Okta
Senior Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE)
Join to apply for the
Senior Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE)
role at
Okta
Okta is The World’s Identity Company. We free everyone to safely use any technology, anywhere, on any device or app. Our flexible and neutral products, Okta Platform and Auth0 Platform, provide secure access, authentication, and automation, placing identity at the core of business security and growth.
At Okta, we celebrate a variety of perspectives and experiences. We are not looking for someone who checks every single box – we’re looking for lifelong learners and people who can make us better with their unique experiences.
Join our team! We’re building a world where Identity belongs to you.
About The Role We are looking for a highly skilled Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE) with deep expertise in PostgreSQL at scale and solid experience with MySQL. In this role, you will design, operationalize, and optimize the data persistence layer that powers our large-scale, mission‑critical systems. You will work closely with SRE, Platform, and Engineering teams to ensure performance, reliability, automation, and operational excellence across our database environment.
This is a hands‑on engineering role focused on building resilient data infrastructure, not just administering it.
Responsibilities Architecture, Reliability & Performance
Design, implement, and operate highly available PostgreSQL clusters (physical replication, logical replication, sharding/partitioning, failover automation).
Optimize query performance, indexing strategies, schema design, and storage engines.
Perform capacity planning, growth forecasting, and workload modeling.
Own high‑availability strategies including automatic failover, multi‑AZ/multi‑region setups, and disaster recovery.
Automation & Tooling
Develop automation for any and all tasks including but not limited to: provisioning, configuration, backups, failovers, vacuum tuning, and schema management using tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes Operators, or custom tooling.
Build monitoring, alerting, and self‑healing systems for PostgreSQL and MySQL.
Operations & Incident Response
Lead response during database incidents—performance regressions, replication lag, deadlocks, bloat issues, storage failures, etc.
Conduct root‑cause analysis and implement permanent fixes.
Cross‑Functional Collaboration
Partner with software engineers to review SQL, optimize schemas, and ensure efficient use of PostgreSQL features.
Provide guidance on database‑related design patterns, migrations, version upgrades, and best practices.
Required Qualifications
4 plus years of hands‑on PostgreSQL experience in high‑volume, distributed, or large‑scale production environments.
Strong knowledge of PostgreSQL internals (WAL, MVCC, bloat/ vacuum tuning, query planner, indexing, logical replication).
Production experience with MySQL (InnoDB internals, replication, performance tuning).
Advanced SQL and strong understanding of schema design and query optimization.
Experience with Linux systems, networking fundamentals, and systems troubleshooting.
Experience building automation with Go or Python.
Production experience with monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, PMM, pg_stat_statements, etc.).
Hands‑on experience with cloud environments (AWS or GCP).
Preferred/Bonus Qualifications
Experience with PgBouncer, HAProxy, or other connection‑pooling/load‑balancing layers.
Exposure to event streaming (Kafka, Debezium) and change data capture.
Experience supporting 24/7 production environments with on‑call rotation.
Contributions to open‑source PostgreSQL ecosystem.
This position requires the ability to access federal environments and/or have access to protected federal data. As a condition of employment for this position, the successful candidate must be able to submit documentation establishing U.S. Person status (e.g. a U.S. Citizen, National, Lawful Permanent Resident, Refugee, or Asylee. 22 CFR 120.15) upon hire.
Requires in‑person onboarding and travel to our San Francisco, CA HQ office or our Chicago office during the first week of employment.
requisition ID- P5979_3307978
Salary and Benefits The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in the San Francisco Bay area is between $152,000—$228,000 USD.
The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York and Washington is between $136,000—$204,000 USD.
What you can look forward to as a Full‑Time Okta employee!
Amazing Benefits
Making Social Impact
Developing Talent and Fostering Connection + Community at Okta
Okta cultivates a dynamic work environment, providing the best tools, technology and benefits to empower our employees to work productively in a setting that best and uniquely suits their needs.
Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws.
If reasonable accommodation is needed to complete any part of the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation.
Okta is committed to complying with applicable data privacy and security laws and regulations. For more information, please see our Personnel and Job Candidate Privacy Notice at https://www.okta.com/legal/personnel-policy/.
Seniority level
Not Applicable
Employment type
Full‑time
Job function
Engineering and Information Technology
Industries
Computer and Network Security, Software Development, and IT Services and IT Consulting
Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Okta by 2x
Get notified about new Senior Reliability Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL.
