Senior Database Architect and Administrator

About TRS

Since 1917, the Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York (TRS) has been securing better futures for NYC educators. With a pension fund valued at approximately $123 billion, TRS serves over 274,000 members, providing them with retirement, disability, and death benefit services.

At TRS, we seek dedicated professionals who are passionate about their work and committed to excellence. We pride ourselves on our member-centric culture, focused on delivering outstanding service and support to our members.

Position Summary

We are seeking a Senior Database Administrator (DBA) who will be pivotal in safeguarding and optimizing the enterprise database systems that power critical pension and retirement services for city members. The DBA will lead cloud-native architecture on AWS, drive performance and security excellence across PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server, and translate complex business needs into reliable, scalable solutions. If you thrive on innovation, high-stakes reliability, and ensuring data integrity in a hybrid environment, this is your opportunity to make a lasting impact.

Key Responsibilities

Cloud Architecture & Optimization:

- Lead the design, deployment, configuration, scaling, and optimization of AWS RDS and Aurora PostgreSQL environments.

- Ensure high availability and performance, including support for low-code/no-code platforms such as Mendix.

Data Protection & Resilience:

- Architect and maintain enterprise-grade backup, recovery, Disaster Recovery (DR), automated failover, and Point-In-Time Recovery (PITR) strategies.

- Guarantee 24/7 availability and integrity of sensitive pension and member data.

Security & Compliance Leadership:

- Implement and enforce multi-layered security controls, including encryption, auditing, IAM, and network segmentation.

- Ensure alignment with TRS frameworks and regulatory requirements across all database environments.

Advanced Database Administration:

- Oversee installation, patching, upgrades, troubleshooting, and performance tuning for PostgreSQL and SQL Server.

- Manage hybrid environments spanning on-premises and cloud across development, testing, and production.

Scalability & Modernization:

- Evaluate and implement modern database architectures, server configurations, and migration strategies.

- Drive modernization initiatives that support high-scale, evolving applications.

Data Integration & Reporting:

- Design, troubleshoot, and deploy SSIS packages, data bridging programs, SSRS reports, and migration processes.

- Collaborate with data and application teams to ensure seamless integrations and accurate reconciliations.

Monitoring & Operational Excellence:

- Proactively monitor database health, performance, security, and recoverability using industry-leading tools.

- Identify and resolve issues before they impact service availability.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

- Partner with developers, QA teams, and application owners to deliver reliable, high-quality solutions.

- Support major production releases, including weekend or off-hours work.

Environment Refresh Expertise:

- Perform backup and restoration of production databases to non-production environments, ensuring data integrity and consistency.

- Develop and maintain automation scripts using PowerShell, T-SQL, and SQL Server Agent jobs to streamline database refresh and maintenance processes.

- Configure and integrate SAML-based authentication by working with Identity Providers (IdPs), managing metadata exchange, and accurately mapping attributes to database systems.

- Design and implement automated processes to refresh environment-specific configuration settings and application constants across environments.

- Plan, schedule, and execute database refresh activities with a focus on minimizing downtime and reducing impact to business operations.

Preferred Skills in Addition to Minimum Qualifications

- 5+ years of hands-on experience in database design, administration, performance tuning, security, backup/recovery, and ETL processes.

- Strong expertise in Microsoft SQL Server and PostgreSQL, including installation, configuration, patching, high availability/DR (replication, clustering), SSIS, and SSRS.

- Advanced AWS proficiency, particularly RDS/Aurora PostgreSQL management; AWS Certified Database - Specialty or Solutions Architect certification strongly preferred.

- Experience with hybrid environments, automation/scripting (PowerShell preferred), Windows Server, storage, and security delegation.

- Solid knowledge of cloud database solutions (AWS and Azure), data warehousing, and performance monitoring tools.

- Proven ability to research emerging technologies, conduct root-cause analysis, document standards, and present findings.

- Familiarity with low-code platforms (e.g., Mendix) and their data patterns.

SENIOR IT ARCHITECT - 95711

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college in computer science, information systems, engineering, mathematics or related field and six years of satisfactory full-time experience related to enterprise architecture, solutions architecture, network architecture and/or IT infrastructure systems; or

2. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and ten years of satisfactory full-time experience related to enterprise architecture, solutions architecture, network architecture and/or IT infrastructure systems; or

3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.