diff --git a/src/features/developer/services/user-service.ts b/src/features/developer/services/user-service.ts
index 12f757b..3befd2f 100644
--- a/src/features/developer/services/user-service.ts
+++ b/src/features/developer/services/user-service.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { getUserData } from "@/lib/github";
 import { calculateUserScore } from "@/features/scoring";
 import type { CalculateUserScoreResult } from "@/features/scoring/services";
+import { scheduleBackground } from "@/lib/background";
 import { persistUserScores } from "./user-persistence";
 import { getCachedProfile, setCachedProfile } from "./profile-cache";
 import type { UserProfileResponse, UserResult } from "../types";
@@ -75,7 +76,9 @@ export async function getUserProfile(
           };
 
           // Warm Redis profile cache
-          void setCachedProfile(normalizedUsername, profile, selectedLanguages);
+          scheduleBackground(() => {
+            void setCachedProfile(normalizedUsername, profile, selectedLanguages);
+          });
 
           return profile;
         }
@@ -131,14 +134,14 @@ export async function getUserProfile(
     location: data.location ?? null,
   };
 
-  // Warm Redis profile cache with the computed profile
-  void setCachedProfile(normalizedUsername, response, selectedLanguages);
-
-  // Persist canonical scores into DB
-  void persistUserScores({
-    data,
-    score,
-    selectedLanguages,
+  // Warm Redis profile cache and persist canonical scores to DB after response
+  scheduleBackground(async () => {
+    void setCachedProfile(normalizedUsername, response, selectedLanguages);
+    await persistUserScores({
+      data,
+      score,
+      selectedLanguages,
+    });
   });
 
   return response;
diff --git a/src/lib/background/index.ts b/src/lib/background/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3b99e21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/background/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export * from "./schedule-background";
diff --git a/src/lib/background/schedule-background.ts b/src/lib/background/schedule-background.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5ad6ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/background/schedule-background.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import { after } from "next/server";
+
+export type BackgroundTask = () => Promise<void> | void;
+
+/**
+ * Schedules background work (e.g. cache warming, DB persistence) to run
+ * after the HTTP response has been sent to the client.
+ *
+ * In Next.js / Vercel serverless environments, this delegates to Next.js's
+ * native `after()` API to ensure the serverless function is not frozen
+ * or terminated before the background task finishes.
+ *
+ * If called outside of a Next.js request context (such as during Vitest unit tests,
+ * CLI scripts, or background workers), it gracefully executes the task immediately.
+ *
+ * @param task The synchronous or asynchronous function to execute in the background.
+ */
+export function scheduleBackground(task: BackgroundTask): void {
+  try {
+    after(task);
+  } catch {
+    // Fallback for non-request environments (e.g., tests, CLI runners)
+    void task();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/background/tests/schedule-background.test.ts b/src/lib/background/tests/schedule-background.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..81761fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/background/tests/schedule-background.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from "vitest";
+import { scheduleBackground } from "../schedule-background";
+import * as nextServer from "next/server";
+
+vi.mock("next/server", () => ({
+  after: vi.fn(),
+}));
+
+describe("scheduleBackground", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("delegates to Next.js after() when inside a request context", () => {
+    const afterMock = vi.mocked(nextServer.after);
+    afterMock.mockImplementation((task) => {
+      // Mock successful scheduling
+      return task as unknown as void;
+    });
+
+    const task = vi.fn();
+    scheduleBackground(task);
+
+    expect(afterMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(afterMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(task);
+    // Task itself is deferred, not immediately called by scheduleBackground
+    expect(task).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("gracefully runs the task immediately when after() throws outside a request scope", () => {
+    const afterMock = vi.mocked(nextServer.after);
+    afterMock.mockImplementation(() => {
+      throw new Error("`after` was called outside a request scope.");
+    });
+
+    const task = vi.fn();
+    scheduleBackground(task);
+
+    expect(afterMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(task).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it("gracefully runs async tasks when outside a request scope", async () => {
+    const afterMock = vi.mocked(nextServer.after);
+    afterMock.mockImplementation(() => {
+      throw new Error("`after` was called outside a request scope.");
+    });
+
+    let asyncDone = false;
+    const asyncTask = async () => {
+      await Promise.resolve();
+      asyncDone = true;
+    };
+
+    scheduleBackground(asyncTask);
+
+    await Promise.resolve();
+    expect(asyncDone).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/db/db-store.ts b/src/lib/db/db-store.ts
index c83eaf0..be5959e 100644
--- a/src/lib/db/db-store.ts
+++ b/src/lib/db/db-store.ts
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ function getPoolConfig(): PoolConfig {
     connectionString,
     max: isServerless ? 2 : 10,
     idleTimeoutMillis: isServerless ? 10_000 : 30_000,
-    connectionTimeoutMillis: 10_000,
+    connectionTimeoutMillis: isServerless ? 20_000 : 10_000,
   };
 }