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 settings, 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 DevOps 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

📌 Principal Data Engineer Kochi
🏢 Gadgeon Smart Systems
📍 Kochi