About this role.
Ruby Labs seeks a Database Engineer to own and scale their high-volume payment orchestration system. The role involves managing AWS Aurora (PostgreSQL) databases with millions of transactions monthly, optimizing queries, and ensuring data reliability. Ideal candidates have strong PostgreSQL production experience and performance tuning skills. This fully remote position offers significant ownership and impact in a fast-growing tech environment.
Role DNA
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Job Complexity
4/5Pace & Pressure
4/5Autonomy Level
5/5Communication Load
4/5Salary analysis
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Core skills
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Cover letter sample
Dear Hiring Manager,
I am writing to express my strong interest in the Database Engineer position at Ruby Labs. With over 6 years of experience managing large-scale PostgreSQL databases and a deep background in payment systems, I am excited about the opportunity to own and scale your payment orchestration infrastructure.
Currently, I manage a multi-terabyte Aurora PostgreSQL cluster processing millions of transactions monthly. I have extensive experience with query optimization, table partitioning, and ensuring high availability and data integrity in financial environments. I thrive in roles requiring deep technical ownership and cross-team collaboration to drive performance and reliability.
I am particularly drawn to Ruby Labs' innovative product portfolio and the opportunity to work with a high-talent remote team. I am confident that my skills can contribute to the continued growth and robustness of your data systems.
Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to discussing how I can add value to Ruby Labs.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Sample interview questions
I used EXPLAIN ANALYZE to identify a sequential scan on a large table. I created a composite index based on the query's WHERE and JOIN conditions, which reduced the query time from 5 seconds to 20ms. I also vacuumed the table to update statistics.
I implement range partitioning by date (e.g., monthly). For example, using PostgreSQL's declarative partitioning, I create monthly partitions and attach them automatically via cron jobs. This improves query performance and maintenance by allowing partition-level operations like dropping old data.
Autovacuum prevents tuple bloat and transaction ID wraparound. I tune it based on table size and write volume: e.g., increasing autovacuum_vacuum_scale_factor for large tables, or setting autovacuum_naptime lower for high-velocity environments. I adjust when I see excessive bloat or long vacuum times.
I use a phased approach: (1) schema changes are backward-compatible (e.g., adding nullable columns), (2) run a dual-write period where both old and new structures are updated, (3) migrate existing data in batches with checksums, and (4) finally switch reads to the new schema. Transactions ensure atomicity.
I've used Aurora for its higher throughput and automatic failover. Key differences include: Aurora's distributed storage layer decouples compute from storage, allowing faster replicas and snapshot restores. I've tuned parameters like aurora_parallel_query for faster analytics. However, some features like logical replication require careful setup.
About us
Ruby Labs is a leading tech company that creates and operates innovative consumer products. We offer a diverse range of opportunities across the health, education, and entertainment industries. Our innovative teams are driving the future of consumer-led products, and we’re always looking for passionate individuals to join us. Learn more about our story at: https://rubylabs.com/about-us/
About the role
We are building a high-scale payment orchestration system that processes millions of financial transactions every month across multiple payment providers, regions, and products.
Our platform operates at the intersection of payments, billing, subscriptions, analytics, and internal CRM tooling, where data correctness, performance, and reliability are mission-critical. As our transaction volume and customer base continue to grow rapidly, our database layer has become one of the most important parts of the system.
We are looking for a strong Database Engineer who will own, scale, and evolve our data infrastructure, ensuring it remains fast, reliable, and ready for long-term growth.
You will be joining a high-talent, fully remote engineering organization with strong backend, infrastructure, and product teams. We value ownership, technical excellence, and pragmatic decision-making. Engineers at RubyLabs work on real scale, real money, and real impact.
As a Database Engineer at RubyLabs, you will be responsible for designing, operating, and optimizing databases in a high-volume payments environment. This role goes far beyond basic CRUD operations — you will work with large datasets, complex queries, performance bottlenecks, migrations on massive tables, and analytics pipelines.
You will collaborate closely with backend engineers and product teams to ensure our data layer supports both transactional workloads and analytical use cases, including internal CRM search and observability.
