouncer, HAProxy
• Experience with high-availability solutions:
  • Patroni or similar tools
• Exposure to event streaming and CDC:
  • Kafka, Debezium
• Experience supporting 24/7 production environments
• Experience with PostgreSQL backup tools:
  • Barman, pgBackRest, WAL-G
• Familiarity with Traefik or similar infrastructure components

The base salary range for this position is $126,100 to $140,100. Range shown in $CAD for Canadian residents. Other countries will differ. Range may vary on a number of factors including, but not limited to: location, experience and qualifications. Tucows believes in a total rewards offering that includes fair compensation and generous benefits

Want to know more about what we stand for? At Wavelo and Tucows we care about protecting the open Internet, narrowing the digital divide, and supporting fairness and equality.

We also know that diversity drives innovation. We are committed to inclusion across race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability status. We celebrate multiple approaches and diverse points of view.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request an accommodation.

We use AI-enabled tools throughout our recruitment process to help us work more efficiently and consistently. These tools support our hiring teams by organizing and reviewing information, while final hiring decisions are always made by people.

Tucows and its subsidiaries participate in the E-verify program for all US employees.

Learn more about Tucows, our businesses, culture and employee benefits on our site here.