About the job
Join us as a Senior Data Reliability Engineer, where you will merge technical expertise in responsive support with strategic database consulting and design. Your primary focus will be to maintain the stability and quality of Xero's databases, providing essential insights on maintenance, optimizations, and incident support. You will serve as a quality champion, conducting thorough reviews of database changes prior to product launches and playing an active role in implementing database modifications across various environments, including production.
Your contributions will significantly influence the modernization of Xero's data infrastructure. You will guide product teams in database design and architecture for new projects, particularly championing the integration of cloud-native technologies. This role involves analyzing code behavior to assess its impact on database performance and mentoring fellow engineers, establishing yourself as a technical leader and problem solver.
Team Dynamics
You will be part of the Consulting Across the Southern Hemisphere (CASH) team, which provides vital support to Xero's product engineering teams with a strong emphasis on the database domain. This small, remote-first team engages with multiple product areas simultaneously, delivering expertise in database operations, quality deployment support, and strategic architectural design. As a Senior Engineer, you will join a global on-call roster and collaborate closely with product teams to enhance capabilities and minimize the need for ad-hoc support.
Current Projects
- Facilitating the migration of the SQL Server fleet from self-hosted EC2s to Amazon RDS SQL Postgres.
- Providing consulting expertise to product teams transitioning their services to Postgres Aurora and DynamoDB.
- Creating proof-of-concepts, automation, and validation using PowerShell.
- Utilizing your deep understanding of database observability tools, especially AWS tooling, to enhance monitoring and performance.
Desired Qualifications
- Proven strategic ability to guide product teams on database design, architecture, and technology selections for new initiatives.
- Experience with Postgres Aurora and/or DynamoDB to enhance the team's existing SQL Server expertise.
- Comfortable interpreting application behavior to optimize database performance.

