Duration: 1 year contract with possibility to convert to FTE

Onsite/Hybrid/Remote: 10 days a month onsite in Madison

Overview

The Senior Database Administrator is responsible for the administration, development, and optimization of enterprise database systems. This role ensures high availability, performance, and security across both on‑premise and cloud environments. The position requires deep expertise in SQL/NoSQL databases, cloud platforms, automation, scripting, and security best practices. This individual will work closely with architects, developers, system administrators, and security teams to support mission‑critical systems and continuous improvement initiatives. The role operates with minimal supervision in a fast‑moving, collaborative environment.

Key Responsibilities

Database Administration

• Ensure availability and performance of all database environments.
• Perform and oversee maintenance activities including backups, upgrades, restores, rebuilds, and migrations.
• Proactively monitor database systems to minimize downtime and security risks.
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues including deadlocks, blocking, integrity errors, performance problems, replication failures, connectivity, and security concerns.
• Install, configure, and upgrade SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and DynamoDB databases.
• Provision cloud resources using Terraform and support infrastructure-as-code practices.
• Implement security controls, access management, and compliance standards.
• Maintain database patching schedules, ensure DR readiness, and validate backup processes.
• Provide performance trend analysis and recommendations for optimization.
• Evaluate new tools, technologies, and methods to enhance database management and automation.
• Document technical procedures and mentor database administrators.

Production Support

• Diagnose performance issues and recommend best-practice solutions including index tuning and query optimization.
• Support business-critical outages, internal applications, and third‑party systems-including after-hours support when required.
• Configure and fine-tune monitoring tools to reduce false alerts.
• Develop, troubleshoot, and optimize stored procedures, triggers, views, and indexed views.
• Assist with maintenance of production schedules and system updates.

M&A Support

• Participate in planning and execution of database integration activities associated with mergers and acquisitions.
• Support conversion, implementation, and integration of acquired systems.

Team & Process Participation

• Provide mentorship, onboarding, and knowledge transfer for new team members.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies including daily stand-ups, quarterly planning, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Conduct code and design reviews to improve quality and adherence to best practices.
• Follow SDLC, QA, and governance standards.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives across the environment.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Required Skills & Abilities

• Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.
• Excellent communication skills-both technical and non‑technical.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment.
• Strong organizational and priority‑management skills.
• Understanding of architecture, system design, and deployment strategies.
• Experience with DevOps methodologies and tools such as Jenkins and Kubernetes.

Required Technical Proficiencies

• T‑SQL and SQL Server Management Studio
• SQL Server monitoring tools (Profiler, DMVs, sp_BlitzIndex®, etc.)
• SSIS and Visual Studio
• Reporting tools (SSRS, Crystal Reports)
• SQL Server Availability Groups
• Terraform and AWS CloudFormation
• AWS RDS PostgreSQL

Preferred Technical Proficiencies

• Administration of line‑of‑business systems (e.g., ID3, OnBase)
• Microsoft core technology stack
• NoSQL database administration
• Scripting languages (PowerShell, Bash) for automation