Hybrid Staff Software Engineer – Database Platform

at Starling Bank

• Job title: Staff Software Engineer – Database Platform
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Lead
• Salary: Not specified
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Tech skills: Cloud, Distributed Systems, Java, Kubernetes, Postgres
• Location requirements: Hybrid, London, United Kingdom

About the role

• Staff Software Engineer developing Java-based services within Database Manager for Engine by Starling. Building robust, scalable database solutions and enhancing automation across a global infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Scale for Multi-Tenancy: Design and develop Java-based services within Database Manager to manage an ever-growing number of isolated database estates for our SaaS clients.
• Evolve Replication Manager: Enhance our data streaming orchestration to ensure "Zero-Downtime" transitions and migrations are seamless across a global footprint.
• Architect Cross-Cloud Portability: Work with cloud native solutions to build a database layer that is cloud-agnostic, allowing Engine to deploy reliably across different providers.
• Eliminate Manual Toil: Build high-level abstractions for complex maintenance tasks, ensuring the system proactively heals and maintains itself.
• Execute a Multi-Year Roadmap: Contribute to the long-term technical strategy of how Engine handles mission-critical data at a global scale.
• Whether it's as people lead or tech lead, as a Staff Engineer you will be a spearhead in the upwards trajectory of the team. Don't worry, as a People Lead you'll still be contributing heavily to the exciting technical work.

Requirements

• A Software Engineer First: You have deep expertise in Java working with JDBC, and enjoy building robust, testable, and maintainable backend services. You will be well versed in relational modelling and crafting clean DDL.
• Distributed Systems Enthusiast: You are excited by the challenge of "multi-everything"- multi-tenant, multi-region, and multi-cloud.
• PostgreSQL & Kubernetes Interest: You understand (or want to learn) the internals of Postgres and how to run it natively on Kubernetes.
• Systems Thinker: You have a natural "reluctance for manual implementation" and believe that infrastructure should be managed via code and APIs.
• A Security Mindset: Security is paramount when it comes to the storage and handling of data - we do not allow DBAs or engineers access to production data.