📍 Job Overview

• Job Title: Senior Database Reliability Engineer
• Company: HALA
• Location: Riyadh, Ar Riyāḑ, Saudi Arabia
• Job Type: Hybrid (On-site & Remote)
• Category: DevOps & Infrastructure
• Date Posted: 2025-07-08
• Experience Level: 6+ years

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the design, implementation, and management of highly available, scalable, and resilient database systems.
• Define and enforce database security best practices, ensuring data integrity and protection.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure database solutions meet business requirements and user needs.
• Mentor junior engineers and development teams on database best practices, schema design, and query optimization.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role requires a strong background in database administration and engineering, with a focus on managing large-scale, high-throughput production environments. Experience with infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools and scripting languages is essential for automation and efficiency.

💻 Primary Responsibilities

• 🌐 Database Architecture & Design: Architect, design, and implement highly available, scalable, and resilient database solutions, defining standards for sharding, replication, and failover.
• 🤖 Automation & Efficiency: Lead the automation of all databases operational tasks, including provisioning, backups, patching, upgrading, and scaling, to minimize toil and improve efficiency.
• 🔒 Database Security: Define and enforce database security best practices, working closely with security teams to manage access controls, encryption, and auditability.
• 📈 Performance Tuning & Capacity Planning: Own database performance tuning and capacity planning, proactively identifying and resolving performance bottlenecks through query optimization and infrastructure scaling.
• 🚨 Incident Management: Act as the primary point of escalation for complex database incidents, leading post-mortems and driving long-term remediation to prevent recurrence.
• 📊 Monitoring & Observability: Develop and manage comprehensive monitoring and observability for all database systems, establishing key SLOs/SLIs and creating actionable alerting.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field. Relevant certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Database Specialty, Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate) are a plus.

Experience: 6+ years of progressive experience in database administration, database engineering, or a dedicated DBRE role. Proven track record of managing large-scale, high-throughput production database environments.

Required Skills:

• Proficiency in infrastructure-as-code (IaC) with tools like Terraform or Ansible, and strong scripting skills (Python, Go, or Bash) for automation.
• Expert knowledge of database monitoring, observability, and alerting strategies using tools like Prometheus, Grafana, or Dynatrace.
• Strong understanding of database high availability (HA), disaster recovery (DR), sharding, replication, and data-tier architecture for scalability and resilience.
• Experience with cloud-based database services (e.g., AWS RDS, Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL) and containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Familiarity with SQL and NoSQL databases, as well as data modeling and schema design principles.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with multi-cloud or hybrid cloud environments.
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure as code (IaC) best practices.
• Familiarity with Agile methodologies and DevOps practices.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams.

📊 Web Portfolio & Project Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Demonstrate your experience in designing, implementing, and managing large-scale database systems.
• Showcase your ability to automate database operational tasks and improve efficiency through scripting and IaC tools.
• Highlight your expertise in database performance tuning, query optimization, and capacity planning.
• Include examples of your work in ensuring database security and protecting data integrity.

Technical Documentation:

• Document your approach to database architecture, schema design, and data modeling.
• Explain your strategies for database monitoring, alerting, and observability.
• Describe your experience with incident management, post-mortems, and long-term remediation.
• Include any relevant certifications, training, or continuous learning initiatives related to database administration and engineering.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: The estimated salary range for this role in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is SAR 30,000 - 45,000 per month (USD 8,000 - 12,000), based on industry standards and regional cost of living. This range is inclusive of base salary and may include additional compensation components such as bonuses and equity.

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation packages, including the potential for shares.
• Personal development opportunities, with regular training and an annual learning stipend.
• Flexible work arrangements, with remote, in-office, and hybrid work setups available.
• A diverse and inclusive culture that encourages innovation and flexibility.
• Autonomy, mentoring, and challenging goals that create incredible opportunities for both you and the company.

Working Hours: Full-time, with a standard workweek of 40 hours. Flexible working hours may be available to accommodate maintenance windows and project deadlines.

📝 Enhancement Note: The provided salary range is an estimate based on regional market data and may vary depending on the candidate's experience, skills, and negotiation. HALA offers competitive compensation packages, including potential equity, to attract and retain top talent in the industry.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Fintech, focusing on redefining financial services and empowering SMEs to start, run, and grow their businesses.

Company Size: HALA is a leading fintech player in the MENAP region, with multiple entities in UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. The company currently employs over 30 nationalities working in 7 countries, providing a diverse and inclusive work environment.

Founded: HALA was founded in 2017 and is currently duly licensed by the Saudi Arabian Central Bank and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) in Abu Dhabi Global Market.

