Senior DBA / Database Architect (North America)

About the Position

Senior DBA / Database Architect (North America)

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About the Company

Lateral stands for technology excellence.

We’re a profitable, award-winning design and technology company with over 20 years of experience launching bold ventures and transforming businesses. A globally distributed team of 200+ experts united by a shared purpose: the continuous pursuit of quality.

Our clients come to us for results, quality, and craft - and stay because we keep raising the bar.

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We Do Things Differently at Lateral

Our mission is simple: design and build great products. What sets us apart isn’t just the talent of our team - it’s the way we work:

• We Have A Bias For Action & Results.
• We Work On Time, On Budget, On Quality
• We Care Deeply.
• We Do Things Right - Because It’s the Right Thing to Do
• We Keep Improving
• We’re Obsessed With Agility, Not The Agile Manifesto
• We Take Ownership

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Responsibilities

As a Senior DBA & Database Architect at Lateral, you will:

• Design and optimize real-time databases and data systems to meet evolving client, product, and business needs - with a focus on performance, quality, and scalability.
• Tune, productionize, and optimize data systems and machine learning models to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency.
• Take ownership of features end-to-end, from initial concept through deployment. You’ll often drive substantial product features as the key developer alongside an architect, backend developer, or analyst.
• Mentor and support junior engineers, leading by example in design reviews and pair programming. You will offer constructive feedback that helps others grow, fostering a thoughtful, kind, and continuously learning team culture.
• Provide technical leadership in architecture and design discussions, advocating for simple, elegant solutions. You’ll challenge unnecessary complexity and focus on pragmatic results.
• Continuously refine systems balancing new development with technical debt management to keep solutions stable and adaptable.
• Champion best practices in quality, security, and operations, including CI/CD, monitoring, and privacy compliance.

Example Projects You May Join:

• Build an AI-powered healthcare platform to help detect diseases earlier.
• Launch a new fintech product from the ground up.
• Scale a global SaaS commerce system with millions of products.

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Requirements

We are seeking team members who are both highly technical and deeply care about their craft and how the work gets done. You must bring:

• 7+ years experience in database engineering or administration
• Deep expertise in SQL, relational databases, data modeling, and transactional design
• Hands-on experience with ETL pipelines and data warehouses, optimizing data flows across systems
• Proven ability to design efficient schemas and tune queries for high-scale, high-volume environments
• A quality mindset: unit tests, integration tests, automation, defensive programming
• Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills with a hands-on, proactive attitude
• Ability to Design before you code-express decisions through clear diagrams, validate assumptions early, and think through edge cases and trade-offs.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.
• A commitment to making a difference, continuous learning, and collaboration

Bonus points for:

• Proven leadership in data architecture across multiple projects or business domains
• Deep understanding of database internals and how data systems work under the hood
• Experience with large-scale systems or high-volume datasets, with a focus on performance and scalability
• Clear, structured communication and excellence in design documentation

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We Offer

• Real Impact: You’ll work on meaningful products that make a measurable difference - from healthcare and commerce to sustainability and next-gen tech.
• Remote-First, Office Friendly: Work from wherever you’re most productive - whether that’s your home, a co-working space, or one of our offices. We’re a remote-first company, but if you’re near an office, you’re welcome to drop in, collaborate in person, or work onsite regularly. We prioritize async collaboration, respect your time zone, and focus on outcomes over hours.
• An Outstanding Team: Talented, kind, and hard-working people who care deeply about their craft - and about each other. No egos. No politics. Just professionals doing their best work.
• Growth: You’ll be supported in growing your craft, exploring new paths, and stepping into greater responsibility - at your own pace.
• A Culture of Excellence: We care deeply about doing the right thing - for our clients, our team, and ourselves. No burnout. No crunch. Just high-quality work, delivered sustainably.
• Variety & Stability: We’re profitable, independent, and over a decade strong. Yet every project brings a fresh challenge. You’ll never be bored here.

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This Role Might Not Be for You

We want to respect your time by being clear about what this role isn’t. You should skip this opportunity if:

• You prefer well defined structure. If you gravitate towards a clear hierarchy, well defined roles and swim lanes, you may find our self-managed style challenging.
• Distributed work isn’t your thing. If you find async communication, design documentation, and being proactive without a manager nearby difficult, our setup won’t suit you.
• Feedback doesn't excite you. We’re obsessed with quality and believe in continuous improvement. That means we give feedback that’s sometimes nitpicky. If refining the work until it’s excellent feels over the top, you are likely going to find working here frustrating.
• Change makes you uncomfortable. We’re scaling and maturing. That means not everything is perfect yet. Priorities shift. Processes evolve. If ambiguity is uncomfortable, this may feel bumpy.

