Database Engineer (Search Platform)

Do work that matters. At AlertMedia, everything we do supports our mission: To save lives and minimize loss by identifying active threats globally and facilitating timely communications when an emergency threatens personal safety and business continuity.  Our core values drive us in our important mission of keeping people safe & informed: We’re humans not robots Customers always come first We work better together Simplicity is our strength Our reputation is priceless Hard work pays off As one of the fastest growing software companies in the nation, we’re focused on finding the best talent and building the best team to continue accelerating our rapid growth to keep up with our demand. AlertMedia is looking for an experienced Database Engineer (Search Platform) with deep expertise in Elasticsearch at scale, relational databases (Postgres/MySQL), and modern search architectures including vector search, semantic search, hybrid search, and ranking strategies such as Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF). This is a hands-on role focused on designing, operating, and evolving the data stores and search infrastructure that power AlertMedia’s real-time risk intelligence platform. You will play a critical role in how we index, query, rank, and retrieve signals across large-scale structured and unstructured datasets. We’re looking for someone who has built and operated production-grade search and database systems, understands distributed systems tradeoffs, and is comfortable owning complex data infrastructure end to end. We want you to shine by showing us real systems you’ve designed, clusters you’ve scaled, search architectures you’ve improved, and performance problems you’ve solved. We don’t do trick questions or whiteboard exercises. Who you are: You are a pragmatic database engineer who thrives in a collaborative environment and enjoys working on systems that operate at scale in the real world. You have significant experience designing, tuning, and operating Elasticsearch clusters in production, including large datasets, high ingest rates, and low-latency search requirements. You understand shard allocation, index lifecycle management, query optimization, cluster scaling, replication, and performance tuning. You also have strong experience with relational databases like Postgres or MySQL, including schema design, indexing strategies, query planning, and operational best practices. You care deeply about: Building resilient, observable, and scalable data infrastructure Search relevance, performance, and correctness Data modeling and storage design Operational excellence and production reliability Clean, maintainable infrastructure and automation You are comfortable working in Python and SQL, have experience with AWS infrastructure, and enjoy improving systems continuously. What you get to every day:   Design, scale, and operate Elasticsearch clusters supporting large-scale ingest and low-latency query workloads Architect and optimize hybrid search systems, combining keyword search (BM25) with vector/semantic retrieval Implement and tune vector search, semantic search pipelines, and ranking strategies (e.g., RRF, rescoring, custom ranking logic) Improve indexing strategies, shard design, mappings, analyzers, and query performance Design and maintain relational database systems (Postgres/MySQL) supporting application and data workloads Partner with data engineering teams to ensure ingestion pipelines are optimized for search and database performance Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize cluster health, capacity planning, scaling strategies, and cost efficiency Improve observability, alerting, backup/restore, disaster recovery, and operational best practices Contribute to architecture decisions around storage, indexing, retrieval, and relevance Operate in an Agile environment using tools like Git, JIRA, Jenkins, and Slack Help shape AlertMedia’s long-term data platform and search strategy Contribute to AlertMedia’s culture, values, and long-term technical vision What you bring to the role: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (preferred) 5+ years of experience in database engineering, search engineering, or backend data platform roles Expert level hands-on experience with Elasticsearch at scale (cluster design, tuning, scaling, and operations) Experience designing and implementing vector search, semantic retrieval, hybrid search, and ranking strategies such as RRF Strong understanding of search relevance concepts (BM25, analyzers, scoring, boosting, rescoring) Solid experience with relational databases such as Postgres or MySQL, including schema design and query optimization Experience with high-throughput ingest systems and indexing pipelines Experience with AWS or other cloud platforms (required) Strong proficiency in Python and SQL Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple pipelines and priorities Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate cross-functionally Ability and desire to work in a fast-paced, technically challenging environment English proficiency (written and oral) is required Nice to Have Broader data engineering experience (data acquisition, ETL, streaming pipelines, Kafka/Kinesis/SQS) Experience with AI/ML pipelines, embeddings generation, or MLOps workflows Experience operating vector databases or ANN systems (FAISS, Milvus, OpenSearch vector, pgvector, etc.) Experience with large-scale data processing frameworks Why you’ll love working at AlertMedia: Competitive Base Salary Annual Company Bonus 100% Employer-Paid Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage Parental Leave Program Christmas Bonus (Aguinaldo) Generous Vacation and Holiday Policy Additional Vacation Bonus Monthly Work-from-Home Stipend All Necessary Equipment Provided: Laptop, monitor and accessories Recognition & Rewards: We celebrate wins big and small Language Immersion Program with employees spread out across the globe (English, Spanish, etc...depending on your interest) Continuous Learning & Growth: From mentorship and tech talks to personalized 1:1 career development sessions, we’re deeply committed to investing in your professional journey Award Winning Culture: We're proud to be recognized as a BEST WORKPLACE FOR 10 YEARS IN A ROW The Work & People: We’re passionate about the meaningful work we do—and even more grateful for the incredible people we get to do it with! About AlertMedia: AlertMedia helps organizations protect their people and businesses through all phases of an emergency. Our award-winning threat intelligence, emergency communication, and travel risk management solutions help companies of all sizes identify, respond to, and recover from critical events faster and more confidently. AlertMedia supports essential communication for thousands of leading businesses—including JetBlue, Coca-Cola Bottling, and Walmart—in more than 150 countries. We are an equal opportunity employer focused on creating a collaborative and exciting place for all to work. Ensuring a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace for all people is key to our success and core to our values. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. This is an amazing opportunity to be part of our wave of momentum and take our company, and your career, to the next growth stage. We'd love to get to know you better and share how we serve our amazing customers. For more information, please visit www.alertmedia.com. Come join us in our mission to save lives and minimize loss through effective communication. Please note: AlertMedia does not sponsor applicants for work visas. By applying for the role, you agree that Alert Media will use your Personal Information in connection with the recruitment process and in accordance with our Privacy Policy – https://www.alertmedia.com/legal/privacy-policy/