Job Description
Description
Title: Database Engineer / Database Administrator
Clearance: Active TS/SCI (required)
Employment Type: Full-Time
Years of Experience: Multiple openings at the Junior, Mid, and Senior levels.
About Altamira
Altamira Technologies Corporation has a long and successful history providing innovative solutions throughout the U.S. National Security community. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Altamira serves the defense, intelligence and homeland security communities by focusing on creating innovative solutions leveraging common standards in architecture, data and security.
Altamira believes that our people and the culture of our company differentiate us from other companies. We focus on recruiting talented, self-motivated employees that strive to find a way to get things done.
Position Overview
Altamira is seeking a Database Engineer / Database Administrator to support mission-critical systems by designing, maintaining, and optimizing database platforms in secure, hybrid environments. This role will focus primarily on PostgreSQL and may also include administration and engineering support for NoSQL databases (e.g., ArangoDB) and caching technologies (e.g., Redis). The ideal candidate has strong operational discipline (backup/restore, HA/DR, performance tuning) and the ability to collaborate with platform and application teams to ensure data reliability, security, and availability.
Key Responsibilities
Administer and optimize PostgreSQL databases supporting production workloads
Design and implement high availability, replication, backup/restore, and disaster recovery strategies
Monitor database health and performance; tune queries, indexes, and configurations as needed
Implement database security controls, auditing, access management, and encryption best practices
Support database schema changes and migrations in collaboration with application teams
Automate routine database operations and provisioning where applicable
Troubleshoot complex database issues including performance bottlenecks, connection limits, and resource constraints
Support NoSQL and supporting data technologies as required (e.g., ArangoDB, Redis)
Create and maintain database documentation, runbooks, and standard operating procedures
Support compliance, accreditation, and audit activities in classified environments
Required Qualifications
Active TS/SCI clearance
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
Experience in database administration and/or database engineering roles
Hands-on PostgreSQL experience in production environments
Experience with HA/DR concepts (replication, failover, backup/restore validation)
Strong understanding of database security practices and access controls
Experience troubleshooting performance issues (query plans, indexing, connection pooling, resource constraints)
Strong Linux skills and scripting/automation ability (Bash, Python, etc.)
Ability to work effectively in secure, mission-focused environments
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with ArangoDB or other NoSQL databases
Experience with Redis administration and performance tuning
Experience with Kubernetes-based database patterns (operators, stateful workloads)
Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) in support of database provisioning
Familiarity with Kafka or event-driven architectures (e.g., CDC patterns)
Prior experience supporting DoD or Intelligence Community programs
Relevant certifications (e.g., PostgreSQL, AWS database specialty, Security-focused certs)
Altamira is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. We focus on recruiting talented, self-motivated employees that find a way to get things done. Join our team of experts as we engineer national security!
Altamira is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.