Team Structure:

• The database team consists of database administrators, engineers, and reliability engineers, working collaboratively to ensure the availability, scalability, and performance of HALA's database systems.
• The team works closely with cross-functional teams, including software development, DevOps, and IT infrastructure, to integrate database solutions into HALA's products and services.
• The team is structured to support the company's growth and expansion, with a focus on continuous learning and improvement.

Development Methodology:

• HALA follows Agile methodologies, with a focus on iterative development, continuous integration, and collaboration.
• The company emphasizes automation, infrastructure as code (IaC), and DevOps practices to ensure efficient and reliable software delivery.
• HALA encourages a culture of innovation, experimentation, and learning, with a strong emphasis on staying up-to-date with emerging technologies and industry best practices.

Company Website: HALA

📝 Enhancement Note: HALA's company culture values innovation, flexibility, and collaboration, with a focus on empowering employees to drive growth and success in the fintech industry. The company's commitment to diversity and inclusion fosters a dynamic and engaging work environment for its team members.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE) Career Level: This role is a senior-level position within the database team, focusing on the design, implementation, and management of highly available, scalable, and resilient database systems. The DBRE is responsible for defining and enforcing database security best practices, mentoring junior engineers, and driving long-term remediation strategies.

Reporting Structure: The Senior Database Reliability Engineer reports directly to the Head of Database Engineering and works collaboratively with cross-functional teams, including software development, DevOps, and IT infrastructure.

Technical Impact: The Senior Database Reliability Engineer plays a critical role in ensuring the availability, performance, and security of HALA's database systems. Their work directly impacts the company's products and services, as well as the user experience for HALA's customers.

Growth Opportunities:

• Technical Leadership: As a senior member of the database team, the Senior Database Reliability Engineer has the opportunity to grow into a technical leadership role, driving architecture decisions and mentoring junior engineers.
• Product Management: With experience in database design, implementation, and management, the Senior Database Reliability Engineer may have the opportunity to transition into a product management role, focusing on database products and services.
• Architecture & Design: The Senior Database Reliability Engineer can specialize in database architecture and design, becoming a subject matter expert and driving best practices across the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: HALA's growth opportunities for the Senior Database Reliability Engineer focus on technical leadership, product management, and architecture and design. The company's commitment to employee development and career progression provides a clear path for professional growth and advancement.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: HALA's work environment is a hybrid setup, with both on-site and remote work options available. The company's offices are designed to be collaborative, innovative, and engaging, with a focus on fostering creativity and productivity.

Office Location(s): HALA has offices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Dubai, UAE; and Cairo, Egypt. The company also supports remote work for employees who prefer to work from home or other locations.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Workspace: HALA's offices are designed to encourage collaboration and interaction between team members, with open-plan workspaces, meeting rooms, and breakout areas.
• Technical Workspace: The database team has access to the latest tools, technologies, and resources to ensure efficient and effective database management, including virtual machines, containers, and cloud-based services.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: The database team works closely with other teams, including software development, DevOps, and IT infrastructure, to ensure seamless integration and delivery of database solutions.

Work Schedule: HALA offers flexible work arrangements, with remote, in-office, and hybrid work setups available. The company's standard workweek is 40 hours, with flexible working hours to accommodate maintenance windows and project deadlines.

📝 Enhancement Note: HALA's work environment is designed to be collaborative, innovative, and engaging, with a focus on fostering creativity and productivity. The company's commitment to flexible work arrangements and employee well-being ensures a positive and supportive work environment for all team members.

📄 Application & Technical Interview Process

Interview Process:

1. Technical Screening: A phone or video call to assess your technical skills and experience in database administration, engineering, and reliability.
2. Technical Deep Dive: An in-depth technical interview focusing on your expertise in database design, implementation, and management. This may include system design exercises, performance optimization challenges, and incident response scenarios.
3. Behavioral & Cultural Fit: A conversation to evaluate your cultural fit with HALA, focusing on your problem-solving skills, communication, and collaboration abilities.
4. Final Decision: A final review of your application and interview performance to determine your suitability for the role.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Highlight your experience in designing, implementing, and managing large-scale database systems.
• Showcase your ability to automate database operational tasks and improve efficiency through scripting and IaC tools.
• Demonstrate your expertise in database performance tuning, query optimization, and capacity planning.
• Include examples of your work in ensuring database security and protecting data integrity.

