Senior Database Administrator

Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status.  EEO/Disabled/Vets

Job Description :

Title: Senior Database Administrator - MS-SQL (L3)

Location: Bengaluru

Working Type: Hybrid

Overview of Role:

The MS-SQL DBA will be primarily experienced in MS-SQL RDBMS with knowledge of Cloud technologies.  Additionally, they’ll be involved in administration of databases and their eco-systems; will support release, incident, problem, business continuity management practices; will patch, upgrade and comply with audit controls; will continuously improve database service quality to ensure stability and high availability. You are experienced in implementing; securing, supporting and upgrading enterprise infrastructure, ensuring the infrastructure, which runs corporate applications, are correctly monitored and highly available as required.

Candidates should have 8-12 years of experience in a DBA role and are expected to work in a rotating 24 x 5 model and also provide on-call support as required by business.

Key Responsibilities 

Database Performance Monitoring & Optimization: 

• Regularly monitor database performance metrics (e.g., CPU usage, memory, disk I/O, query execution time).
• Proactively identify performance bottlenecks and optimize SQL queries, indexes, and database schema to improve efficiency.
• Perform query tuning, indexing strategies, and resolve deadlocks or resource contention issues.
• Use SQL Profiler, Extended Events, and Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) for troubleshooting performance problems.

Backup, Recovery, and Data Integrity:

• Manage and implement backup strategies (full, differential, and transaction log backups).
• Ensure data integrity by running consistency checks (e.g., DBCC CHECKDB) and resolving any corruption issues.
• Test and verify backup and restore procedures regularly to ensure fast recovery during failures.
• Plan for and execute database restores when necessary, including point-in-time recovery.
• High Availability & Disaster Recovery (HA/DR):
• Implement and maintain High Availability solutions (e.g., SQL Server Always On Availability Groups, Database Mirroring, Failover Clustering).
• Design and configure Disaster Recovery solutions for SQL Server environments.
• Ensure seamless failover operations and minimal downtime during server or database outages.

Database Security & Compliance:

• Implement and enforce database security policies (e.g., access control, encryption, auditing).

• Ensure compliance with data privacy regulations and industry standards (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS).
• Maintain SQL Server security best practices, including least privilege access, encryption at rest and in transit, and regular security patching.

Database Maintenance & Housekeeping:

• Perform routine database maintenance tasks, such as index rebuilds, statistics updates, and cleaning up historical data to optimize performance.
• Configure and manage maintenance plans and jobs using SQL Server Agent or other automation tools.
• Manage and monitor SQL Server Agent jobs to ensure they run without errors.

Troubleshooting and Incident Management:

• Act as the primary point of escalation for complex database-related issues (e.g., performance degradation, corruption, failed jobs).
• Work with the application and systems teams to diagnose and resolve database problems affecting application performance.
• Analyze SQL Server logs, Windows Event logs, and SQL Server Error logs to identify and resolve database-related issues.

Patch Management & Upgrades:

• Apply patches, updates, and service packs to SQL Server instances to maintain system security and stability.
• Test database upgrades and migrations from older versions of SQL Server or across different platforms (e.g., from on-premises to cloud-based systems).
• Ensure minimal downtime during patching and upgrade activities.
• Automation & Scripting:
• Write and maintain T-SQL scripts to automate tasks like backup, index maintenance, and health checks.
• Develop PowerShell scripts or use other automation tools for repetitive tasks or complex configurations.
• Use automation for provisioning databases, managing jobs, and monitoring server performance.

Database Migration & Version Control:

• Plan and execute the migration of databases between environments (e.g., development to production, on-premises to cloud).
• Perform data migrations, version upgrades, and data imports/exports as needed.
• Assist in the move to cloud-based databases like Azure SQL Database or AWS RDS.

Collaboration & Documentation:

• Work closely with development, systems, and network teams to ensure that databases are appropriately configured and integrated with other components.
• Document database architecture, configurations, and procedures to ensure knowledge transfer and process continuity.
• Participate in cross-functional team projects and database-related improvements or upgrades.

Capacity Planning & Scalability:

• Monitor database growth patterns and forecast capacity requirements.
• Plan for and implement scalability strategies (e.g., partitioning, sharding, read replicas) for large, growing databases.
• Review and manage storage requirements to prevent performance degradation.

Required Skills and Expertise:

SQL Server Expertise:

• Deep understanding of SQL Server architecture, including SQL Server 2016, 2017, 2019, and the latest versions.
• Proficiency in T-SQL for querying, scripting, and automation.
• Experience with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), SQL Profiler, and Extended Events for troubleshooting.

High Availability & Disaster Recovery:

• Practical knowledge of Always On Availability Groups, Database Mirroring, Failover Clustering, and Log Shipping.
• Understanding of Failover Clustering and configuring SQL Server Clustering for high availability.
• Knowledge of Backup and Recovery strategies, including transaction log backups and point-in-time restore.

Performance Tuning & Troubleshooting:

• Expertise in performance tuning of queries, indexes, and databases.
• Strong troubleshooting skills, including the ability to identify and resolve bottlenecks in CPU, memory, and disk I/O.
• Proficient in diagnosing deadlocks, slow queries, and system resource issues.

Security & Compliance:

• Familiarity with SQL Server security best practices, including encryption, auditing, and role-based access control (RBAC).
• Experience with data masking, dynamic data masking, and SQL Server security policies.
• Ability to maintain database compliance with regulatory frameworks (e.g., PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR).

Backup & Restore:

• Knowledge of SQL Server backup strategies (full, differential, transaction log backups).
• Ability to perform point-in-time restore and resolve corruption or data loss issues.

Cloud Platforms:

• Experience with cloud-based SQL Server implementations, including Azure SQL Database, Amazon RDS, or SQL Server on AWS EC2.
• Familiarity with cloud deployment, monitoring, and scaling strategies for SQL Server databases.

Scripting & Automation:

• Strong scripting abilities in PowerShell, T-SQL, or other automation tools.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines for database deployments and version control.
• Database Maintenance & Housekeeping:
• Understanding of routine database maintenance tasks such as index maintenance, statistics updates, and automated health checks.

Database Monitoring & Tools:

• Proficient in using database monitoring tools like Redgate SQL Monitor, SQL Sentry, SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer, or native tools like SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
• Setting up alerts and proactive monitoring for database issues.

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