Key Responsibilities
Database Ownership & Scalability
Own and operate AWS Aurora (PostgreSQL) in a high-load production environment
Design and evolve schemas for large transactional domains (payments, customers, subscriptions, events)
Implement and maintain:
Table partitioning strategies (time-based, tenant-based, hybrid)
Advanced indexing (B-Tree, GIN, partial indexes)
Query optimization and execution-plan tuning
Handle databases with millions of new records per month while maintaining predictable performance
Performance Optimization
Analyze and optimize slow queries and production metrics
Identify and resolve:
Lock contention
Vacuum / autovacuum issues
Connection pool saturation
Long-running or inefficient queries
Proactively prevent performance regressions as data volume grows
Search & Internal Tools
Design high-performance search solutions for large operational datasets used in internal CRM tools
Implement efficient search strategies
Balance flexibility, correctness, and performance at scale
Analytics & Logging
Work with event and log data pipelines, including Tinybird / ClickHouse-based analytics
Decide which data belongs in transactional databases vs analytical stores
Enable fast, real-time insights for product, finance, and operations teams
Reliability & Operations
Ensure data integrity and consistency in financial workflows
Define and monitor database health metrics (latency, replication lag, storage, IOPS)
Plan and execute safe schema changes and migrations on large tables
Participate in incident analysis related to data performance or availability
Work in backups, replication, and disaster-recovery strategies
Qualifications
Strong hands-on experience with PostgreSQL in production
Experience managing large databases (hundreds of millions of rows or more)
Solid understanding of:
Indexing strategies
Query planners and execution paths
Transactions, isolation levels, and locking
Experience working with AWS-based infrastructure, ideally AWS Aurora
Ability to independently investigate and resolve complex performance issues
Strong Plus
Experience in payments, billing, fintech, or financial systems
Familiarity with analytical databases (ClickHouse, Tinybird, or similar)
Familiarity with OpenSearch or similar, including data ingestion from PostgreSQL
Experience designing data models for multi-tenant systems
Understanding of event-driven architectures and data pipelines
AWS certifications (e.g., Solutions Architect, Database Specialty)
Location
Ruby Labs operates within the CET (Central European Time) zone. Applicants from any country are welcome to apply for the position as long as they are located within approximately ± 4 hours of CET. This ensures optimal collaboration and communication during working hours.
Benefits
Discover the perks of being part of our vibrant team! We offer:
Remote Work Environment: Embrace the freedom to work from anywhere, anytime, promoting a healthy work-life balance.
Unlimited PTO: Enjoy unlimited paid time off to recharge and prioritize your well-being, without counting days.
Paid National Holidays: Celebrate and relax on national holidays with paid time off to unwind and recharge.
Company-provided MacBook: Experience seamless productivity with top-notch Apple MacBooks provided to all employees who need them.
Flexible Independent Contractor Agreement: Unlock the benefits of flexibility, autonomy, and entrepreneurial opportunities. Benefit from tax advantages, networking opportunities, reduced employment obligations, and the freedom to work from anywhere. Read more about it here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nkrN76JlZkbKj9WSOhlT1_mni_CZeDkHdwfIjPXVwvk/preview?tab=t.0#heading=h.ndsdl4wapxtt
Be part of our fast-growing team and seize this excellent opportunity for personal and professional growth!
Interview Process
After submitting your application, we conduct a thorough review which typically takes 3 to 5 days, but may occasionally take longer due to the volume of applications received. If we see a potential fit, we proceed with the following steps:
Recruiter Screening (40 minutes)
Technical Interview (60 minutes)
Final Interview (60 minutes)
Life at Ruby Labs
At Ruby Labs, we move fast, aim high, and expect the same from our team. We’re not here to play small—we’re here to build, grow, and win. That means we look for people who are ambitious, driven, and ready to give their best every single day.
This is a place for individuals who thrive under pressure, embrace challenges, and see opportunity in every obstacle. If you’re hungry to achieve, motivated by impact, and want to grow at the speed of your own ambition, Ruby Labs offers the platform to make it happen.
Here, effort is matched with reward. We recognize those who go all in and deliver results, and we create space for people who want more—more responsibility, more growth, and more success.
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