Lead Database Performance Engineer

Lead - Data Platform Engineering

Company Description

Organizations everywhere struggle under the crushing costs and complexities of “solutions” that promise to simplify their lives. To create a better experience for their customers and employees. To help them grow. Software is a choice that can make or break a business. Create better or worse experiences. Propel or throttle growth. Business software has become a blocker instead of ways to get work done.

There’s another option. Freshworks. With a fresh vision for how the world works.

Freshworks Inc. builds uncomplicated service software that delivers exceptional employee and customer experiences. Our people-first approach to AI eliminates friction, helping businesses reduce complexity, lower cost-to-serve, and deliver faster, more human support through enterprise-grade yet easy-to-use CX and IT solutions. Nearly 75,000 companies, including Bridgestone, New Balance, Nucor, S&P Global, and Sony Music, trust Freshworks to power their Employee Experience (EX) and Customer Experience (CX) operations.

Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us.

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced Lead Engineer specializing in database performance engineering to optimize and scale mission-critical MySQL and PostgreSQL systems. This role focuses on deep query analysis, performance tuning, architecture improvements, and production troubleshooting in high-scale environments.

You will work closely with application teams, SREs, and platform engineers to ensure database reliability, efficiency, and scalability.

• Deep Query Optimization: Analyze complex SQL queries and execution plans to identify inefficiencies. You will be responsible for rewriting queries, suggesting architectural changes, and implementing indexing strategies that drastically reduce latency.
• System Profiling & Bottleneck Analysis: Use advanced profiling tools to diagnose issues related to CPU, I/O, locking contention, and memory pressure.
• Analyze slow or inefficient queries using tools such as EXPLAIN, EXPLAIN ANALYZE, query plans, and performance schema views
• Optimize SQL queries, indexes, schema design, and data access patterns
• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks across application, database, and infrastructure layers
• Tune database configuration parameters for optimal performance under varying workloads
• Conduct capacity planning and performance benchmarking
• Design strategies for scaling databases (sharding, partitioning, replication, read/write splitting)
• Implement monitoring and alerting for database performance metrics
• Troubleshoot production incidents related to database latency, locks, deadlocks, and resource contention
• Collaborate with developers to enforce best practices in query design and ORM usage
• Lead performance reviews for new features and schema changes
• Document performance guidelines and mentor engineering teams

Qualifications

We are seeking an experienced Lead Engineer specializing in Database Performance Engineering to optimize and scale our mission-critical MySQL and PostgreSQL systems. In this highly cross-functional role, you will partner closely with application teams, Site Reliability Engineers (SREs), and platform engineers to ensure absolute database reliability, efficiency, and seamless scalability in a high-throughput environment.

The Impact You Will Create

As a Lead Database Performance Engineer, your work will directly influence the speed, resilience, and scale of our core platforms. You will:

• Drive massive efficiency gains: Drastically reduce system latency and optimize infrastructure utilization through deep query analysis and architectural redesigns.

• Future-proof our scale: Pioneer and implement advanced database scaling strategies (sharding, partitioning) that allow our platforms to effortlessly handle exponential data growth and high-throughput workloads.

• Elevate the engineering culture: Act as the ultimate database authority, mentoring development teams on query best practices, optimal ORM usage, and scalable schema design to prevent performance bottlenecks before they hit production.

• Ensure unshakeable reliability: Eradicate production incidents related to database contention, locks, and latency, ensuring our customers experience a flawless, high-performing product.

Roles & Responsibilities

Deep Query Optimization & Tuning

• Analyze complex SQL queries, execution plans, and performance schema views using tools like EXPLAIN and EXPLAIN ANALYZE.

• Rewrite inefficient queries, optimize indexing strategies, refine schema designs, and improve data access patterns to drastically reduce response times.

• Tune database configuration parameters to ensure optimal performance under highly variable and intensive workloads.

Architecture, Scaling & Capacity Planning

• Design and implement robust strategies for scaling databases, including sharding, partitioning, replication, and read/write splitting.

• Conduct comprehensive capacity planning, performance benchmarking, and stress-testing for upcoming features and architectural shifts.

• Lead performance reviews for all major new features and schema migrations prior to deployment.

System Profiling & Production Troubleshooting

• Utilize advanced profiling tools to diagnose and resolve complex performance bottlenecks related to CPU, I/O, memory pressure, locking contention, and deadlocks.

• Troubleshoot live production incidents spanning the application, database, and infrastructure layers.

• Implement proactive monitoring and alerting strategies tailored to critical database performance metrics.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Mentorship

• Collaborate tightly with developers to enforce best practices in query design and ORM usage.

• Document comprehensive performance guidelines, playbooks, and architectural standards.

• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers, fostering a culture of performance-first engineering.

Additional Information

Required Skills & Qualifications

• 7+ years of hands-on experience working deeply with relational databases, specifically MySQL and PostgreSQL, in high-scale, high-throughput environments.

• Mastery of SQL optimization: Exceptional expertise in query optimization, execution plan analysis, and diagnosing complex bottlenecks.

• Deep architectural knowledge: Profound understanding of indexing strategies, joins, transactions, concurrency control, storage engines, locking behavior, and isolation levels.

• Tooling proficiency: Hands-on experience with industry-standard performance tuning and diagnostic tools (e.g., pt-query-digest, pg_stat_statements).

• Systems-level thinking: Strong grasp of Linux system performance mechanics (CPU, memory, I/O, network) and how they interact with database engines.

• Leadership & execution: Proven ability to troubleshoot critical production issues under pressure, lead cross-functional technical initiatives, and drive consensus among diverse engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing and scaling databases across varied environments (Self-Hosted MySQL/PostgreSQL, AWS RDS/Aurora, GCP Cloud SQL).

• Deep theoretical and practical knowledge of database internals and query optimizer behavior.

• Strong familiarity with distributed systems, microservices architectures, and the role of NoSQL databases in modern tech stacks.

• Proficiency in automation and scripting using languages such as Python or Bash.

• A demonstrable track record of architecting and delivering massive-scale database performance improvements in a fast-paced product company.

At Freshworks, we have fostered an environment that enables everyone to find their true potential, purpose, and passion, welcoming colleagues of all backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and ethnicities. We are committed to providing equal opportunity and believe that diversity in the workplace creates a more vibrant, richer environment that boosts the goals of our employees, communities, and business. Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us.

Experience Level

Senior Level