Groupon's data infrastructure underpins every merchant deal, every customer transaction, and every operational decision the
business makes. As we scale and modernize the platform, the quality of our database design is not a backend concern - it's a
competitive constraint. This role owns it.
What you'll be doing
- Design and maintain database management systems end-to-end: conceptual model, logical schema, capacity planning, data
loading, data maintenance, and security policy
- Translate business requirements from product, engineering, and systems teams into precise data models - table structures,
element attributes, and relational logic that are defensible and production-ready
- Write complex programs and derive logical processes on technical platforms; build the screens, reports, and components that
sit on top of them
- Contribute to UI design and business application prototypes, bridging the gap between data layer and user-facing experience
- Evaluate, install, and configure database management systems - and document your design decisions so the next engineer
doesn't have to reverse-engineer them
- Participate in QA and develop test application code in client-server environments
- Determine how data should be stored, how tables relate to one another, and how fields interact - and defend those decisions
when challenged
- At senior levels: assess clients' existing data structures and storage mechanisms, and determine what belongs in the schema
versus what doesn't
What success looks like
Day 30: You've mapped the existing schema, identified the top three structural risks, and documented the gaps nobody had
written down yet.
Day 60: At least one database deliverable - schema, data loading plan, or interface specification - has been designed,
reviewed, and signed off. You're embedded with the engineering and product teams who depend on your work.
Day 90: You own the database standards for your domain. Other engineers are using your guidelines. QA is running against test
code you wrote. The schema is cleaner than when you arrived.
What this role demands
- Hands-on experience designing relational data models from business requirements - not just maintaining schemas someone else
built
- Fluency in database design documentation: conceptual design, logical database, capacity planning, external data interface
specification, data loading plans, security policy
- Ability to write and review complex SQL and application code; comfortable in client-server and web-enabled environments
- Experience evaluating and installing database management systems
- Strong enough commercial instinct to negotiate what goes in the schema and what doesn't - and to explain the tradeoff to
non-technical stakeholders
How we operate
Extreme Ownership: If a downstream application breaks because of a schema decision, you own the diagnosis. You don't stop at
the database boundary.
Impact Obsessed: Clean design that nobody uses doesn't count. Your deliverables exist to make applications faster, data more
reliable, and teams more independent.
Speed Over Comfort: Imperfect data models that are documented and iterable beat perfect ones that never ship.
What We Offer
- Base Salary: $170,000 + Participation in company annual bonus plan and equity scheme.
- Hybrid work model: Chicago office
- Benefits: Starting the 1st of the month after your start date:Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, FSAs, EAP, 401(k) match, ESPP, and more.
