Principal Database Engineer Jobs in Boston, MA (NOW HIRING)

Description

Principal Database Engineer, Oracle Exadata, Multi Database and AI Ready Data Platforms

Locations & Work Arrangement: Remote is not an option, candidates must be willing to commute to one of the following hub locations with a hybrid schedule of 4 days onsite and 1 day remote per week with flexibility in one of the following hubs:

• Phoenix, AZ
• Johnston, RI
• Boston, MA
• Iselin, NJ
• Plano or Irving TX

Position Summary
We are seeking a highly skilled and forward looking Principal Database Engineer with deep ownership of Oracle Exadata engineered systems, enterprise Oracle database platforms, and modern cloud native databases. This role is the senior technical and platform authority responsible for architecture, engineering standards, financial stewardship, and long term evolution of the enterprise database ecosystem across Exadata based on premise platforms, hybrid models, and public cloud environments.
The ideal candidate combines hands on Oracle and Exadata expertise, strong commercial and cost management awareness, and a strategic mindset for enabling analytics, machine learning, and Generative AI at enterprise scale.

Key Responsibilities

Oracle Exadata Platform Ownership and Engineered Systems Leadership
Serve as the primary technical owner and architect for Oracle Exadata environments across database, compute, storage, and networking
Define Exadata platform strategy, operating models, consolidation approaches, workload placement, and growth planning
Lead performance engineering using Smart Scan, Hybrid Columnar Compression, ASM, RAC, IORM, and resource management
Own capacity planning, utilization optimization, and expansion strategies balancing performance, availability, and cost
Design and govern high availability and disaster recovery architectures using RAC, Data Guard, and Maximum Availability Architecture patterns
Establish monitoring, diagnostics, and observability standards for proactive platform health management
Partner with infrastructure teams on lifecycle management including patching, firmware alignment, upgrades, expansion, and decommissioning

Oracle Licensing, Cost Optimization, and Commercial Governance
Act as the technical authority for Oracle licensing strategy aligned to architecture and deployment decisions
Optimize licensing and support costs through processor and core analysis, feature usage governance, and environment right sizing
Partner with finance, procurement, and legal on contract negotiations, renewals, audits, and true up activities
Establish engineering guardrails to prevent licensing risk and cost leakage across on premise and cloud environments
Evaluate deployment alternatives including Exadata Cloud at Customer and hybrid models with detailed cost benefit analysis
Provide executive level insight into total cost of ownership, performance tradeoffs, and long term platform sustainability

Database Architecture, Engineering, and Operations
Serve as enterprise technical authority for Oracle and multi database platforms
Administer and optimize Oracle databases including tuning, backup, recovery, security, and lifecycle management
Provide expert guidance for MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and other relational and NoSQL platforms
Design and review complex SQL, schemas, and access patterns supporting mission critical applications and analytics
Define resiliency, scaling, and data protection architectures aligned to business RTO and RPO requirements

Cloud and Hybrid Data Platforms
Architect and support cloud database services primarily on AWS and Azure
Lead database modernization and hybrid integration between Exadata and cloud platforms
Establish standards for cloud database performance, cost optimization, security, and reliability
Partner with cloud, infrastructure, and SRE teams on automation, observability, and reliability engineering

AI, Analytics, and Data Enablement
Architect databases supporting advanced analytics, machine learning, and Generative AI workloads
Enable AI ready data performance including high throughput, low latency, and scalable access patterns
Support data integration, replication, and streaming using Kafka, GoldenGate, and cloud native services
Collaborate with data engineering teams on model training, inference, and near real time analytics pipelines

Automation, Governance, and Security
Implement database automation using scripting, DevOps and DataOps practices, and Infrastructure as Code
Enforce data security, privacy, compliance, encryption, access control, and auditing standards
Support responsible data and AI governance including data quality, lineage, and controlled access
Act as senior escalation point for incidents, driving root cause analysis and long term improvements

Technical Leadership and Vendor Management
Provide mentorship and technical leadership to database and platform engineers
Influence architecture, platform roadmaps, and technology selection decisions
Serve as primary technical interface with Oracle and strategic vendors
Evaluate and recommend database technologies, tooling, and vendors aligned to enterprise strategy and financial discipline

Required Qualifications
10 or more years of experience as a Database Engineer or DBA with deep Oracle Exadata expertise
Hands on experience administering and optimizing Oracle databases including RAC, ASM, and Data Guard
Strong understanding of Oracle licensing models, cost drivers, and deployment implications
Experience supporting MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB in enterprise environments
Advanced SQL, query optimization, and database internals expertise
Experience with AWS database services and hybrid integration patterns
Experience with data replication and streaming using Kafka and GoldenGate
Strong analytical, documentation, and stakeholder communication skills

Preferred Qualifications
Experience with Exadata Cloud at Customer or hybrid engineered system architectures
Demonstrated success reducing Oracle licensing and platform costs
Familiarity with analytics, machine learning, or AI data platforms
Experience with DevOps, DataOps, automation, and Infrastructure as Code
AWS certifications including Database Specialty or Solutions Architect
Experience working in regulated industries

Why This Role
This is a hands on Principal level role with full ownership of Oracle Exadata platforms including architecture, operational excellence, licensing governance, and vendor strategy. The role directly influences how the enterprise balances performance, cost, risk, and innovation while enabling analytics and AI at scale.

Pay Transparency

The salary range for this position is $122,000-180,000 per year, plus an opportunity to earn an annual discretionary bonus. Actual pay is based on various factors including but not limited to the work location, and relevant skills and experience.  

We offer competitive pay, comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, maternity/paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs and more. Note, Citizens' paid time off policy exceeds the mandatory, paid sick or paid time-away policy of very local and state jurisdiction in the United States. For an overview of our benefits, visit https://jobs.citizensbank.com/benefits.

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Some job boards have started using jobseeker-reported data to estimate salary ranges for roles. If you apply and qualify for this role, a recruiter will discuss accurate pay guidance.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, victim of domestic violence, family status/parenthood, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague's or a dependent's reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.