Technical Challenge Preparation:

• Brush up on your knowledge of database design principles, schema normalization, and indexing strategies.
• Familiarize yourself with database performance tuning techniques, query optimization, and capacity planning.
• Review your experience with incident management, post-mortems, and long-term remediation strategies.
• Prepare for questions on database security best practices, access controls, and encryption.

ATS Keywords: [Database Administration, Database Engineering, Database Reliability, Infrastructure as Code, IaC, Scripting, Performance Tuning, Query Optimization, Capacity Planning, Incident Management, Database Security, Cloud-Based Databases, Containerization, Agile Methodologies, DevOps, Fintech]

📝 Enhancement Note: HALA's interview process focuses on assessing the candidate's technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and cultural fit with the company. The company values innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning, and seeks candidates who align with these core values.

🛠 Technology Stack & Web Infrastructure

Database Technologies:

• Relational Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle Database
• NoSQL Databases: MongoDB, Cassandra, Redis, Amazon DynamoDB
• Cloud-Based Databases: AWS RDS, Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon Redshift

Infrastructure & Automation Tools:

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation
• Containerization: Docker, Kubernetes, Amazon ECS
• Cloud Platforms: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform
• Monitoring & Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, Dynatrace, New Relic
• CI/CD Pipelines: Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, CircleCI
• Version Control: Git, GitHub, GitLab
• Scripting Languages: Python, Bash, PowerShell, Go

Programming Languages:

• Backend: Java, Python, Node.js, Go, C#, PHP
• Frontend: JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Angular, Vue.js

📝 Enhancement Note: HALA's technology stack includes a wide range of database technologies, infrastructure tools, and programming languages. The company values experience and proficiency with these tools and encourages continuous learning and development to stay up-to-date with emerging technologies and best practices.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Database Team Values:

• Innovation: Embrace new technologies and approaches to improve database design, implementation, and management.
• Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure database solutions meet business requirements and user needs.
• Reliability: Focus on high availability, scalability, and resilience to ensure database systems perform consistently and reliably.
• Security: Prioritize data integrity and protection by defining and enforcing database security best practices.
• Continuous Learning: Stay up-to-date with emerging technologies, industry best practices, and continuous improvement.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: The database team works closely with software development, DevOps, and IT infrastructure teams to integrate database solutions into HALA's products and services.
• Code Review & Pair Programming: The team emphasizes code review and pair programming practices to ensure knowledge sharing, quality, and consistency.
• Mentoring & Knowledge Sharing: The database team encourages mentoring and knowledge sharing, with a focus on driving continuous learning and improvement.

📝 Enhancement Note: HALA's database team values innovation, collaboration, reliability, security, and continuous learning. The team's commitment to knowledge sharing, mentoring, and cross-functional collaboration fosters a dynamic and engaging work environment for all team members.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Technical Challenges:

• Database Design & Architecture: Design and implement highly available, scalable, and resilient database systems that meet business requirements and user needs.
• Performance Optimization: Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks through query optimization, indexing, and infrastructure scaling.
• Incident Management: Act as the primary point of escalation for complex database incidents, leading post-mortems and driving long-term remediation strategies.
• Database Security: Define and enforce database security best practices, ensuring data integrity and protection in a dynamic and evolving threat landscape.
• Emerging Technologies: Stay up-to-date with emerging technologies, industry best practices, and continuous improvement in the database management and administration field.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Technical Skill Development: HALA encourages continuous learning and development, with regular training, workshops, and conferences to help employees stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and best practices.
• Career Progression: The company offers clear paths for career progression, with opportunities for technical leadership, product management, and architecture and design specializations.
• Mentorship & Coaching: HALA provides mentorship and coaching opportunities to help employees grow both personally and professionally, with a focus on driving long-term success and career satisfaction.

📝 Enhancement Note: HALA's technical challenges and learning opportunities focus on driving innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement in the database management and administration field. The company's commitment to employee development and career progression ensures a dynamic and engaging work environment for all team members.

💡 Interview Preparation

Technical Questions:

• Database Design & Architecture: Describe your approach to designing and implementing highly available, scalable, and resilient database systems. How do you ensure that database solutions meet business requirements and user needs?
• Performance Optimization: How do you identify and resolve performance bottlenecks in database systems? What techniques do you use for query optimization and infrastructure scaling?
• Incident Management: How do you approach complex database incidents? Describe your incident management strategy, including post-mortems and long-term remediation.
• Database Security: How do you ensure data integrity and protection in a dynamic and evolving threat landscape? What are your strategies for defining and enforcing database security best practices?

