Database Administrator (DB2 & MSSQL)

Role overview

The Database Administrator owns the availability, performance, security and recoverability of the organisation's DB2 and SQL Server databases. The role acts as the technical authority for database matters, working day to day with the Server, Data Center and Network domains.

This is a collaborative role. The successful candidate keeps engineers, vendors and stakeholders informed, shares knowledge openly and works as part of the team.

Key responsibilities:

The role covers the full lifecycle of the DB2 and MSSQL estate, plus clear communication around every change and incident.

• Keep DB2 and MSSQL databases highly available and reliable across PROD, DR, and UAT
• Perform daily health checks, routine database maintenance and database security self-assessments
• Create, configure and migrate databases, and apply patches and upgrades to keep them at supported levels
• Design, build and maintain MSSQL Always On Availability Groups, including failover testing
• Define and own the backup, restore and DR strategy, and test it regularly
• Plan database capacity and lead performance tuning, using historical and real-time monitoring
• Implement and maintain database hardening baselines and encryption, including Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) and its key management
• Ensure databases comply with security policies and standards, including periodic account reviews, and close vulnerability and audit findings on schedule
• Act as L3 escalation point: troubleshoot integrity, performance, blocking, deadlock, connectivity and security issues, and lead root-cause analysis with users and vendors
• Plan and lead maintenance windows, including after-office-hours work, with proper change control and stakeholder communication
• Work with the privileged access and virtualisation teams, requesting DB account onboarding and VM resources and following their processes
• Collaborate with the Server, Data Center and Network teams on shared changes and incidents
• Document database policies, architecture and design artefacts, plus runbooks, KBs and topology diagrams
• Provide technical expertise and solutions for database-related projects, and recommend platform roadmap improvements
• Set database standards and best practices, and mentor junior engineers

Requirements:

Candidates need 6+ years of hands-on DBA experience, strong DB2 and MSSQL skills, and the communication and teamwork to work well across several technical teams.

• 6+ years of hands-on DBA experience, with strong working knowledge of both DB2 and MSSQL, supporting PROD, DR, and UAT environments
• Proven experience building and supporting Always On Availability Groups in production
• Hands-on experience with Transparent Data Encryption(TDE), including encryption key and certificate management
• Experience developing and applying database hardening standards, security policies and procedures, and remediating vulnerabilities
• Strong experience in backup and recovery, database migration and cloning, and evaluating and installing new releases, patches and upgrades
• Strong troubleshooting skills for integrity, performance, blocking, deadlocking, connectivity and security issues
• Experience producing performance and health reports using native tools and scripts
• Strong knowledge of Windows and Unix/Linux operating systems
• Familiarity with CyberArk (PAM) and VMware vCenter, enough to work with those teams. No administration of either is expected.
• Experience with other RDBMS, NoSQL or cloud platforms is an advantage
• Strong team player who shares knowledge, supports colleagues and works well across Server, Data Center and Network teams
• Good written and spoken English, able to explain issues, risks and changes clearly to engineers, vendors and non-technical stakeholders
• Strong documentation skills for processes and procedures, including KBs, runbooks and topology diagrams
• Disciplined approach to change control, working with users and vendors to resolve issues promptly within service levels
• Proactive in keeping stakeholders updated during incidents and maintenance windows
• Willing and able to work after-office-hours maintenancewindows as scheduled, including nights and weekends where required

Certifications:

Must have 1 of thefollowing:

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Database AdministratorAssociate (DP-300)
• AWS Certified Database – Specialty, or an equivalentcloud certification

Preferred

• IBM Certified Administrator for Db2
• A relevant Microsoft SQL Server certification
• ITIL 4 Foundation