Senior Database Engineer/DBA

Job description:

We are looking for a Senior Database Engineer / DBA to own a large, multi-terabyte Microsoft SQL Server environment running in a highly available, clustered configuration. This is a hands-on production database role supporting a live, customer-facing SaaS platform. The role focuses on maintaining database availability, performance, security, and reliability. This is not an analytics or reporting role.

The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on experience managing SQL Server databases in a 24x7 production environment, troubleshooting complex database issues, maintaining Always On Availability Groups, and ensuring business continuity through effective disaster recovery practices.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own and maintain the production SQL Server environment in an Always On Availability Group configuration.
• Handle failover operations, synchronization delay troubleshooting, and read replica load management.
• Maintain database availability and ensure the stability of production database environments.
• Manage SQL Server alerts and provide on-call coverage for production database operations.
• Lead incident response and root cause analysis for production database issues.
• Troubleshoot query plan regressions, TempDB contention, deadlocks, and blocking issues.
• Perform index and statistics maintenance to ensure optimal database performance.
• Review developers' T-SQL queries and schema changes before deployment.
• Advise developers on table design, indexing strategies, and database performance optimization.
• Maintain database security through Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), auditing, and certificate and key rotation.
• Monitor anomalous database access patterns and ensure appropriate security controls.
• Handle confidential or legally sensitive data requests following established processes.
• Maintain database security standards and support compliance requirements.
• Perform quarterly cumulative update patching across database environments.
• Manage partitioning and archiving on multi-terabyte databases without impacting production performance.
• Own capacity planning for storage, CPU, and memory.
• Manage recurring environment refreshes across staging, development, and QA environments.
• Ensure production maintenance activities are performed safely with minimal downtime.
• Design, implement, and test disaster recovery strategies for SQL Server environments.
• Support customer instance migrations between regions, including database preparation and validation.
• Perform regular DR testing and ensure database recovery readiness.
• Manage large-scale database migrations while maintaining availability and data integrity.
• Provide on-call, weekend maintenance, and after-hours support as required.
• Maintain clear documentation of database changes, incidents, and recovery procedures.
• Work closely with engineering teams to ensure reliable database operations.
• Ensure production database changes follow established change control and operational procedures.

Must-Have Requirements:

• 7+ years of hands-on Microsoft SQL Server DBA experience in a 24x7 production environment. SQL development experience alone is not sufficient.
• 3+ years of direct experience with Always On Availability Groups, including failover handling and synchronization delay troubleshooting.
• Experience managing multi-terabyte production databases, including partitioning, archiving, and index and statistics maintenance without blocking production.
• Experience leading incident response and root cause analysis for production database issues.
• Strong experience with database security practices, including TDE, auditing, certificate rotation, and key management.
• Hands-on experience with SQL Server performance tuning, query optimization, and production troubleshooting.
• Experience designing and testing disaster recovery strategies.
• English fluency sufficient for real-time incident communication, with meaningful business-hours overlap with Pacific time.

Nice-to-Have Skills:

• Experience supporting a SaaS CRM or similarly high-transaction-volume application.
• Exposure to Snowflake, Redshift, or AWS Aurora alongside transactional SQL Server work.
• Experience with customer instance migrations or similar large-scale data movement projects.
• Experience in SOC 2, HIPAA, or PCI-regulated environments.
• Comfort handling legally sensitive or confidential data requests as part of a defined process.

What We're Looking For:

• Strong Ownership: Takes responsibility for maintaining large, multi-terabyte production databases and ensuring their availability and reliability.
• Technical Expertise: Demonstrates deep hands-on knowledge of SQL Server administration, Always On Availability Groups, performance tuning, and disaster recovery.
• Incident Management: Maintains a calm, structured approach during production incidents and takes ownership of root cause analysis and preventive actions.
• Attention to Detail: Follows disciplined change control, documentation, database security, and maintenance practices.
• Clear Communication: Communicates effectively with developers, engineering teams, and stakeholders during live production incidents.
• Operational Excellence: Understands the importance of maintaining production databases with minimal downtime and without impacting customer-facing applications.
• Execution-Focused Mindset: Comfortable managing day-to-day database administration, on-call support, and hands-on production operations.

Skills

Always on, Availability Groups, Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server, T-SQL