Staff Database Engineer- AWS/Azure

Founded by experienced entrepreneurs and engineers in 2016, Pismo is a technology company that provides a comprehensive processing platform for banking, card issuing and financial market infrastructure and helps customers innovate and build the next generation of banking and payment solutions. Pismo joined Visa in 2024.

Leveraging Visa’s solutions, our core platform, and an expanding suite of capabilities, Pismo addresses the technological challenges that large banks, marketplaces, and fintech companies face in migrating from legacy systems to more advanced technology in the market. Pismo’s cloud-based platform empowers firms to build and launch financial products rapidly, scaling as they grow to have a broader audience while keeping high security and availability standards.

Pismo’s 500+ employees are located in more than 10 countries around the world.

We are looking for a Staff Database Engineer to join our global Database Engineering team. In this role, you will operate and evolve cloud-based production database environments, with deep hands-on responsibility across AWS and Azure, while helping expand our multi-cloud capabilities over time.

At Pismo, databases sit at the core of mission-critical financial systems that power global banking and payments. This role is for an engineer who wants real ownership- owning systems in production, automating at scale, and ensuring reliability in environments where availability and data integrity are non-negotiable. This is not a siloed DBA role, but a hands-on database engineering position where you design, operate, and continuously improve the systems you support.

Key Responsibilities

Database Engineering & Production Operations

• Own and operate production database environments, ensuring high availability, performance, and security
• Manage, administer, and optimize Aurora MySQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, and DynamoDB
• Monitor database health, identify risks, and troubleshoot incidents in live environments
• Implement preventive solutions to improve stability and reduce operational overhead
• Participate in a 24x7 on-call rotation supporting critical financial platforms

Cloud & Automation

• Work in an AWS-first environment, while contributing experience across Azure and/or GCP
• Collaborate closely with DevOps and Platform teams on infrastructure as code using Terraform
• Build, maintain, and improve CI/CD pipelines for database and infrastructure automation
• Drive a strong automation mindset, reducing manual effort and increasing system autonomy

Reliability, Scale & Delivery

• Support capacity planning, performance tuning, and scaling initiatives
• Design and execute backup, recovery, and disaster recovery testing
• Engage cross-functional engineering teams to deliver projects end-to-end
• Strengthen operational processes to support growing client demand and platform scale
• Contribute to the team’s technical maturity by sharing best practices and improving standards

Basic Qualifications:
5+ years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 2 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 0 years of work experience with a PhD, OR 8+ years of relevant work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

Preferred Qualifications:

• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience as a Database Administrator (DBA) or in a similar database engineering or operations role
• Strong experience working in cloud environments, with hands-on responsibility across AWS and Azure, including provisioning, day-to-day operations, and best practices
• Proven expertise in managing and administering Aurora MySQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, and DynamoDB in production environments
• Solid understanding of AWS cloud services and features relevant to database performance, availability, and security
• Good knowledge and practical experience with Terraform and infrastructure as code
• Familiarity with DevOps principles and practices, including collaboration with platform and CI/CD teams
• Strong sense of trustworthiness, discipline, and ability to work effectively in a global, remote team with minimal supervision

Additional Skills (Nice to Have):

• Knowledge of shell scripting for automation and operational tasks
• Experience with CockroachDB or other distributed / sharded database technologies
• Experience with YAML-based configuration or pipeline development
• Exposure to additional cloud platforms (such as GCP) or multi-cloud environments is a plus

Work Hours: Varies upon the needs of the department.

Travel Requirements: This position requires travel 5-10% of the time.

Mental/Physical Requirements: This position will be performed in an office setting.  The position will require the incumbent to sit and stand at a desk, communicate in person and by telephone, frequently operate standard office equipment, such as telephones and computers.

Visa is an EEO Employer.  Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.  Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.

Visa will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable local law, including the requirements of Article 49 of the San Francisco Police Code.

U.S. APPLICANTS ONLY: The estimated salary range for this position is 131,600.00 to 210,300.00 USD per year, which may include potential sales incentive payments (if applicable). Salary may vary depending on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this position may be eligible for bonus and equity. Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position may be eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401 (k), FSA/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, and Wellness Program.