{"id":1451580,"url":"https://alion.io/job/simplify-hr-proprietary-limited-senior-sql-server-database-administrator-dba","title":"Senior SQL Server Database Administrator (DBA)","company":{"id":1891733,"name":"Simplify HR","domain":"simplify.hr","url":"https://alion.io/company/simplify-hr","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":null,"truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":400,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":33,"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"Data Science","role_family":"Data Science","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["South 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Server","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-14T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-14","last_verified_at":"2026-09-29T13:23:43Z","board_verified":false,"closed_at":null,"days_open":65,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":65},"description":"A major South African financial services group that provides direct-marketed insurance, investment, and value-added solutions is seeking a Senior SQL Server DBA who will be responsible for the performance, security, availability, and disaster readiness of critical SQL Server database platforms across the enterprise.Responsibilities:\nManage the full lifecycle of SQL Server instances (installations, patching, configurations, upgrades) across Dev, UAT, and production environments.\n\nMonitor overall database health, capacity, storage, and agent jobs to proactively resolve production incidents and performance degradation.\n\nMaintain complete operational documentation, including runbooks, inventories, and change control records.\n\nParticipate in scheduled maintenance windows, release deployments, and on-call support rotations.\n\nArchitect, configure, and maintain Always On Availability Groups, Failover Cluster Instances (FCI), log shipping, and replication.\n\nPerform regular DR drills, failover tests, and recovery validations to meet strict Business RPO and RTO objectives.\n\nEnsure end-to-end synchronization and alignment of DB configurations, logins, permissions, and certificates across primary and DR sites.\n\nDesign and execute enterprise backup and retention strategies (Full, Diff, Log) using native tools and third-party solutions (e.g., Veeam).\n\nConduct random and scheduled restore testing to validate point-in-time recovery capabilities and backup integrity.\n\nProactively monitor backup health and rapidly resolve VSS, storage, or job failures.\n\nCollaborate with developers to review execution plans, optimize T-SQL code, refine indexes, and tune stored procedures.\n\nIdentify and eliminate bottlenecks related to blocking, deadlocks, wait stats, tempdb pressure, memory/CPU constraints, and parameter sniffing.\n\nEnforce database design standards that maximize scalability, maintainability, and code efficiency.\n\nDesign, automate, and maintain table partitioning strategies (partition functions, schemes, aligned indexes, and switching) for high-growth data.\n\nManage data lifecycles by defining retention, compression, archiving, and purging workflows in partnership with business stakeholders.\n\nEnforce strict RBAC, least-privilege access, and authentication mechanisms aligned with financial regulatory requirements.\n\nManage Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), backup encryption, SSL/TLS certificates, and master key lifecycle management.\n\nLead database auditing, vulnerability remediation, security reviews, and evidence gathering for compliance audits.\n\nDevelop PowerShell and T-SQL scripts to automate recurring health checks, capacity reporting, maintenance tasks, and job monitoring.\n\nStreamline manual administrative workloads to drive operational consistency and platform stability.\n\nSupport future cloud readiness by assessing, migrating, and optimizing workloads for Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and Azure VMs.\n\nTroubleshoot hybrid database environments, including private networking, connectivity, and identity integrations.\n\nEstablish and enforce enterprise SQL Server standards for deployments, backups, security, and HA/DR.\n\nMentor junior team members and transfer technical knowledge to elevate overall infrastructure capability.\n\nMinimum Requirements:\n\n10+ years of dedicated Microsoft SQL Server administration experience in enterprise production environments.\n\nDeep Technical Expertise: Expert knowledge of T-SQL, execution plan analysis, index strategies, and native troubleshooting tools.\n\nHA/DR Mastery: Proven experience designing and managing Always On AGs, Failover Clusters, log shipping, and replication.\n\nSecurity & Encryption: Hands-on experience with TDE, certificate/key management, RBAC, and security hardening.\n\nLarge Database Support: Practical experience with partitioning, archiving, and managing high-growth tables.\n\nCommunication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to act as an escalation point for developers and leadership.\n\nPreferred Certifications\nMicrosoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate (or equivalent SQL Server legacy certification).\n\nRelevant Azure Administrator / Azure Solutions Architect certifications.\n\nITIL Foundation.\n\nNice to Have\nDomain Experience: Background in financial services, insurance, or highly regulated environments.\n\nCloud & Hybrid: Direct experience with Azure SQL ecosystem (Managed Instance, IaaS, DB) and hybrid networking.\n\nTools & Scripting: Strong PowerShell automation skills and experience with enterprise backup software (e.g., Veeam).\n\nInfrastructure Knowledge: Understanding of SAN storage, VMware virtualization, Active Directory, and Windows Server internals.\n\nBenefits:\nCompetitive salary based on experience (salary can potentially be more based on experience/skills)\nIF you meet the above requirements and want to make a career-changing move, apply today by emailing your CV to ","description_format":"text","description_chars":4975,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Professional Services","Human Resources","Recruiting Software & ATS"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-29T07:52:35Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":6,"band":"cold","label":"Long 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