Company & Culture Questions:

• Company Culture: How do you align with HALA's company culture and values? Describe your approach to innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Team Dynamics: How do you work effectively in a cross-functional team environment? Describe your experience with code review, pair programming, and knowledge sharing practices.
• Career Growth: How do you see your career developing at HALA? What are your long-term goals, and how do you plan to achieve them?

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Database Design & Architecture: Highlight your experience in designing and implementing large-scale, high-throughput database systems. Showcase your ability to automate database operational tasks and improve efficiency through scripting and IaC tools.
• Performance Optimization: Demonstrate your expertise in database performance tuning, query optimization, and capacity planning. Include examples of your work in identifying and resolving performance bottlenecks.
• Incident Management: Describe your approach to incident management, post-mortems, and long-term remediation. Include examples of your work in leading complex database incidents and driving long-term remediation strategies.
• Database Security: Showcase your experience in defining and enforcing database security best practices. Include examples of your work in ensuring data integrity and protection in a dynamic and evolving threat landscape.

📝 Enhancement Note: HALA's interview process focuses on assessing the candidate's technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and cultural fit with the company. The company values innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning, and seeks candidates who align with these core values.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Database Reliability Engineer position at HALA:

1. Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your experience in database administration, engineering, and reliability, with a focus on managing large-scale, high-throughput production database environments. Include relevant keywords and skills, such as infrastructure as code (IaC), scripting, and database monitoring and observability.
2. Prepare Your Portfolio: Showcase your experience in designing, implementing, and managing large-scale database systems. Include examples of your work in automating database operational tasks, performance tuning, and incident management.
3. Research HALA: Familiarize yourself with HALA's company culture, values, and mission. Understand the company's focus on redefining financial services and empowering SMEs to start, run, and grow their businesses.
4. Prepare for the Interview: Review the interview process and portfolio review tips outlined above. Practice your responses to technical and behavioral questions, and prepare a compelling presentation of your portfolio and career goals.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and web technology industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.

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Content Guidelines (IMPORTANT: Do not include this in the output)

Web Technology-Specific Focus:

• Tailor every section specifically to database administration, engineering, and reliability roles, with a focus on managing large-scale, high-throughput production database environments.
• Include web technology industry terminology, such as infrastructure as code (IaC), scripting, and database monitoring and observability.
• Emphasize database design, implementation, and management principles, as well as performance tuning, query optimization, and capacity planning.
• Address database security best practices, incident management, and long-term remediation strategies.
• Include specific portfolio guidance for database administrators, engineers, and reliability engineers, with a focus on live project demonstrations and user experience considerations.

Quality Standards:

• Ensure no content overlap between sections - each section must contain unique information.
• Only include Enhancement Notes when making significant inferences about technical responsibilities, with specific reasoning based on role level and web technology industry practices.
• Be comprehensive but concise, prioritizing actionable information over descriptive text.
• Strategically distribute web technology and database administration-related keywords throughout all sections naturally.
• Provide realistic salary ranges based on location, experience level, and database administration specialization.

Industry Expertise:

• Include specific database technologies, infrastructure tools, and programming languages relevant to the role.
• Address database architecture, design, and management principles, as well as performance tuning, query optimization, and capacity planning.
• Provide tactical advice for database portfolio development, live demonstrations, and project case studies.
• Include database security best practices, incident management, and long-term remediation strategies.
• Emphasize continuous learning, innovation, and collaboration in the database administration and engineering field.

Professional Standards:

• Maintain consistent formatting, spacing, and professional tone throughout.
• Use web technology and database administration industry terminology appropriately and accurately.
• Include comprehensive benefits and growth opportunities relevant to database administrators, engineers, and reliability engineers.
• Provide actionable insights that give database professionals a competitive advantage.
• Focus on database team culture, cross-functional collaboration, and user impact measurement.

Technical Focus & Portfolio Emphasis:

• Emphasize database design, implementation, and management principles, as well as performance tuning, query optimization, and capacity planning.
• Include specific portfolio requirements tailored to the database administration and engineering discipline and role level.
• Address database security best practices, incident management, and long-term remediation strategies.
• Focus on problem-solving methods, performance optimization, and scalable database architecture.
• Include technical presentation skills and stakeholder communication for database projects.

Avoid:

• Generic business jargon not relevant to database administration, engineering, or reliability roles.
• Placeholder text or incomplete sections.
• Repetitive content across different sections.
• Non-technical terminology unless relevant to the specific database administration role.
• Marketing language unrelated to database design, implementation, and management.

Generate comprehensive, web technology-focused content that serves as a valuable resource for database administrators, engineers, and reliability professionals seeking their next opportunity and preparing for technical interviews in the database management and administration field.