Principal Database Engineer - PostgreSQL & Kafka

The primary responsibility of the Principal Database Engineer is to design, optimize, and maintain our database infrastructure. in the Principal Database Engineer ensures high performance, availability, and scalability of our Database environments while supporting development and analytics teams.

This role leverages deep expertise in PostgreSQL, Kafka and data engineering to drive database design decisions, mentor engineers, and influence product development.

All duties are to be performed in accordance with departmental and Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s policies, practices, and procedures. All Las Vegas Sands Corp. Team Members are expected to conduct and carry themselves in a professional manner at all times. Team Members are required to observe the company’s standards, work requirements and rules of conduct.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Define and drive the architectural vision and design principles for our PostgreSQL database systems, Kafka Messaging systems ensuring they are scalable, maintainable, and aligned with business goals.

• Optimize PostgreSQL performance through query tuning, indexing strategies, and configuration adjustments.

• Manage database replication, backup, and recovery processes using PostgreSQL-native tools and third-party solutions.

• Monitor database health and proactively address performance bottlenecks and system anomalies.

• Collaborate with application developers to design efficient data models and support application performance.

• Ensure database security, access control, and compliance with data governance policies.

• Support PostgreSQL upgrades, patching, and migration efforts across environments.

• Lead the technical direction and innovation of our database architecture and management efforts.

• Drive initiatives for process improvements within the engineering team to enhance productivity, collaboration, and data quality.

• Ensure database security, access control, and compliance with data governance policies.

• Implement and operate observability: Prometheus/Grafana dashboards, alerting policies, and centralized logging/tracing.

• Create runbooks, available for on-call rotations, triage incidents, and drive blameless post-incident reviews.

• Perform job duties in a safe manner.

• Attend work as scheduled on a consistent and regular basis.

• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• At least 21 years of age.

• Proof of authorization to work in the United States.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.

• Must be able to obtain and maintain any certification or license, as required by law or policy. 

• 10+ years of relevant experience.

• 5+ years of experience in database engineering, with a focus on PostgreSQL and scalable data architectures.

• Extensive knowledge of database design principles, normalization, and development methodologies.

• Proficiency in PostgreSQL, including advanced features such as partitioning, replication, and performance tuning.

• Demonstrated experience working closely with application developers to ensure collaborative refinement and implementation of data models and queries.

• Deep understanding of relational and NoSQL databases, including database design and data modeling.

• Experience with PostgreSQL performance tuning, query optimization, and monitoring tools (e.g., pg_stat_statements, pgBadger).

• Demonstrated experience implementing database schema version control tools such as Flyway or Liquibase or AtlasGO.

• Strong hands-on expertise in PostgreSQL replication including configuration and management of backup tools like pgBackRest or Barman as well as designing and executing failover strategies.

• Knowledge of containerized deployments (Docker, Kubernetes) and infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform, Ansible).

• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and database version control tools (e.g., Flyway, Liquibase).

• Exposure to analytics and reporting tools that integrate with PostgreSQL.

• Demonstrated experience implementing observability for Kafka (Prometheus/JMX exporters, lag monitoring with Burrow/Kafka Exporter) and automating operations on Kubernetes/Red Hat OpenShift (e.g., Strimzi or OpenShift Streams).

• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines and experience integrating database and data services into automated deployment workflows

• Experience deploying and managing PostgreSQL and Kafka solutions on Kubernetes (K8s), including Helm charts, StatefulSets, and persistent storage management.

• Experienced in deploying, running and managing PostgreSQL databases within on-premises infrastructure environments.

• Strong hands-on expertise with Apache Kafka, including setup, configuration, monitoring, and managing Kafka clusters in production environments, with experience in Kafka replication and failover strategies.

• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.

• Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively and interact appropriately with management, other Team Members and outside contacts of different backgrounds and levels of experience.

Physical Requirements

Must be able to:

• Physically access assigned workspace areas with or without reasonable accommodation.

• Work indoors and be exposed to various environmental factors such as, but not limited to, CRT, noise, and dust.

• Utilize laptop and standard keyboard to perform essential functions of the job.