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Senior Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE)
role at
Okta
Okta is The World’s Identity Company. We free everyone to safely use any technology, anywhere, on any device or app. Our flexible and neutral products, Okta Platform and Auth0 Platform, provide secure access, authentication, and automation, placing identity at the core of business security and growth.
At Okta, we celebrate a variety of perspectives and experiences. We are not looking for someone who checks every single box – we’re looking for lifelong learners and people who can make us better with their unique experiences.
Join our team! We’re building a world where Identity belongs to you.
About The Role We are looking for a highly skilled Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE) with deep expertise in PostgreSQL at scale and solid experience with MySQL. In this role, you will design, operationalize, and optimize the data persistence layer that powers our large-scale, mission‑critical systems. You will work closely with SRE, Platform, and Engineering teams to ensure performance, reliability, automation, and operational excellence across our database environment.
This is a hands‑on engineering role focused on building resilient data infrastructure, not just administering it.
Responsibilities Architecture, Reliability & Performance
Design, implement, and operate highly available PostgreSQL clusters (physical replication, logical replication, sharding/partitioning, failover automation).
Optimize query performance, indexing strategies, schema design, and storage engines.
Perform capacity planning, growth forecasting, and workload modeling.
Own high‑availability strategies including automatic failover, multi‑AZ/multi‑region setups, and disaster recovery.
Automation & Tooling
Develop automation for any and all tasks including but not limited to: provisioning, configuration, backups, failovers, vacuum tuning, and schema management using tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes Operators, or custom tooling.
Build monitoring, alerting, and self‑healing systems for PostgreSQL and MySQL.
Operations & Incident Response
Lead response during database incidents—performance regressions, replication lag, deadlocks, bloat issues, storage failures, etc.
Conduct root‑cause analysis and implement permanent fixes.
Cross‑Functional Collaboration
Partner with software engineers to review SQL, optimize schemas, and ensure efficient use of PostgreSQL features.
Provide guidance on database‑related design patterns, migrations, version upgrades, and best practices.
Required Qualifications
4 plus years of hands‑on PostgreSQL experience in high‑volume, distributed, or large‑scale production environments.
Strong knowledge of PostgreSQL internals (WAL, MVCC, bloat/ vacuum tuning, query planner, indexing, logical replication).
Production experience with MySQL (InnoDB internals, replication, performance tuning).
Advanced SQL and strong understanding of schema design and query optimization.
Experience with Linux systems, networking fundamentals, and systems troubleshooting.
Experience building automation with Go or Python.
Production experience with monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, PMM, pg_stat_statements, etc.).
Hands‑on experience with cloud environments (AWS or GCP).
Preferred/Bonus Qualifications
Experience with PgBouncer, HAProxy, or other connection‑pooling/load‑balancing layers.
Exposure to event streaming (Kafka, Debezium) and change data capture.
Experience supporting 24/7 production environments with on‑call rotation.
Contributions to open‑source PostgreSQL ecosystem.
This position requires the ability to access federal environments and/or have access to protected federal data. As a condition of employment for this position, the successful candidate must be able to submit documentation establishing U.S. Person status (e.g. a U.S. Citizen, National, Lawful Permanent Resident, Refugee, or Asylee. 22 CFR 120.15) upon hire.
Requires in‑person onboarding and travel to our San Francisco, CA HQ office or our Chicago office during the first week of employment.
requisition ID- P5979_3307978
Salary and Benefits The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in the San Francisco Bay area is between $152,000—$228,000 USD.
The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York and Washington is between $136,000—$204,000 USD.
What you can look forward to as a Full‑Time Okta employee!
Amazing Benefits
Making Social Impact
Developing Talent and Fostering Connection + Community at Okta
Okta cultivates a dynamic work environment, providing the best tools, technology and benefits to empower our employees to work productively in a setting that best and uniquely suits their needs.
Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws.
If reasonable accommodation is needed to complete any part of the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation.
Okta is committed to complying with applicable data privacy and security laws and regulations. For more information, please see our Personnel and Job Candidate Privacy Notice at https://www.okta.com/legal/personnel-policy/.
Seniority level
Not Applicable
Employment type
Full‑time
Job function
Engineering and Information Technology
Industries
Computer and Network Security, Software Development, and IT Services and IT Consulting
Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Okta by 2x
Get notified about new Senior Reliability Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL.
We’re unlocking community knowledge in a new way. Experts add insights directly into each article, started with the help of AI.
#J-18808-Ljbffr