However, If this sounds like fuel, we’d love to talk!

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How to Apply and What to Expect in the Interview Process

Our hiring process is structured as a sequence of steps. Moving forward is based on how well the previous step goes. This helps us stay focused, fair, and respectful of everyone’s time.

We will always:

• Let you know clearly what the next step is
• Share updates and feedback wherever possible
• Invite questions if anything feels unclear

Not everyone progresses through every stage. That doesn’t mean you’re not great at what you do. Sometimes it’s about timing, team fit, or simply what we’re looking for at the moment.

Step 1: Express Your Interest

If this sounds like your kind of team and you’re ready to bring your craft to Lateral, we want to hear from you.

Please send us:

• Your resume
• A short note about what excites you about this role
• Links to your work: GitHub/ Code snippets, portfolio, architecture /design docs, blog posts, or anything that shows us how you think and build Please don’t include anything sensitive or proprietary. If you’re sharing team projects, let us know what your specific contributions were.

We review every application with care. If there’s a fit, we’ll reach out to schedule next steps.

Step 2: Talent Partner Conversation

Purpose: A structured discussion with our People Experience team to delve into your career trajectory, motivations, and alignment with Lateral's values.

What to Expect:

• In-depth questions about your past experiences and decision-making processes.
• Exploration of your career goals and how they align with the role.
• Discussion about our company culture, availability, compensation, and other logistics.
• Motivators and demotivators.
• Your life outside coding.

Preparation Tips:

• Reflect on your career journey and pivotal moments.
• Be ready to discuss challenges you've overcome and lessons learned.
• Familiarize yourself with the Job Description, Lateral's mission, and values.

Step 3: Technical Interview

Purpose: Assess your technical proficiency and problem-solving abilities.

Format: A collaborative session with our engineering team, focusing on real-world scenarios relevant to the role.

What to Expect:

• Problem-solving exercises/questions that mirror tasks you'd encounter in the position.
• Discussions around your approach, reasoning, and solutions.

Preparation Tips:

• Practice articulating your thought process clearly and concisely.
• Be prepared to discuss in depth past projects and the technologies used.

Step 4: Take Home Assignment

Purpose: Provide a practical demonstration of your skills through a task resembling real work at Lateral.

Format: A take-home assignment or a live session, depending on the role.

What to Expect:

• Tasks designed to reflect actual challenges faced in the position.
• An opportunity to showcase your problem-solving and technical skills.

Preparation Tips:

• Set aside uninterrupted time to focus.
• Explain your decisions and assumptions.

Step 5: Operational Interview

Purpose: Understand your approach to prioritizing, collaborating, shipping, and iterating.

What to Expect:

• How you prioritize and break down work.
• How you collaborate across disciplines.
• How you handle blockers, feedback, and iteration.

Preparation Tips:

• Pick 1-2 meaningful projects you led or heavily contributed to.
• Walk through your process: what worked, what didn’t, what you’d do differently.
• Think about how you manage time, scope, and changing requirements.

Step 6: Reference Checks

Purpose: We believe references are about understanding, not just validation. We do not look for perfection, but to understand patterns, strengths, and context. We use them to learn how to support you best.

What to Expect: we’ll ask you for 2–3 people who’ve worked closely with you. These are often: former managers, senior peers or collaborators, mentors or people you've mentored.

What we ask: We focus on how you’ve grown, where you shine, how you like to be led, and what support sets you up for success. We want practical advice for making this a great fit for you.

Yes, we do backchannels too: We do this when we feel we need more context. We will check with you if there are folks we should avoid reaching out due to confidentiality or other reasons. And here’s our commitment: if anything surprising or unclear comes up in a backchannel, we’ll bring it directly to you. We believe in “no stories without you in the room.” You’ll always get the chance to share your side, context, or clarification.

Step 7: Offer

What Happens: If selected, you'll receive a comprehensive offer detailing compensation, and other pertinent information.

Our hiring process is designed to be thorough yet respectful, ensuring a mutual fit. We encourage candidates to engage actively, ask questions, and view this as a two-way exploration.

Join us and let’s build something extraordinary.