Senior DataBase Administrator

About the Position

We are seeking a Senior Database Administrator (#5463) to execute a production database migration from on-premises Microsoft SQL Server to Amazon RDS for a large HR/Learning SaaS platform serving public-sector and government agencies. This role is embedded in a cross-functional team and involves diagnosing and resolving database-layer issues during parallel run and cutover.

Responsibilities

• Execute the migration of the OLTP database from on-prem SQL Server to Amazon RDS for SQL Server (Multi-AZ) for dependent products.
• Provision and configure RDS instances (Enterprise Edition for AG support), parameter groups, option groups, backups, and Multi-AZ HA across all environments.
• Validate RDS feature compatibility: Change Tracking (required for downstream ETL) and CLR SAFE assemblies; prepare and cost the fallback path.
• Diagnose and fix database-layer issues during parallel run and cutover: Transit Gateway / cross-network latency, connection-string and read-only routing, command timeouts, and accidental writes to read replicas.
• Define and rehearse cutover and rollback runbooks (failover/failback timings, RPO/RTO targets, validation steps); support QA parity testing and performance baselining.
• Establish monitoring, alerting, and backup/recovery (CloudWatch, Performance Insights, point-in-time recovery) for the migrated databases.

Requirements

• 5+ years as a DBA / Database Engineer in production environments.
• Deep Microsoft SQL Server administration expertise: Always-On Availability Groups, replication, backup/restore, log shipping, Change Tracking, performance tuning, and T-SQL.
• Proven experience migrating SQL Server workloads to AWS, ideally Amazon RDS for SQL Server, including AG-based and/or DMS-based approaches.
• Strong understanding of HA/DR, RPO/RTO, cutover, and rollback planning for active production systems.
• Hands-on AWS experience: RDS, networking (VPC, Transit Gateway), S3, monitoring, IAM.
• Ability to troubleshoot database connectivity, latency, and routing issues in hybrid (on-prem + cloud) topologies.
• Experience working alongside a client-side DBA team and coordinating phased, multi-environment rollouts.
• English: Upper-Intermediate or higher.

Nice to Have

• PostgreSQL administration and SQL Server-to-PostgreSQL migration experience (schema, stored procedures, data-type mapping, dual-write/cutover).
• Familiarity with EF Core / Npgsql and .NET application data layers.
• Experience with AWS DMS for heterogeneous migrations.
• Infrastructure-as-Code with AWS CDK; CI/CD-driven database migrations.
• Exposure to regulated/compliance environments (e.g. FedRAMP).

We Offer

• Flexible working format - remote, office-based or flexible
• A competitive salary and good compensation package
• Personalized career growth
• Professional development tools (mentorship program, tech talks and trainings, centers of excellence, and more)
• Active tech communities with regular knowledge sharing
• Education reimbursement
• Memorable anniversary presents
• Corporate events and team buildings
• Other location-specific benefits

not applicable for freelancers