Senior Database Engineer, IT

We are seeking a Senior Database Engineer to join our IT team. Your mission is to maximize the availability, reliability, and performance of Blizzard’s database systems and ensure data is protected and recoverable. Our Database Engineers’ primary focus is to collaborate with our developers in the operations and design of all our development and production Cassandra database applications.

Not only does Blizzard have existing AAA titles deployed on Cassandra, but also numerous infrastructure tools which are all backed by an extensive data footprint living within both our private cloud as well as multiple public cloud providers. Our investment in Cassandra is extensive, with additional games and tools being planned for deployment utilizing Cassandra as our primary datastore. If you’d like to play a key role in Blizzard’s success by managing and contributing to one of our most critical technologies, read on to see exactly what kind of candidate we are looking for. We’d love to hear from you!

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Irvine, CA. However, we understand each person’s circumstances may be unique and will work with you to explore other possible options, including remote work arrangements.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and contribute to complex automation for the installation, configuration, backup/restore, and monitoring of Cassandra.

• Background in operating and troubleshooting fault-tolerant distributed systems.

• Manage hybrid and multi-cloud environments for large scale global deployments

• Provide consultation and guidance to development partners on NoSQL best practices.

• Create and document technical strategies and procedures.

• Plan and execute live data migrations and upgrades.

• Evaluate and implement open-source Cassandra tooling (Medusa, Reaper, or others)

• Familiarity with observability solutions such as Prometheus, Kibana, Grafana, Splunk, or Datadog.

• A high level of ownership, collaboration, accountability, and communication skills.

• Ability to self-assess the needs of a system or partner team and advocate solutions.

• Troubleshoot and resolve operational issues on a 24/7 rotation-based on-call support schedule.

Minimum Requirements

• Minimum 5 years of experience with Database Administration/Engineering

• Strong understanding of Cassandra architecture and optimal use cases.

• Utilization of Cassandra in private/public cloud (OpenStack, Azure, GCP, AWS, and Alibaba).

• Experience with configuration management and orchestration tools (Terraform, Ansible, Puppet, Hiera).

• Proficiency in Python and Bash.

• Experience with Linux (Ubuntu/Debian).

• Strong CQL knowledge.

• Experience designing and completing stress tests to validate scale expectations.

Bonus

• Experience with Cassandra 4.1 or 5.0 features.

• Expertise with Redis, Valkey, or Couchbase.

• Familiarity with enterprise support vendors.

• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, or K8ssandra.

• Follows open-source technology trends and industry standards passionately.

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;

• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;

• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;

• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;

• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $101,000.00 - $186,754.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.