Senior Database Engineer

thetradedesk

Sydney

Posted Dec 10, 2025

Full-time
Database Engineering

Job description

The Trade Desk is a global technology company and the world’s leading independent platform for digital advertising, with nearly 4,000 employees across more than 30 offices. Our technology helps advertisers reach the right audiences across the open internet — from streaming TV and podcasts to mobile apps, news, and more.

Advertising powers the content people love. By making it more transparent, effective, and responsible, we help support trusted journalism, quality entertainment, and creators worldwide. The world’s brands and agencies rely on us to reach their customers and grow their businesses responsibly.

The scale of our platform brings unique technical challenges — from processing massive datasets in real time to building systems that operate reliably on a global scale. When you work here, your impact is worldwide. We welcome diverse perspectives, encourage curiosity, and build teams that learn from one another. If you’re driven to solve meaningful challenges, we’d love to meet you.

Salary $165k-215k + Super + Equity

WHO WE ARE

The Trade Desk is a global technology company with a mission to create a better Internet for everyone through principled, intelligent advertising.

We handle over 1 trillion queries per day and our platform operates at unprecedented scale.

We’ve also built something even stronger and more valuable: an award‑winning culture based on trust, empathy, collaboration, and ownership. By working together across typical dividing lines, we are better as a team than any of us could be apart.

Do you have a passion for solving challenging problems at scale? Are you eager to join a trust‑based, globally‑connected team where your contributions will make a meaningful difference?

Come and see why The Trade Desk was named to the highly competitive Best Workplaces in Technology

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We are seeking a Senior Database Engineer to work closely with our engineering teams to ensure aligned execution of database‑related activities. You enjoy investigating database problems, performance issues, and evaluating best practices to ensure optimal performance across our platform.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING

Provide day‑to‑day support and maintenance for Microsoft SQL Server 2019/2022 databases for our platform
Perform administration, design, performance analysis, support, proactive monitoring, troubleshooting, recoverability, failover, security, and installation
Troubleshoot challenging performance issues and develop proactive measures and trend analysis
Investigate potential problems and issues raised by users
Monitor database events and continuously optimize system performance through troubleshooting and tuning
Work with engineering teams to automate reactive procedures and promote rapid response to database issues
Perform database code reviews and enforce database best practices
Design and develop proactive tools and measures to optimize performance and support platform scale
Maintain database configurations in alignment with established best practices
Design and implement systems, policies, and procedures for backup and disaster recovery
Monitor ongoing capacity and implement design and architecture changes to improve global availability
Install upgrades and patches to existing database servers
Design and develop database code as needed
Review and establish database migration processes
Participate in on‑call rotations as part of a follow‑the‑sun team

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TABLE

5+ years of Database Administration experience supporting mission‑critical relational databases
Extensive experience and knowledge of MS SQL 2019 or above, along with best practices
Proficiency in performance tuning, optimization, and database internals
Proficiency working in OLTP database environments
Experience with distributed systems (OLTP/DW MPP) is a plus, but not required
Programming experience with C#/.NET is a plus, but not required
Experience configuring and administering MSSQL replication, Availability Groups, and Distributed Availability Groups
AWS database management, OLAP experience, and PostgreSQL experience are pluses
Full systems lifecycle experience from requirements gathering to delivery of database projects
Experience designing, building, installing, configuring, supporting, and maintaining high‑volume, large‑scale database systems
Strong troubleshooting and analytical problem‑solving skills
Experience with database design and management for compliance programs such as SOX or PCI is a plus
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to document complex technical issues
Ability to work effectively in a team environment across time zones, as well as independently with limited supervision

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, The Trade Desk is committed to creating an inclusive hiring experience where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Please reach out to us at accommodations@thetradedesk.com to request an accommodation or discuss any accessibility needs you may require to access our Company Website or navigate any part of the hiring process.

When you contact us, please include your preferred contact details and specify the nature of your accommodation request or questions. Any information you share will be handled confidentially and will not impact our hiring decisions.