Senior Platform Engineer - Postgres Specialist

As a Senior Platform Engineer - Postgres Specialist at Timescale, your key responsibilities will include ensuring operational excellence for our fleet of Postgres instances, diving deep into performance issues, and designing cloud features that enhance our database experience. You’ll also play a crucial role in implementing effective observability solutions that span from the application layer to the kernel level.

Candidates looking to pursue a Senior Platform Engineer - Postgres Specialist role at Timescale should have strong experience operating Postgres databases at scale, a history of managing database incidents, and good software engineering fundamentals. Familiarity with high-availability setups, Postgres extensions, and performance tuning is essential, along with a passion for tackling complex challenges in a fast-paced environment.

Timescale offers a fully remote work environment where flexibility is key. As a Senior Platform Engineer - Postgres Specialist, you'll work within a globally diverse team that thrives on open communication and collaboration, allowing you to contribute meaningfully while also enjoying the benefits of remote work.

At Timescale, we prioritize the continuous growth of our employees. As a Senior Platform Engineer - Postgres Specialist, you'll have access to professional development opportunities, including educational benefits tailored to help you deepen your skills and stay ahead in the ever-evolving tech landscape.

The technology stack at Timescale primarily revolves around TimescaleDB built on PostgreSQL, along with AWS, Go, Docker, Kubernetes, and Python. While prior experience with these technologies is helpful, it's not mandatory; a passion for learning and working with modern tech is what we value most.

When answering this question, be specific about the performance issues you've encountered and the steps you've taken to resolve them. Highlight any metrics you've improved and tools you've used for monitoring and tuning database performance, demonstrating your analytical skills and technical expertise.

Discuss your strategies for maintaining operational excellence, such as implementing observability solutions, managing incidents efficiently, and optimizing resources. Share examples of how you've successfully addressed operational challenges in previous roles to give a concrete view of your capabilities.

Mention any Postgres extensions you've worked with, such as pg_stat_statements, or pgbouncer. Discuss how these tools have contributed to your database management tasks, and be clear about how they enhance performance or functionality in practical scenarios.

Prepare to illustrate a real-life example where you handled a critical incident. Explain the issue, your approach to resolving it, the tools you utilized, and the outcome. This will showcase your incident management experience and ability to work under pressure.

Talk about your experience with disaster recovery strategies and the tools you've used, like Patroni, to maintain high availability. Don’t forget to include the importance of minimizing downtime and ensuring data integrity.

Explain your methodology for tuning Postgres parameters, including how you analyze performance metrics and make adjustments. Highlight specific parameters you frequently adjust and the impact these changes have had on performance.

Demonstrate your understanding of observability by discussing the monitoring tools and techniques you use. Explain how you set up observability at various layers and the benefits it provides in spotting performance issues before they escalate.

Reflect on your motivations and enthusiasm for being part of a forward-thinking company like Timescale. Mention the exciting challenges of working with time-series data and how you want to contribute to their mission of empowering developers with innovative solutions.

Share resources you utilize such as industry blogs, online courses, or community events that keep you informed and engaged with the latest developments in database technology. This shows your proactive approach to continuous learning.

If applicable, discuss the Kubernetes features you've used and how they facilitated the management of Postgres workloads. Use examples to demonstrate your knowledge and any complexities you’ve navigated while operating in a Kubernetes environment.