Senior Database Administrator (Freelancer)

Mactores is the agent-native AWS modernization firm. Most modernization work doesn't ship, it stalls in pilots, slips a year, or lands at three times the budget. We exist to ship it: production systems running, legacy retired, outcomes measured. Our delivery is built on Aedeon, the agent platform built by Mactores' founders' sister company, which absorbs the repetitive 60–70% of engagement work, discovery, dependency mapping, validation, test generation, that traditional consulting bills human hours against. Forward-deployed engineers own the rest: architecture, judgment, and cutover, on dates we commit to in the contract.

Oracle-to-PostgreSQL migrations don't fail at conversion. They fail at go-live DMS latency nobody diagnosed, autovacuum behavior nobody tuned, privilege mappings nobody tested, incidents nobody owns at 2 a.m. This role sits inside our Application & Database Modernization pillar and exists to make sure that doesn't happen. As our Senior Database Administrator, you'll run the Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL environments in an active Oracle-to-PostgreSQL migration program from cluster design through DMS replication through post–go-live stabilization. Aedeon handles the repeatable conversion and validation work; you own what agents can't: production judgment. When replication lags, when a workload misbehaves after cutover, when an incident escalates past L2, you're the person who resolves it and can explain why it happened. This is a freelance engagement, remote, working as the L3 escalation point on production systems that real businesses run on.

What you will do? Design, set up, configure, and manage Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL clusters. Configure parameters, maintenance windows, monitoring, and scaling strategies. Keep the environments highly available, fault tolerant, and operationally ready — before go-live, not after. Map users, roles, and privileges from Oracle to PostgreSQL. Implement least-privilege access, role hierarchies, and security best practices, and support audit and compliance requirements. Configure, run, monitor, and optimize AWS DMS tasks (Full Load and CDC). Troubleshoot DMS latency, data mismatches, and performance issues, and tune DMS settings for large-volume, high-throughput workloads. Tune server and database performance — CPU, memory, I/O, connections — plus PostgreSQL parameters, autovacuum, indexing, and query behavior. Find performance bottlenecks before the customer does, and resolve them. Design and implement backup and restore strategies; define and test DR and failover procedures; support cross-region replication and recovery drills. Lead post–go-live stabilization: monitor production workloads, resolve incidents, and act as the L3 escalation point for database-related production issues. Deliver operational documentation and handover support, so what you stabilized stays stable after you.

What are we looking for? 5+ years of experience administering Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL. Proven expertise supporting Oracle-to-PostgreSQL migrations. Hands-on experience with AWS DMS. Advanced PostgreSQL performance tuning and troubleshooting skills. Strong knowledge of backup, restore, and DR planning in AWS. Experience with AWS monitoring tools (CloudWatch, Performance Insights). Strong problem-solving and root-cause analysis abilities. Experience working in production and post–go-live environments. The ability to work independently as an L3 escalation engineer. Clear communication and documentation skills.

You will be preferred if Familiarity with automation and configuration management tools, such as Ansible, Chef, or Puppet Familiarity with IAAC tools such as Terraform, CloudFormation Familiarity with CI/CD implementation tools like Liquibase/Flyway AWS Certified Database – Specialty AWS Certified Solutions Architect

How we work? We refactor legacy databases to cloud-native AWS on a committed date, with Mactores carrying delivery overage risk for delays we cause. Aedeon absorbs the repetitive majority schema conversion, test generation, regression harnesses. Engineers absorb the judgment: risk tradeoffs, production cutover, post-cutover optimization. You're the judgment layer for this program's production environments. When we tell a customer their database will be stable on a date, your work is what makes that sentence true.

Life at Mactores

We care about creating a culture that makes a real difference in the lives of every Mactorian. Our 10 Core Leadership Principles that honor Decision-making, Leadership, Collaboration, and Curiosity drive how we work.

1. Be one step ahead
2. Deliver the best
3. Be bold
4. Pay attention to the detail
5. Enjoy the challenge
6. Be curious and take action
7. Take leadership
8. Own it
9. Deliver value
10. Be collaborative

We would like you to read more details about the work culture on the Mactores careers page.

The Path to Joining the Mactores Team At Mactores, our recruitment process is structured around three distinct stages:

Pre-Employment Assessment: A series of evaluations of your technical proficiency and suitability for the role.

Managerial Interview: The hiring manager engages with you in multiple discussions, 30 minutes to an hour each, covering technical skills, hands-on experience, leadership potential, and communication.

HR Discussion: During this 30-minute session, you'll have the opportunity to discuss the offer and next steps with a member of the HR team.

Mactores provides equal opportunities in all employment practices. We don't discriminate based on race, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, military status, genetic information, or any other category protected by federal, state, and local laws. This applies to every part of the employment relationship, recruitment, compensation, promotions, transfers, disciplinary action, layoff, training, and social and recreational programs.

Note: Please answer as many questions as possible with this application to accelerate the hiring process.