Senior, Database Engineer, Fixed Term - Toronto - DEPT

WHY DEPT®?

We are pioneers at heart. What this means, is that we are always leaning forward, thinking of what we can create tomorrow that does not exist today. We were born digital and we are a new model of agency, with a deep skillset in tech and marketing. That’s why we hire curious, self-driven, talented people who never stop innovating.

Our culture is big enough to cope and small enough to care. Meaning, that with people across 20+ countries, we’re big enough to provide you with the best tools, global opportunities, and benefits that help you thrive. While acting small by investing in you, your growth, your team, and giving you the autonomy to solve our clients' problems, no matter where you are in the world.

This is a 3 month fixed term salaried contract, located in Ontario Canada. Preferably in Toronto.

The Role:

We're looking for a Senior Database Engineer experienced with MySQL to join a focused remediation program on a long-running production platform serving a global financial news and data client. Your work will center on the database infrastructure’s configuration, system settings, and operational data, hardening it against security vulnerabilities, supporting version upgrades, and ensuring it meets compliance requirements.

The ability to get up to speed quickly in an unfamiliar environment is critical. You'll be working with systems you didn't build, under a defined remediation plan, and expected to deliver with a high degree of autonomy.

What You’ll Do:

• Identify and remediate security vulnerabilities across the MySQL database layer
• Perform database upgrades and apply compliance hardening measures
• Strengthen database security controls across configuration, access, and operational data
• Partner with application and platform teams to manage database dependencies during re-platforming
• Support testing and validation to ensure changes are safe and stable in production
• Document findings, risks, and remediation steps clearly for the wider engineering team

What You Bring:

5+ years of hands-on database experience in production environments with a focus on MySQL.

Proven experience with database security remediation — vulnerability assessment, hardening, and compliance controls

Comfortable performing major database upgrades in live, operational systems with minimal disruption

Ability to navigate unfamiliar database environments, trace issues, and resolve them methodically

Solid understanding of database access controls, configuration security, and operational best practices

Experience working alongside application teams on cross-cutting database dependencies

Strong communicator — able to document risk clearly and flag issues before they escalate