{"id":1001264,"url":"https://alion.io/job/takealot-senior-database-administrator-mysql-postgresql-takealot","title":"Senior Database Administrator (MySQL, PostgreSQL) - Takealot","company":{"id":57341,"name":"Takealot","domain":"takealot.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/takealot","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":82,"open_postings":28,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.714,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":50,"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"}},"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":"explicit","locations":["Cape Town, South Africa"],"countries":["ZA"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":34000,"max_usd":63000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":13},"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Apache Kafka","optional":false},{"name":"ElasticSearch","optional":false},{"name":"GCP","optional":false},{"name":"Kotlin","optional":false},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":false},{"name":"Linux","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false},{"name":"MySQL","optional":false},{"name":"Oracle","optional":false},{"name":"PostgreSQL","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Redis","optional":false},{"name":"Scala","optional":false},{"name":"Slack","optional":false},{"name":"SQL","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2021-03-12T06:05:15Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-17","last_verified_at":"2026-11-04T17:21:06Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":2063,"trust":{"level":"stale","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale"],"days_open":2062},"description":"Takealot.com, South Africa's leading online retailer, is looking for a highly talented Senior Database Administrator (DBA) to join the Engineering & Product team based in Cape Town, South Africa.\nWe are a young, dynamic, hyper-growth company looking for smart, creative, hard-working people with integrity to join us!\nThink you've been challenged before? Think again!\nScale: 4 million happy shoppers shop online on takealot.com. Show them what you can do.\nLearn: We work with the best of the best, and then some. Code alongside industry leaders and upskill in record time.\nGrow: Expand your career in the fast-growing Takealot Group: takealot.com, Mr D, and TFS. We like to promote from within: Here's your chance.\nPurpose of Role\nYou will leverage your knowledge of operating systems, networking, and databases to deploy, operate, support, and manage databases that support the applications delivering Takealot features. You will contribute to resolving operational issues, query improvements, and administrative tasks to provide a stable platform resilient to failures. You will also contribute to the Database team roadmap, investigating potential new technologies and designing process improvements. You demonstrate a keen interest in the latest technologies and follow database releases and security reports. You will work in a fast-paced agile environment and collaborate across both technical and non-technical teams.\n This position reports to the DBA and DataOps Engineering Manager.\n Key Responsibilities\nTroubleshoot slow queries and assist developers with creating optimisable SQL queries\nAssist developers with schema design, schema changes, and administrative tasks\nDesign and execute operational excellence through metrics, monitoring, and documentation\nDesign and execute operational standards such as backups, replication, security, and disaster recovery\nOversee the performance, integrity, and security of corporate databases\nProvide ongoing maintenance and review of existing database systems to ensure optimum operation\nEnsure backups and disaster recovery systems are functional and regularly tested\nDesign and implement database optimisations to improve performance\nManage database architecture changes and ensure compliance with corporate standards\nAssist with the design and administration of database cloud infrastructure as IaC\nParticipate in functional and technical specification reviews\nContribute technical solutions to business problems, considering business and/or product requirements and constraints\nCollaborate with development, network, and system teams to ensure database requirements are met\nIdentify and resolve database-related issues promptly\nReport on database health, performance metrics, and system improvements to stakeholders\nProvide technical guidance to internal teams (mentoring) and external teams (collaboration)\nMentor junior DBAs and engage in knowledge-sharing initiatives\nThink outside the box and explore new and/or alternative approaches to find the best solution\nMinimum Required Qualification and Experience\nBachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field of study, or 5-7 years of related experience\nProven extensive knowledge and experience with relational databases such as MySQL or PostgreSQL, including successful deployment, management, and operations\nProven expertise with other database systems such as key-value stores, document stores, columnar databases, etc.\nProven experience with one or more non-RDBMS systems such as MongoDB, Redis, Kafka, Elasticsearch, or Solr\nProven expertise in auxiliary systems such as networking, operating systems, and security\nExperience delivering projects independently and/or contributing to open-source projects\nExperience collaborating on projects as part of a team\nDeep knowledge of database internals, backups, replication, metrics and monitoring, disaster recovery, security, database architecture, database configuration, query design, analysis, and optimisation\nProven knowledge and experience in auxiliary systems that support databases, including development and/or scripting, configuration management, networking, operating systems, data structures, cloud computing, and operations\nTechnical Skills: Proficient in database technologies (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle). Strong understanding of database performance tuning, query optimisation, and systems architecture\nAttributes\nProblem-Solving: Effective troubleshooting and analytical skills for complex database issues\nCommunication: Strong oral and written communication skills for conveying technical content to both technical and non-technical audiences\nPrioritisation: Ability to manage multiple database projects efficiently and meet tight deadlines\nCollaboration: Effective team player who can work with various teams (e.g., developers, administrators, and managers) across the organisation\nAttention to Detail: High accuracy and attention when performing backups, security configurations, and system monitoring\nAdaptability: Embraces new technologies in the dynamic database management landscape\nLeadership: Ability to mentor junior team members and foster a learning environment within the team\nLet's talk about life @ Takealot Group\nMentorship programme: We aren't kidding when we say the people with the best people win. Now's your chance to be one of the best by learning from the best.\nNaspers Tech Community & Online Learning: Share ideas and grow with global industry leaders who are all just a Slack message away. Love to learn? Upskill with free access to courses on MyAcademy, Udacity, Coursera, and more.\nGood times: Get to know the other extraordinary minds at takealot.com during regular social events and out-of-office activities (think hikes, think mini golf, think good times)\nStaff discount: Millions of products across 28 departments. What more could you ask for?\nBirthday leave: Cake Day all the way. Enjoy your day off you deserve it.\nRight tools, right job: Mac or Linux, two monitors or one. Whatever your preference, you'll work on the latest tech, of the latest tech.\nHelp when you need it most: Confidential counselling, legal support, and financial guidance, for free, anytime, anywhere.\nExposure to the latest technologies: ReactJS, Python, Scala, Kotlin, Swift, Google Cloud, Kafka, Redis, Kubernetes, and all things machine learning. If you build it, they will come.\nFree parking: No more 5km fun runs to your desk (unless you want to).\nLike what you see? If you meet the above, you are an Extraordinary Mind. Apply today!!\nTakealot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. 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