---
title: 'Database Platform Engineer at Proton'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/database-platform-engineer-proton-paris-jsn8drag2hw3'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-04'
---

# Database Platform Engineer at Proton

- **Company:** Proton
- **Location:** Paris, France / Geneva, Switzerland
- **Posted:** 2026-07-13
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-04
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/proton/jobs/4926609101

## Job description

Join Proton and build a better internet where privacy is the default

Proton was founded in 2014 by scientists from CERN on a simple truth: privacy is a fundamental human right. Since then, we've built the world's largest encrypted email service (Proton Mail) and expanded into Proton VPN, Proton Drive, Proton Pass, and Proton Calendar — tools used by millions globally to protect their freedom, fight censorship, and keep their data safe. In some situations, Proton has literally helped save lives.

We are profitable, independent (no VC control), and selectively hire from the top ~1% of applicants. Our 700+ team members across 50+ countries come from leading organizations and elite academic backgrounds. We move fast, keep hierarchy light, and prioritize impact over optics. If you want to do meaningful work with exceptionally high-caliber people, this is it. Check our open-source projects [here](https://proton.me/community/open-source).

The Database Platform Team

The Database team owns the backbone of every Proton product — a web-scale fleet of mission-critical MySQL databases serving hundreds of millions of users worldwide. We sit within the Infrastructure department and are responsible for making these databases available, performant, and secure as Proton's product surface keeps expanding. We treat manual toil as a bug: automation is how we scale, not headcount. You'll be joining at a critical phase — we're actively raising our automation ceiling, evaluating distributed database systems, and building the platform that will carry Proton through its next decade of growth. If you want narrow scope and a clean backlog, this isn't the right fit.

Tech Stack and Tools

- Database: MySQL, ProxySQL
- Automation / Config management: Ansible, Puppet
- Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, PMM, Icinga
- OS / Infrastructure: Linux, bare-metal on-premise data centers
- Distributed DB (exploratory): CockroachDB, YugabyteDB

## What You'll Do

- Own the administration and reliability of Proton's web-scale MySQL fleet, accessed via ProxySQL, including participating in a 24/7 on-call rotation
- Design and implement automation that eliminates manual operational toil and measurably improves platform reliability
- Write code and tooling to improve how we manage, monitor, and scale the database platform — treating infrastructure as software
- Own performance tuning across the full stack — hardware, OS, storage, network, and query level — and resolve bottlenecks before they become incidents
- Drive database best practices into product design reviews, providing clear guidance on architecture, data modeling, scalability, and system integration
- Lead the planning and execution of database version upgrades and full stack updates with minimal service disruption
- Shape Proton's long-term database strategy — evaluating emerging technologies like distributed databases and influencing cross-company engineering standards

## Who You Are

- 3+ years of hands-on experience operating highly available MySQL databases at scale in production
- Deep MySQL expertise: replication, query optimization, indexing, schema design, and performance tuning at the OS and application layers
- Solid experience with ProxySQL and Linux in production environments
- Strong automation background — you've meaningfully reduced operational toil through scripting or custom tooling (Python, Go, Bash, or equivalent)
- Comfortable with observability stacks (Prometheus, Grafana, or comparable) and using data to diagnose and resolve complex infrastructure issues
- Experience running databases on bare-metal or on-premise infrastructure (not cloud-managed DB services)

## Nice to Have

- Hands-on experience with distributed databases such as CockroachDB or YugabyteDB
- Experience with Puppet or comparable configuration management systems
- Prior exposure to high-traffic, multi-tenant ProxySQL deployments

## What We Offer

- Work that Matters: Millions of people trust Proton with their privacy. We answer only to our users — not advertisers, not investors with conflicting agendas, not governments.
- A Great Team: Diverse, collaborative, and tight-knit, with people from MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, Cambridge, ETH, and more.
- Technology: The right hardware and software to do your best work.
- Learning & Development: We invest in your growth. Proton is one of the fastest ways to accelerate your career — real challenges, real ownership, from day one.
- Employee Benefits: Strong health coverage, solid retirement options, generous leave, and wellness support.
- Stock Options: From day one, you have a real stake in what we're building. When Proton wins, you win.
- Salary Range: Paris - 50,000€ to 76,000€ - Final compensation will be determined based on the candidate's qualifications, skills, and previous experience.
- In-Person Collaboration: Offices across Geneva, Zürich, Barcelona, London, Paris, and more. You'll spend most of your time collaborating face-to-face, with up to 30% remote flexibility.
- Food: Lunch and snacks on us every day in the office.
- Transport: We cover public transport, bike allowances, or parking — whichever works for you.
- Flexible Working: You own your schedule. Outcomes matter more than clock-in times

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

At Proton, we believe diversity drives innovation and strengthens our mission to provide privacy as a default for all. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where all individuals — regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, physical ability, or socio-economic background — feel valued and empowered.

