Senior Database Administrator

Roles & Responsibilities

Position Overview:

A Senior Database Administrator leads database design across large, distributed systems to ensure consistency, performance, and compliance. This role aligns database strategy with enterprise architecture, supporting long-term scalability and governance.

Responsibilities:

• Design and implement scalable, secure database architectures across platforms.
• Lead database design for new applications, migrations, or system integrations
• Align data architecture with organizational goals and regulatory frameworks.
• Provide architectural guidance on cloud adoption, multi-tenant systems, or hybrid environments.
• Oversee integration of multiple database platforms and legacy systems. Provide architectural oversight for cross-functional projects and system upgrades
• Define data modelling standards, normalization rules, and schema strategies
• Evaluate and recommend database technologies for specific business use cases
• Oversee performance planning, indexing strategies, and data retention policies
• Collaborate with development, DevOps, and infrastructure teams to align data strategy
• Collaborate with developers and DevOps on application-layer integration, schema design & evolution and CI/CD pipelines.
• Define high availability, failover, and backup strategies. Oversees backup, failover, and performance monitoring for distributed clusters.
• Create documentation outlining database architecture, data flows, and integrations
• Support compliance efforts by embedding security and governance requirements into design

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, engineering or a related technical field. Master's degree preferred.
• (preferred) Oracle Certified Professional, Oracle Exadata Specialist Certified, TOGAF, DAMA, or cloud-specific architecture certifications.
• At least 12 years total experience with 8 years of track record leadership in cross-functional technical environments. Strong documentation and systems planning ability.
• Clear communication across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Advanced proficiency in data modelling and database design (relational and NoSQL).
• Deep understanding of SQL and one or more major DBMS platforms (e.g., SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Casandra)
• Strong query tuning and data modelling skills in non-relational systems
• Deep understanding of database scaling, partitioning, and replication strategies
• Strong knowledge of compliance frameworks, backup planning and database security best practices and protocols (IAM, encryption, and VPC-based access controls, etc).
• Deep knowledge of cloud database offerings (e.g., Aurora, Cosmos DB, Spanner)
• Familiarity with database scripting languages like SQL, PL/SQL, or T-SQL
• Experience with data warehousing design and ETL processes, integration tools, and cloud-native data solutions (e.g., AWS RDS, DynamoDB, Azure SQL, Google Cloud Spanner, BigQuery and etc).
• Knowledge of cloud billing optimization and cost reporting tools.
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving mindset

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience integrating with microservices or serverless architectures
• Familiarity with data lake, data warehouse, or big data architecture design
• Proven track record of collaboration with global IT infra and information security, compliance, or audit teams.
• Familiarity with enterprise data catalogs and MDM platforms
• Strong background in data governance, compliance, and policy design
• Experience leading major database migrations or modernization initiatives
• Experience integrating diverse systems at enterprise scale
• Exposure to infrastructure-as-code and DevOps pipelines supporting data systems

Tell employers what skills you have

RDS
MongoDB
Scalability
Oracle
PostgreSQL
Azure
High Availability
Scripting
DynamoDB
Tuning
Replication
SQL
SQL Server
Architecture Design
Database Design
Encryption

---