Description

Key Accountabilities:
• Lead end-to-end SQL Server DBA operations, technical delivery and L2/L3 support for Microsoft SQL Server databases in the database management scope.
• Administer SQL Server environments including installation, configuration, upgrades, patching, migrations, cloning, database refresh, SQL Agent jobs, storage planning and capacity management.
• Manage high availability and disaster recovery technologies such as Always On Availability Groups, Failover Cluster Instances, log shipping, replication and database mirroring where applicable.
• Plan, validate and support backup and recovery operations including full, differential and transaction log backups, restore testing, point-in-time recovery and DR exercise support.
• Monitor database health, availability, performance, space, jobs, alerts, wait statistics, blocking, deadlocks and logs using SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Server Agent, DMVs or monitoring platforms.
• Analyze and tune SQL Server performance using execution plans, index tuning, statistics maintenance, query optimization, wait analysis, memory/CPU/I/O trend analysis and workload reviews.
• Support security, access management, SQL logins/users/roles, auditing, encryption awareness, vulnerability remediation and compliance controls for SQL Server databases.
• Troubleshoot production incidents such as database availability issues, backup failures, transaction log growth, storage/disk capacity issues, SQL Agent job failures, application connectivity issues and authentication problems.
• Coordinate with application teams, infrastructure teams, backup teams, Windows/Unix teams, security teams, vendors and customer stakeholders for incident and change resolution.
• Lead technical reviews, guide DBA team members, perform peer reviews, support task allocation and ensure adherence to standards, SOPs and SLA commitments.
• Participate in incident, problem, service request, change, release and knowledge management processes using client-approved service management tools.
• Prepare and maintain runbooks, SOPs, architecture notes, implementation plans, deployment steps, DR test evidence, RCA documents, release notes and knowledge articles.

Experience required:
Good communication skills with ability to work with customer stakeholders, application owners, infrastructure teams, security teams, DBAs and delivery leadership.
• Minimum 10-15 years of IT experience with strong hands-on Microsoft SQL Server DBA experience in production support and enterprise database administration.
• Strong experience with SQL Server 2016/2019/2022 or later, SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Server Agent, Always On Availability Groups, Failover Clustering and backup/recovery.
• Experience in SQL Server installation, configuration, patching, upgrades, migrations, database refresh, backup/recovery, performance tuning and operational monitoring.
• Experience in Windows Server environments including service management, event log review, filesystem checks, permissions, PowerShell scripting and deployment support.
• Experience supporting mission-critical databases with high availability, disaster recovery, monitoring and 24x7 production support practices.
• Experience with T-SQL troubleshooting, execution plans, index tuning, statistics, wait events, deadlocks, blocking, query store and database resource management.
• Experience with database security, access controls, auditing, vulnerability remediation and compliance-driven operational controls is preferred.
• Experience with SQL Server backup tools and enterprise backup platforms such as CommVault is preferred.
• Experience in utility, regulated infrastructure, NERC CIP-adjacent systems, SaaS/cloud readiness or managed services environments is preferred.
• Ability to lead a technical DBA team, guide junior resources, review deliverables and deliver tasks as per agreed SLAs and timelines.

Technical Skills

• Microsoft SQL Server Database Administration: SQL Server 2016/2019/2022 or later, installation, configuration, upgrade, patching, migration, cloning and refresh.
• Always On Availability Groups, Failover Cluster Instances, log shipping, replication, database mirroring, high availability and disaster recovery support.
• SQL Server backup and recovery, transaction log management, restore/recovery testing, point-in-time recovery and DR exercise support.
• SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Server Agent, DMVs, Query Store, Extended Events, Profiler, performance counters and monitoring tools.
• T-SQL, stored procedures, functions, jobs, indexes, statistics, execution plan analysis, wait statistics, deadlock/blocking analysis and performance tuning.
• Windows Server administration for DBA support, PowerShell scripting, event log analysis, service account handling, storage checks and deployment support.
• Database security, auditing, access management, encryption awareness, vulnerability remediation and compliance support.
• Azure SQL, SQL Server on Azure VM, Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server, automation, or cloud readiness experience is preferred.
• Knowledge of ITIL processes, incident/problem/change/release management and service management tools such as ServiceNow/Jira/BMC Remedy.
• Managed services operations, SLA reporting, RCA documentation, runbooks, SOPs, audit evidence and knowledge management

Key Skills

Education

Bachelor's degree