Senior Enterprise Database Administrator

Position Summary

The Sr. Enterprise Database Administrator is a senior, hands-on technical role responsible for the day-to-day administration, performance, security, and reliability of enterprise database environments across Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance, Neo4j graph databases, and Microsoft analytics platforms including Azure Synapse Analytics and Microsoft Fabric.

This is a deeply technical, keyboard-on role rather than a people-leadership role. The incumbent spends the majority of their time in the databases themselves - tuning queries and indexes, running maintenance and cleanup routines, managing backups and restores, resolving production incidents, and automating repetitive operational work. The role acts as the senior technical escalation point for database issues and as a trusted advisor to application, infrastructure, and security teams, but carries no direct reports.

Key Responsibilities

Database Administration & Operations

• Administer, monitor, and maintain production, test, and development database environments across SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Azure SQL, and Neo4j.
• Install, configure, patch, upgrade, and decommission database instances on Windows and Linux.
• Own day-to-day operational health: space management, job scheduling, log management, alerting, and routine housekeeping.
• Perform database migrations between versions, platforms, and on-premises/cloud environments.
• Manage schema changes, deployments, and releases in coordination with application and DevOps teams.
• Provide hands-on DBA support for development, testing, and production go-live activities.
• Troubleshoot database and application data issues, including deadlocks, blocking, corruption, replication failures, and connectivity problems.
• Maintain runbooks, operational documentation, and database standards.
• Participate in an on-call rotation and after-hours maintenance windows.

Performance, Indexing & Optimization

• Proactively tune database and query performance: execution plan analysis, statistics management, query rewrites, and configuration tuning.
• Design, implement, and maintain indexing strategies; identify missing, duplicate, and unused indexes and manage index fragmentation and rebuild/reorganize schedules.
• Build and maintain automated maintenance routines - index and statistics maintenance, integrity checks (DBCC/pg_repack/VACUUM and ANALYZE), data purges, archiving, and cleanup of stale data, logs, and backups.
• Monitor wait statistics, resource utilization, blocking, and long-running queries; resolve bottlenecks before they affect users.
• Establish performance baselines, dashboards, and alert thresholds for all supported platforms.
• Conduct root cause analysis on performance incidents and implement permanent fixes.
• Partner with developers on data models, query patterns, and stored procedure design to improve application performance.
• Perform capacity and growth forecasting for storage, compute, and licensing.

Backup, Recovery, High Availability & Disaster Recovery

• Design, implement, and verify backup strategies across all platforms, including full, differential, log, and point-in-time backups.
• Execute and regularly test restores, including point-in-time recovery, partial/page restores, and full environment rebuilds.
• Maintain and test disaster recovery procedures; ensure RPO and RTO targets are met and documented.
• Configure and support high availability technologies: SQL Server Always On availability groups and failover clustering, PostgreSQL streaming replication and failover, Azure SQL auto-failover groups and geo-replication, and Neo4j causal clustering.
• Lead technical recovery efforts during critical incidents and produce post-incident reviews.
• Refresh non-production environments from production with appropriate masking and data minimization.

Security & Compliance

• Implement and enforce database security standards: least-privilege access, role-based permissions, and periodic access reviews.
• Manage authentication and authorization, including Microsoft Entra ID integration for Azure SQL and Managed Instance.
• Configure encryption at rest and in transit (TDE, Always Encrypted, pgcrypto/TLS), key management, and auditing.
• Remediate database vulnerabilities, apply security patches, and close audit findings.
• Support data retention, privacy, and regulatory compliance requirements.

Cloud Database Platforms

• Administer and optimize Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance, including service tier and vCore sizing, elastic pools, and cost/performance tuning.
• Support Azure Database for PostgreSQL (Flexible Server) and PostgreSQL workloads running on Azure VMs.
• Execute migrations from on-premises SQL Server to Azure SQL Managed Instance using Azure Database Migration Service, log shipping, or backup/restore approaches.
• Configure cloud-native monitoring, diagnostics, and alerting (Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Query Store, Intelligent Insights).
• Maintain operational consistency across hybrid on-premises and Azure database estates.
• Administer and support Azure Synapse Analytics (dedicated and serverless SQL pools) and Microsoft Fabric workloads, including Fabric Warehouse, Lakehouse, and SQL analytics endpoints.
• Manage workspace configuration, capacity, workload management, security, and cost optimization for Synapse and Fabric environments.

Graph Databases

• Administer Neo4j environments, including installation, configuration, clustering, and upgrades.
• Tune Cypher queries, index and constraint design, page cache, and heap sizing for graph workloads.
• Manage Neo4j backups, restores, and consistency checks.
• Support data loading, modelling, and integration of graph data with relational sources.

Data Integration, ETL & Scripting

• Build, schedule, and support ETL/ELT processes using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), Azure Data Factory, Synapse pipelines, or Fabric Data Factory.
• Develop and optimize data movement between transactional databases, data warehouses, lakehouses, and downstream analytics platforms.
• Write and maintain advanced T-SQL, PL/pgSQL, and Cypher, including stored procedures, functions, and complex analytical queries.
• Automate data loads, validations, reconciliation, and error handling; monitor pipeline performance and troubleshoot failures.
• Script operational and data tasks in PowerShell, Python, or Bash, and manage them through source control and CI/CD pipelines.
• Partner with data engineering and BI teams to ensure database designs support reporting and analytics requirements.