If you need any extra support or reasonable adjustments during the hiring process, please let your talent partner know.

Candidate Privacy Notice

When you apply for a position at Proton Technologies AG, your information is stored in Greenhouse in accordance with its [Service Privacy Policy](https://www.greenhouse.com/privacy-policy). This information is used to evaluate your suitability for the posted position and may be retained for future roles.

If we no longer have a legitimate business need to process your information, we will either delete or anonymise it. For questions about your data, contact: careers@proton.ch

Proton does not accept unsolicited CVs from any sources other than directly from candidates.

## #LI-ONSITE

## About Proton

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Proton provides a suite of end-to-end encrypted, privacy-first online services including email, VPN, cloud storage, password management, and AI assistant.
- **Entity Type**: Private (owned by the non-profit Proton Foundation, community-funded, profitable with no VC dependency)
- **Headquarters**: Geneva, Switzerland
- **Founded**: 2014
- **Founders**: Scientists from CERN (individual names not listed in provided sources)

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Technology, Information and Internet; online privacy and security services
- Target customers: B2C (individuals, journalists, activists) and B2B (businesses of all sizes, NGOs, public sector)
- Mission or purpose statement: "To make privacy the default for everyone." – also described as defending freedom and building a better internet.

## Products & Services
- **Proton Mail**: End-to-end encrypted email service (SaaS)
- **Proton VPN**: Secure, fast VPN with no-logs policy (SaaS)
- **Proton Calendar**: Encrypted calendar that keeps schedules private (SaaS)
- **Proton Drive**: Encrypted cloud storage with secure file sharing and collaborative Proton Docs (SaaS)
- **Proton Pass**: Password manager with built-in 2FA authenticator, hide-my-email aliases, and secure notes (SaaS)
- **Proton Authenticator**: Free, open-source two-factor authentication app (Mobile/Desktop App)
- **Proton Meet**: Encrypted video call service launched in 2026 (SaaS)
- **Lumo by Proton**: Privacy-respecting AI assistant integrated with the Proton ecosystem (SaaS/API)
- **Proton for Business**: Bundled suite for organizations with admin controls and compliance features (SaaS)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (company is profitable, not VC-funded)
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue of USD 20,000,000 (per LinkedIn); over 100 million user accounts
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Primary shareholder is the non-profit Proton Foundation; key partnerships with CERN and MIT (origins); acquired Standard Notes Ltd. (2024) and SimpleLogin SAS (2022)
- **Growth Signals**: 600+ employees across 8+ offices globally; monthly headcount growth of +1.2%; 118 active job postings; expanding product line (e.g., Proton Meet, Lumo AI); trusted by over 100,000 businesses

## Competitive Advantages
- **Swiss jurisdiction**: Data protected by some of the world’s strongest privacy laws outside of US surveillance reach
- **Zero-access encryption**: Proton cannot technically access user data (end-to-end encryption by default)
- **Open source & audited**: All apps are open source and independently audited for trust and transparency
- **Not ad-driven**: Subscription-based business model with no ads or data selling
- **Non-profit ownership**: Proton Foundation ensures mission before profit
- **Highly selective hiring**: <1% acceptance rate, attracting top global talent

## Strategic Focus
- **Ecosystem expansion**: Integrating all services under a single Proton Account, launching new products (Proton Meet, Proton Docs, Lumo AI)
- **B2B growth**: Scaling Proton for Business with dedicated sales and compliance features
- **Migration from Big Tech**: Tools to easily import from Gmail/Outlook/Google Drive to Proton
- **AI done right**: Developing privacy-respecting AI (Lumo) that does not compromise user data
- **Open source community**: Continued commitment to open source and external audits

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven work**: Impact the privacy and security of over 100 million users, including activists and journalists
- **Culture**: Small, empowered teams with high talent density; real ownership from day one
- **Remote/hybrid/office policy**: Flexible working (outcomes-focused); offices in Geneva, Zurich, Skopje, Taipei, Vilnius, Barcelona, Paris, and Prague; in-person collaboration encouraged (daily lunch and snacks provided)
- **Notable perks**: Stock options for all employees, strong health coverage, generous leave, learning & development investment, public transport/bike allowance, top-of-the-line hardware
- **Engineering culture**: Open-source codebase, modern stack (migrating to TypeScript/GPL3), focus on product engineering and impact

## Sources
1. [proton.me](https://proton.me/)
2. [LinkedIn Company Profile](https://ch.linkedin.com/company/protonprivacy)
3. [Greenhouse Job Board](https://job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/proton)
4. [Greenhouse Job Application (Frontend Engineer)](https://job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/proton/jobs/4857528101)
5. [Levels.fyi - Proton Careers](https://www.levels.fyi/companies/proton)

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