Job Description

We are seeking a Principal Data Engineer with over 10 years of experience. In this high-impact role, you will be responsible for defining and driving the data architecture strategy, guiding technical teams, and ensuring robust, scalable, and secure database systems that support business-critical applications.

You will work autonomously and directly with stakeholders across engineering, infrastructure, and product leadership, influencing decisions related to GCP Cloud SQL, GKE, relational and non-relational databases (including Cassandra and Couchbase), while also managing complex database challenges.

Key Responsibilities:

- Define and lead the overall data architecture strategy across cloud and hybrid environments, in alignment with business and technical goals.
- Collaborate directly with leadership to drive key architectural decisions.
- Provide deep, hands-on expertise in GCP Cloud SQL and containerized database deployment using Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).
- Architect and optimize relational database solutions using PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MS SQL Server.
- Design and implement NoSQL data solutions including Cassandra, Couchbase, and other scalable data stores.
- Lead end-to-end planning and execution of complex data engineering tasks, including schema design, performance tuning, high availability, and disaster recovery.
- Handle and coordinate P1 incident responses, conducting root cause analysis and designing long-term mitigation plans.
- Guide and mentor internal database teams, fostering technical quality and architectural consistency.




- Automate database provisioning, scaling, and maintenance using up-to-date Dev Ops and infrastructure-as-code tools.
- Provide architectural documentation and recommendations for scalability, security, compliance, and cost efficiency.

Skills:

- 10+ years of experience in data engineering and architecture, including hands-on cloud and database infrastructure leadership.
- Proven expertise in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) especially Cloud SQL and GKE.
- Strong hands-on background in relational databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MS SQL Server
- Deep knowledge and implementation experience with NoSQL technologies: Cassandra, Couchbase, [optionally MongoDB, Redis, etc.]
- Experience in independent or consulting roles, capable of working with minimal supervision and maximum ownership.
- Proven ability to manage and resolve high-severity and communicate resolution paths to leadership.
- Strong scripting and automation skills (e.g., Python, Terraform, Bash).
- Familiarity with CI/CD, container orchestration, and observability practices for modern data infrastructure.
- Background in supporting data compliance, governance, and cost optimization in cloud environments.

Why Join Us

- Work with a team that actually values deep security thinking not checkbox compliance.
- Experiment with tools, techniques, and platforms to continuously simulate, validate, and improve.
- Collaborate across teams that respect security as a partner, not a blocker.
- Build scalable security strategies in a growing, tech-driven organization.

Experience

- 10 + Years

📌 Principal Data Engineer (Kochi)
🏢 Gadgeon Smart Systems
📍 Kochi