Quizlet · 1 week ago
Staff Platform Engineer – Database Systems
San Francisco, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$196K/yr - $268K/yr
5+ years expQuizlet is a leading learning platform on a mission to help every learner achieve their outcomes effectively. They are seeking a Staff Platform Engineer – Database Systems to join their Platform Engineering team, where the main responsibilities include optimizing database performance, implementing infrastructure automation, and ensuring system resilience.
E-LearningEdTechEducationInternetKnowledge Management
Responsibilities
Develop, test, and implement infrastructure automation and tooling to maintain 99.95% availability under peak load
Build self-healing capabilities, optimize resource utilization across Kubernetes clusters (GKE), and contribute to platform-wide resilience initiatives
Serve as the team’s database expert, diagnosing and resolving performance issues across Cloud Spanner, PlanetScale MySQL, and BigQuery
Conduct query analysis, implement indexing strategies, and optimize connection pooling to maintain sub-100ms p99 latency
Design and implement caching strategies using Memorystore (Redis/Memcached)
Build high-volume connection management systems (in Go or Python) that efficiently handle database and cache access patterns under sustained load
Manage platform infrastructure using Terraform and Kubernetes
Build automation that improves developer velocity, reduces MTTR, and enables safe, self-service infrastructure operations
Design and deploy instrumentation within Datadog for monitoring databases, caches, and platform services
Use post-incident analyses (e.g., Jeli) to reduce operational toil and improve service reliability
Partner with Product Engineering teams to review designs, define SLOs, optimize data access patterns, and ensure new services are resilient and operable before production deployment
Qualification
Required
Strong software engineering foundation — you write production-quality code, design scalable systems, and can reason about distributed systems tradeoffs
5–8 years of hands-on database engineering experience in production environments handling significant scale (thousands of RPS or more)
Deep MySQL expertise (replication, sharding, query optimization, connection management); PlanetScale experience a plus
Multi-database proficiency with Cloud Spanner, Postgres, and/or BigQuery
Production experience with in-memory caches (Redis, Memcached, or Valkey)
Kubernetes (GKE preferred) and Terraform experience for infrastructure as code
Strong coding skills in Python or Go for automation, tooling, and platform services
Hands-on experience with GCP database services (Cloud Spanner, Cloud SQL, Memorystore, BigQuery) and monitoring platforms like Datadog
Strong understanding of backup/recovery, HA patterns, and incident response
Preferred
Experience with Vitess or PlanetScale MySQL
Knowledge of Istio service mesh and database connection management patterns
Experience with data streaming platforms (Kafka, Pub/Sub)
Benefits
20 vacation days that we expect you to take!
Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance (100% employee and 75% dependent PPO, Dental, VSP Choice)
Employer-sponsored 401(k) plan with company match
Access to LinkedIn Learning and other resources to support professional growth
Paid Family Leave, FSA, HSA, Commuter benefits, and Wellness benefits
40 hours of annual paid time off to participate in volunteer programs of choice
Company
Quizlet
Quizlet is a learning platform that uses activities and games to help students practice and master what they’re learning.
201-500 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Quizlet has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (12)
2024 (10)
2023 (7)
2022 (9)
2021 (1)
2020 (8)
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$62MKey Investors
General AtlanticIcon Ventures
2020-05-13Series C· $30M
2018-02-06Series B· $20M
2015-11-23Series A· $12M
Leadership Team
Kurt Beidler
Chief Executive Officer
David Margulius
Board Member and Co-Founder
Recent News
2025-10-31
South Africa Today
2025-09-12
Mark Cuban Foundation
2025-09-09
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