PostgreSQL Backend Developer

Patient Watch is a UK-based healthcare technology company building a modern web application for patients and clinicians. The platform helps patients complete health outcome diaries and helps clinicians monitor recovery, symptoms, and treatment progress.

We are looking for a reliable, detail-oriented part-time Backend Developer to help keep our Supabase PostgreSQL database stable, performant, and safe to change. This is a part-time role for 10–15 hours per week, working closely with the founder on database performance, migrations, background jobs, debugging, and light DevOps.

Our backend is substantial: Row Level Security, triggers, clinical audit logging, scheduled jobs, message queues, and Supabase Edge Functions. We have had issues where the database becomes overloaded or unresponsive. We need someone who can investigate carefully, fix root causes, and help prevent repeat i ---------- .

You do not need to be a senior developer, but you should be careful, organised, willing to learn, and comfortable reasoning about how changes in PostgreSQL affect stability under load.

Tech Stack

Supabase (PostgreSQL, Auth, Edge Functions)
SQL migrations, functions, triggers, views, RLS, indexes
Deno Edge Functions
pg_cron and PGMQ
GitHub, Deno tests, Supabase CLI
Cursor, Notion, WhatsApp
Experience with all of these is not required, but you should already be comfortable with SQL, PostgreSQL basics, and Git.

Responsibilities

Investigate DB timeouts, crashes, high CPU/memory, and slow queries
Tune queries, indexes, RLS policies, views, and database functions
Reduce load from triggers, audit logging, crons, and queues
Write and review safe SQL migrations; test on dev before prod
Debug Supabase Edge Functions and scheduled/queued background jobs
Help with i ---------- diagnosis, runbooks, and Deno integration tests
Keep Notion tasks updated and document changes clearly

Requirements

Good written English

At least 2–3 years of experience with PostgreSQL or similar in production
Comfortable with SQL, Git, and methodical debugging
Able to follow instructions carefully and ask questions when unclear
Reliable internet and regular communication

Nice to Have

Supabase (RLS, Edge Functions, CLI)
Triggers, cron jobs, or queue-based systems
Deno or serverless backends
Healthcare or audit-heavy systems
Basic DevOps and i ---------- response

Paid Task Before Hire

Shortlisted candidates will complete a paid repository review before any job offer. You will get read-only access to our private GitHub repo and submit a short Database Stability Review report (background load, trigger/audit risks, top 3 fixes, i ---------- first steps). This is paid work, not unpaid spec work.

Compensation & Support

Hours: 10–15 hours per week
Rate: To be agreed based on experience
Schedule: Flexible, but overlap with UK working hours at least 2 days per week
Long-term opportunity for the right person
Clear tasks, regular feedback, and support will be provided

How to Apply

To apply, please send:

A link to your resume, GitHub profile, or portfolio

A short paragraph on your experience with PostgreSQL, Supabase, or similar backend work

Include the word "stability" in your subject line to show you have read the full job post

Your expected hourly rate, availability for 10–15 hours per week, and confirmation you are happy to complete the paid repository review if shortlisted