Technical Lead - Database
HybridWarsaw, Mazovia, Poland or Galway, Connacht, Ireland
Job Summary
Own the strategy, architecture, and roadmap for Planet's entire database estate across AWS, Azure, and on-prem, acting as the senior design authority and final escalation point. Build, lead, and mentor the in-house DBA pod while defining roles, upskilling staff, and fostering engineering excellence. Embed FinOps as a daily discipline to right-size platforms, optimize licensing, and balance managed-service adoption against engineering effort. Set and assure resilience standards including high availability, disaster recovery, and backup protocols across managed and self-hosted platforms. Own the database security posture and PCI DSS compliance, partnering with Security teams on audits and evidence collection. Champion an automation-first approach using Terraform and CI/CD for database changes, while governing performance tuning, capacity planning, and vendor relationships. Partner with application and infrastructure leaders to translate business needs into a scalable data platform strategy.
Required Qualifications
- Proven leadership of database / DBA teams at lead, principal, or director level
- combining people leadership with hands-on technical authority
- Deep, current expertise across Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle
- MySQL / PostgreSQL and NoSQL exposure
- Track record setting database strategy, standards, and architecture across a complex, hybrid estate
- Enterprise-scale HA/DR, backup / recovery, and business-continuity design
- consistently meeting RTO/RPO
- FinOps / cost-optimisation and capacity planning for cloud consumption and licensing
- Database security and regulatory compliance - PCI DSS (or comparable such as SOC 2 / ISO 27001) in a payments or regulated environment
- Automation and infrastructure-as-code mindset (Terraform, CI/CD, database DevOps)
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management
- a track record of building and retaining high-performing teams
- Degree in Computer Science or a related discipline, or equivalent experience
Desired Qualifications
- Payments / financial services background and familiarity with PCI DSS audit cycles
- Experience standing up an in-house capability, transitioning from an outsourced / managed-tower model
- NoSQL and modern data platforms (Cosmos DB, DynamoDB, MongoDB) and data-governance frameworks
- Relevant certifications such as Microsoft Azure Database Administrator / Solutions Architect, AWS Database Specialty, or Oracle OCP / OCM
Hiring someone like this?
Get your role in front of qualified candidates on Sorce.