DigitalOcean is hiring a Staff Customer Success Engineer

DigitalOcean is hiring a Staff Customer Success Engineer to serve as the ultimate technical authority for complex customer challenges. You will leverage deep database expertise and cloud infrastructure knowledge to drive customer success, retention, and expansion. This role bridges deep support expertise and solutions architecture, supporting sophisticated cloud infrastructure solutions while maintaining a customer-first mentality.

What You'll Do

• Serve as the ultimate escalation point for complex, business-critical database and cloud infrastructure issues, coordinating cross-functional responses.
• Architect enterprise-grade database solutions for customers operating large-scale workloads, including high-availability clusters and hybrid/multi-cloud deployments.
• Lead hands-on support for database and cloud infrastructure issues across MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB, Kafka and OpenSearch.
• Act as a trusted technical advisor to largest customers and strategic partners, building deep relationships with their technical teams.
• Analyze customer database and cloud architectures to identify performance bottlenecks, optimize configurations, and ensure best practices.
• Build detailed infrastructure diagrams and explain architectural decisions clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Partner with Technical Account Managers, Solution Architects and Sales team to identify customer needs, define success plans, and ensure smooth migrations.
• Conduct hands-on technical workshops, troubleshooting sessions, and proofs-of-concept, guiding customers through complex cloud and database challenges.
• Prepare and document Database best practices to be used by customers during and post-migration.
• Advocate for customer feedback to inform the development of new Database-related features and platform enhancements.
• Mentor and develop IC1-IC3 engineers through structured coaching, technical reviews, pair troubleshooting sessions, and career development guidance.
• Design and implement support frameworks including escalation workflows, troubleshooting methodologies, automation tools, and operational best practices.
• Create authoritative technical documentation including architectural reference guides, troubleshooting runbooks, customer-facing solution guides, and internal training curricula.
• Lead critical incident response for platform-wide or high-impact customer issues, coordinating cross-functional war rooms and ensuring timely resolution.
• Represent the Support organization in cross-functional initiatives, product design reviews, and strategic planning sessions.

What We're Looking For

• Extensive professional experience in cloud infrastructure and database support, with a track record of resolving complex production issues in high-scale environments.
• Demonstrated expertise supporting mission-critical workloads across PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, and familiarity with Kafka and OpenSearch in cloud-native architectures.
• Strong foundational knowledge of Linux, distributed systems, networking and their application in cloud environments, with ability to troubleshoot across the full stack.
• In-depth understanding of database architecture, including schema design, replication, sharding, backup and restore processes, and performance tuning.
• Proven experience serving in a senior customer-facing technical role, technical consulting, or as a Database expert focusing on complex technical challenges.
• Passionate about delivering exceptional customer experiences and fostering customer success.
• Demonstrated track record of developing effective technical solutions to address customer business challenges.
• 7+ years of experience in software engineering, DevOps, technical support, or solutions engineering roles.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with ability to explain technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences.
• Highly motivated, with a proactive mindset and ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Strong automation mindset, with proven proficiency in programming or scripting languages (e.g., Python, Bash, Go) to streamline database operations.

Nice to Have

• Proven experience contributing to open-source projects, particularly in the database ecosystem or related technologies.
• Advanced knowledge of cloud providers and tools (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform) and experience with multi-cloud or hybrid cloud environments.
• Active participation in Databases or cloud-native communities, including meetups, conferences, or forums.
• Experience creating tools, plugins, or frameworks that enhance Database migrations or operational efficiency.
• Published articles, blogs, or documentation on Database best practices, migration strategies, or cloud-native solutions.
• Hands-on experience with Infrastructure-as-Code tools such as Terraform, Helm, or Ansible.

Technical Stack

• Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB, Kafka, OpenSearch
• Infrastructure: Linux
• Languages & Tools: Python, Bash, Go, Terraform, Helm, Ansible
• Cloud Providers: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform

Team & Environment

This role is part of the Customer Success Engineering team, reporting to the Manager, CSE Support.

Benefits & Compensation

• Compensation range: $110,400 - $138,000
• Reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education
• Access to LinkedIn Learning's 10,000+ courses
• Employee Assistance Program
• Local Employee Meetups
• Flexible time off policy
• Equity grants upon hire
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Bonus eligibility

Work Mode

This is a remote position.

DigitalOcean is an equal-opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic makeup, marital status, or military service.