Principal Database Platform Engineer
Job description
Locations: Boston | Atlanta Who We Are Bos*** partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we help clients with total transformation-inspiring complex change, enabling organizations to grow, building competitive advantage, and driving bottom-line impact. To succeed, organizations must blend digital and human capabilities. Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives to spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting along with technology and design, corporate and digital ventures—and business purpose. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, generating results that allow our clients to thrive. What You'll Do Join our Data Platform Engineering portfolio, a global team building and operating the database infrastructure that powers BCG’s data products, analytics, and AI capabilities across Case Teams, Practice Areas, and Business Systems. As a Principal Database Platform Engineer, you will take end-to-end ownership of cloud-native database platforms, with a primary focus on AWS. This is a hands-on senior individual contributor role focused on designing for scale and reliability, driving automation, and setting the platform standards that engineering teams across the firm depend on. This role suits an engineer who has operated at a senior level before – someone who identifies what needs to be built, makes sound technical decisions, and delivers without requiring step-by-step direction. We are looking for a strong cloud database engineer with the curiosity and drive to grow into AI-enabling database infrastructure as BCG’s needs evolve. Platform Engineering & Automation Design and operate cloud-native database platforms on AWS, with a focus on scalability, resilience, and cost efficiency Build automated, self-service capabilities using Infrastructure as Code (Terraform), CI/CD, and Git-based workflows Architecture & Standards Define and implement reusable platform patterns, standards, and guardrails across a multi-cloud environment Act as a technical leader where required, translating business and engineering needs into scalable database platform designs Reliability, Security & Cost Optimization Embed SRE principles including observability, performance tuning, and incident response into day-to-day operations Ensure secure-by-design practices across identity, access management, and data protection Drive cloud cost transparency and optimization through FinOps disciplines, including tagging, attribution, and rightsizing Stakeholder Enablement & Collaboration Partner with architecture, application, and data teams to translate needs into practical platform solutions Provide technical guidance and mentorship to engineers Lead design and architecture reviews aligned to enterprise standards Innovation & Continuous Improvement Evaluate emerging database technologies and lead proofs of concept as BCG’s AI and data needs evolve Support and enable AI and analytics use cases through modern database platform capabilities You’re Good At Communicating clearly – able to translate technical decisions and trade-offs into terms that resonate with non-technical stakeholders Working across global, cross-functional teams and building effective partnerships across disciplines Approaching problems with analytical rigor and a practical engineering mindset Prioritizing and delivering in a fast-moving environment without losing sight of quality or standards What You'll Bring Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field 8 to 10 years of experience in database, platform, or infrastructure engineering Hands-on experience with PostgreSQL and AWS-managed database services – DynamoDB, OpenSearch, or similar – in production environments Experience with Terraform and CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure automation Solid understanding of how databases perform at scale – query performance, indexing, and data distribution Self-directed and hands-on – you own the problem end to end, from design through to delivery Genuine interest in how database platforms are evolving, particularly in the context of AI and analytics Preferred Qualifications Experience across more than one cloud provider – Azure or GCP alongside AWS Familiarity with graph, document, or NoSQL databases – Neptune, DocumentDB, MongoDB, or equivalent Exposure to vector search or pgvector for AI and GenAI workloads Experience with analytics platforms such as Databricks or BigQuery Familiarity with RAG pipelines, embedding stores, or modern AI data architectures Working knowledge of cloud security practices – IAM, least-privilege, data protection Exposure to FinOps, SRE, or enterprise architecture frameworks such as TOGAF Experience mentoring engineers or contributing to architecture reviews Relational database background (MSSQL, Oracle) – useful context, but not the focus of this role Who You'll Work With Enterprise and Solution Architecture teams Data & Analytics platforms – Databricks, BigQuery Application development teams and product owners Cloud, security, and infrastructure teams Managed service providers and technology partners Additional info *** For US locations only *** In the US, we have a compensation transparency approach. Total compensation for this role includes base salary, annual discretionary performance bonus, retirement contribution, and a market leading benefits package described below. The base salary range for this role begins at $143,000 in our lowest cost US region and goes up to $186,330 in our highest cost US region. Your recruiting contact can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process. This is an estimated range, however, specific base salaries within the range depend on various factors such as experience and skill set. It is not common for new BCG employees to be hired at the high-end of the salary range. BCG regularly reviews its ranges to ensure market competitiveness. In addition to your base salary, your total compensation will include a bonus of up to 20% and a generous retirement contribution that starts at 5% and moves to 10% after 2 years. All of our plans provide best in class coverage: Zero dollar ($0) health insurance premiums for BCG employees, spouses, and children Low $10 (USD) copays for trips to the doctor, urgent care visits and prescriptions for generic drugs Dental coverage, including up to $5,000 in orthodontia benefits Vision insurance with coverage for both glasses and contact lenses annually Reimbursement for gym memberships and other fitness activities Fully vested Profit Sharing Retirement Fund contributions made annually, whether you contribute or not, plus the option for employees to make personal contributions to a 401(k) plan Paid Parental Leave and other family benefits such as elective egg freezing, surrogacy, and adoption reimbursement Generous paid time off including 12 holidays per year, an annual office closure between Christmas and New Years, and 15 vacation days per year (earned at 1.25 days per month) Paid sick time on an as needed basis Bos*** is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity / expression, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under national, provincial, or local law, where applicable, and those with criminal histories will be considered in a manner consistent with applicable state and local laws.