Automation & Continuous Improvement

• Automate routine administration - maintenance, health checks, provisioning, and reporting - using T-SQL, PL/pgSQL, PowerShell, Python, or Bash.
• Improve monitoring, alerting, and observability across all database platforms.
• Use source control and CI/CD pipelines for database scripts and deployments; exposure to Infrastructure-as-Code practices (Bicep, Terraform) is an asset rather than a requirement.
• Continuously reduce manual effort, toil, and recurring incident volume.
• Share knowledge, mentor junior DBAs and developers informally, and keep documentation current.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of hands-on database administration experience in production environments.
• Expert-level Microsoft SQL Server administration, including performance tuning, indexing, Always On availability groups, and backup/restore.
• Strong hands-on PostgreSQL administration, including replication, VACUUM/autovacuum tuning, extensions, and pg_dump/pg_basebackup/PITR.
• Production experience with Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance.
• Working experience administering a graph database, preferably Neo4j (Cypher, clustering, backup and restore).
• Demonstrated expertise in query tuning, execution plan analysis, and index design.
• Proven track record designing and testing backup, restore, high availability, and disaster recovery solutions.
• Strong scripting and automation skills using PowerShell, Python, Bash, T-SQL, or PL/pgSQL.
• Hands-on experience building and supporting ETL/ELT processes (SSIS, Azure Data Factory, Synapse or Fabric pipelines) and working with data warehouse or lakehouse platforms.
• Solid understanding of database security, access control, encryption, and auditing.
• Excellent troubleshooting and root cause analysis skills under production pressure.
• Ability to work independently, own problems end to end, and communicate clearly with technical and business stakeholders.
• Willingness to participate in on-call support and scheduled after-hours maintenance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Microsoft certifications (Azure Database Administrator Associate, SQL Server) or Neo4j certification.
• Experience with additional open-source databases such as MySQL/MariaDB, MongoDB, or Redis.
• Experience with Azure Arc-enabled data services, Azure Data Studio, and Azure Monitor.
• Experience with containerized databases (Docker, Kubernetes/AKS).
• Exposure to Infrastructure-as-Code and DevOps tooling (Bicep, Terraform, ARM templates) for database provisioning.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Fabric and Azure Synapse Analytics, including capacity management, OneLake, and Power BI integration.
• Familiarity with healthcare, financial services, or other highly regulated industries.
• Experience with third-party tooling such as Redgate, SolarWinds, Idera, or pgAdmin/pgBadger.

Technical Skills

Database Platforms

• Microsoft SQL Server (2016–2022+)
• PostgreSQL
• Azure SQL Database / Azure SQL Managed Instance
• Azure Database for PostgreSQL (Flexible Server)
• Neo4j (graph)

Analytics & Data Integration

• Microsoft Fabric (Warehouse, Lakehouse, OneLake, Data Factory)
• Azure Synapse Analytics (dedicated and serverless SQL pools)
• SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), Azure Data Factory
• Data warehousing, dimensional modelling, and reporting support

High Availability & Recovery

• Always On availability groups, failover clustering, log shipping
• PostgreSQL streaming replication, logical replication, PITR
• Azure auto-failover groups, geo-replication, long-term retention
• Neo4j causal clustering and online backup

Performance & Maintenance

• Index design and maintenance, statistics, partitioning
• Query Store, Extended Events, DMVs, execution plan analysis
• pg_stat_statements, EXPLAIN/ANALYZE, autovacuum tuning
• Data purge, archiving, and integrity checking routines

Tools & Automation

• SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Azure Data Studio, pgAdmin, Neo4j Browser/Bloom
• PowerShell, Python, Bash, T-SQL, PL/pgSQL, Cypher
• Nice to have: Git and CI/CD pipelines (Infrastructure-as-Code such as Bicep or Terraform an asset)
• Monitoring and alerting platforms (Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, third-party DB monitoring)

Key Competencies

• Deep Technical Expertise
• Ownership and Accountability
• Problem Solving and Root Cause Analysis
• Attention to Detail
• Risk and Change Awareness
• Collaboration
• Clear Communication
• Automation Mindset
• Continuous Improvement
• Composure Under Pressure

Success Measures

• Database availability of 99.9% or greater across supported platforms.
• Backups verified and restores successfully tested on a defined schedule; RPO/RTO targets met.
• Measurable improvement in query response times and reduction in performance-related incidents.
• Index, statistics, and cleanup maintenance running reliably with minimal manual intervention.
• Reduction in repeat incidents and manual operational effort through automation.
• Security, patching, and audit requirements met with no outstanding critical findings.
• Timely, low-disruption delivery of migrations, upgrades, and environment refreshes.

Reporting To: A senior manager

Employment Type: Full-Time

Department: Enterprise Data / Information Technology