Primary Responsibilities
Database Support & Administration
- Administer and support enterprise Microsoft SQL Server environment across development, test, and production instances
- Provide support for additional RDBMS platforms as assigned (Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.)
- Ensure database availability, security, and integrity across all environments
- Manage database access controls, user permissions, and security compliance
- Perform regular database maintenance including backups, index maintenance, and statistics updates
- Execute database deployments and changes following established change management procedures
Incident & Request Management
- Respond to and resolve database-related incidents within established SLA timeframes
- Triage and prioritize incoming work requests based on business impact
- Perform root cause analysis on recurring issues and implement preventive measures
- Document incident resolutions and maintain a knowledge base for common issues
- Collaborate with application teams, developers, and infrastructure teams to resolve complex issues
- Participate in on-call rotation to provide after-hours support as needed
Monitoring & Performance
- Monitor database systems using enterprise monitoring tools to ensure optimal performance and availability
- Analyze database performance metrics and identify trends or potential issues
- Perform basic query optimization and index tuning to improve application performance
- Review and optimize database configurations based on workload characteristics
- Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks related to blocking, deadlocks, or resource constraints
- Generate regular reports on database health, capacity, and performance metrics
Automation & Process Improvement
- Develop and maintain scripts to automate routine operational tasks using PowerShell, T-SQL, or Python
- Create automated solutions for database provisioning, backup verification, and maintenance tasks
- Implement automated alerting and self-healing processes where applicable
- Document automation workflows and maintain version control of scripts
- Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency through automation and standardization
- Participate in continuous improvement initiatives to enhance database operations
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- 3+ years of hands-on experience administering Microsoft SQL Server in an enterprise environment
- Strong understanding of database backup and recovery strategies
- Experience with database monitoring tools and performance troubleshooting
- Proficiency in T-SQL for querying, scripting, and automation
- Familiarity with PowerShell or other scripting languages for automation
- Knowledge of database security best practices and compliance requirements
- Experience working in an ITIL-based environment with incident and change management processes
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
- Strong communication skills with ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
Preferred Qualifications
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate or similar certification
- Experience with multiple RDBMS platforms (Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.)
- Familiarity with cloud-based database services (Azure SQL, AWS RDS, etc.)
- Experience with database high availability and disaster recovery solutions (Always On, Failover Clustering, Log Shipping)
- Knowledge of DevOps practices and CI/CD pipeline integration
- Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, ARM templates, etc.)
- Understanding of database virtualization and containerization