Sr. Database Reliability Engineer II

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience

8+ years of professional software engineering experience

Strong experience building backend applications using Java, C#, Go, Python, Kotlin, Scala, or similar modern programming languages

Expert-level experience with MySQL in large-scale production environments

Deep understanding of: SQL optimization Query execution plans Indexing strategies Transactions and isolation levels Locking and concurrency Schema design and normalization Replication and high availability

SQL optimization

Query execution plans

Indexing strategies

Transactions and isolation levels

Locking and concurrency

Schema design and normalization

Replication and high availability

Experience designing scalable database schemas for high-volume transactional applications

Experience troubleshooting complex application and database performance issues

Experience implementing database migration strategies supporting continuous delivery

Strong understanding of software architecture, distributed systems, and engineering best practices

Experience leading technical initiatives and influencing architectural decisions across engineering teams

Excellent collaboration and communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to engineers and cross-functional stakeholders

Passion for improving developer productivity by building automation, developer tooling, database testing frameworks, performance benchmarking harnesses, and engineering best practices.

Experience building and operating applications on Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Experience with Cloud SQL for MySQL

Experience using Google Cloud services such as Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, Pub/Sub, Cloud Storage, Secret Manager, Cloud Build, or Cloud Deploy

Experience supporting financial services, trading platforms, or other high-throughput transactional systems

Experience working in startup or high-growth engineering environments where engineers owned both application development and database performance

Experience improving developer productivity through tooling and automation

Experience designing highly available, fault-tolerant distributed systems

Experience implementing observability solutions, performance monitoring, and database telemetry

Experience leveraging AI/ML tools or technologies to improve software development, operational efficiency, or engineering productivity

Compensation:

The salary range for this role will be $130,000.00 - $180,000.00 USD. In addition, this position will also receive an annual target bonus of 10%. Bonus pay at NinjaTrader is based on individual performance (50%) as well as company/team performance (50%).

Salary and bonus earnings are only two components of the total compensation package offered by NinjaTrader. NinjaTrader offers a 401K plan through ADP under which the company will match up to 3.5% of employee contributions. Annual paid time off allowance accrues at a rate of 18 days per year plus seven paid holidays.

All offered compensation will be based on assessed experience and is subject to change at the offer stage.

Location:

This role is based in Chicago, IL. *There may be remote flexibility for exceptional candidates in the following states: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, Wisconsin.

Hybrid:

For Chicago-based employees, we follow a hybrid work schedule: In-office Tuesday through Thursday, with remote work on Mondays and Fridays. In addition to these weekly remote days, we offer:

20 additional flex remote days annually

5 Company Wide Office-Optional weeks tied to major holidays

Our Core Benefits Include:

Generous PTO

7 Paid Holidays Annually + 5 Conditional Holidays Annually

1 Service Day Annually

401k with 3.5% Company Match

Paid Parental Bonding Leave

Health, Vision, Dental Coverage

Life and Disability Insurance Covered 100% by NinjaTrader

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.