Principal Database Administrator

Support multiple product teams across Dealer Solutions and play a key role in cloud migration initiatives by managing, optimizing, and re-architecting the current on-premises database environment. This role bridges the gap between the existing aging, monolithic on-premises database infrastructure and a future-state scalable, cost-efficient, cloud-native database platform on AWS.

About the role

As a key technical enabler of the organization's cloud strategy, you will first stabilize and remediate the existing database infrastructure, then design and execute a safe, phased migration to AWS. You will serve as the organization's primary database authority, defining database strategy, driving cloud modernization efforts, advising architects and software engineers on data architecture decisions, ensuring high availability and security of enterprise platforms, and leading complex migration, resiliency, and performance initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Manage, optimize, and re-architect the current on-premises database environment.
• Design and execute a safe, phased migration to AWS.
• Define database strategy and drive cloud modernization efforts.
• Advise architects and software engineers on data architecture decisions.
• Ensure high availability and security of enterprise database platforms.
• Lead complex migration, resiliency, and performance initiatives.
• Perform logical and physical database design, data modeling, performance management, and monitoring.
• Architect and build databases from business requirements through planning, testing, and production deployment.
• Provide expert-level leadership for Microsoft SQL Server environments, including architecture, platform strategy, modernization, upgrades, migrations, high availability, disaster recovery, replication, clustering, and backup/recovery.
• Conduct performance tuning, indexing strategies, query optimization, and execution plan analysis.
• Drive innovation through implementation across functional teams to meet business requirements.
• Design and support solutions spanning relational databases and microservice architectures, selecting the right technology for the workload.
• Collaborate with software engineers and architects on application and data architecture decisions to ensure scalability, resilience, and performance.
• Use observability tools and operational intelligence platforms to proactively monitor database health and drive data-informed operational decisions.
• Build and mature CI/CD practices for database changes, including schema migrations, deployment automation, version control, and automated testing.
• Mentor database administrators, influence architects and developers, review complex technical designs, and lead strategic initiatives.
• Translate technical trade-offs for engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Work in Agile development environments (Scrum, Kanban, or similar), collaborating within sprint-based delivery cycles.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related discipline with 10+ years of experience in database administration, database engineering, or related technical roles. Equivalent experience includes a Master's degree with 8+ years, a Ph.D. with 5+ years, or 14+ years of directly related experience.
• Experience in database design, database code development, database administration, and systems engineering to build high-performance, fault-tolerant database systems.
• 8+ years of experience with multiple AWS RDS database technologies (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle) and NoSQL services such as DynamoDB, understanding trade-offs between AWS-managed variants.
• Experience supporting 24x7 production systems with strict SLAs and uptime requirements.
• Expertise in high-availability and disaster-recovery technologies (clustering, replication, failover, backup/restore strategies).
• Strong background in high-availability/disaster-recovery technologies (e.g., clustering, log shipping, GoldenGate, Always On, replica sets).
• 8 years of performance tuning, indexing strategies, query optimization, and execution plan analysis.
• Ability to design and support solutions spanning relational databases and microservice architectures.
• 8+ years building and maturing CI/CD practices for database changes (schema migrations, deployment automation, version control, automated testing).
• Strong communication skills for translating technical trade-offs to engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience working in Agile development environments (Scrum, Kanban, or similar).

Pay

Compensation includes a base salary in the range of $178,200.00 - $297,000.00. The base salary may vary within this range based on factors such as location and the selected candidate's knowledge, skills, and abilities. The position may also be eligible for additional compensation through an incentive program.

Benefits

• Flexible vacation policy allowing employees to take as much paid time off as consistent with their duties and the company's needs.
• Seven paid holidays throughout the calendar year.
• Up to 160 hours of paid wellness time annually for personal wellness or that of family members.
• Additional paid time off for bereavement, voting, jury duty, volunteering, military leave, and parental leave.