Senior MS SQL Database Administrator

Hi,
We are having a immediate requirement on the below mentioned JD.
Job Title: Senior MS SQL Database Administrator---
(SQL Server DBA / Cloud Database Administrator Tolling)
Work Location: Mechanicsville, VA.
Work Mode: Onsite
Work Auth: All visas accepted(No H1 and No Fake Profiles)
Interview Mode: Webcam + Inperson

Experience: 7 12+ Years
Education: Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

Job Summary

We are looking for an experienced SQL Server DBA / Cloud Database Administrator to support enterprise Tolling / E-ZPass database environments.

The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on experience with Microsoft SQL Server administration, performance tuning, database upgrades and migrations, high availability, very large databases, T-SQL, SSIS/SSRS/SSAS, and cloud database technologies such as Azure, Snowflake, or Databricks.

Prior experience supporting or upgrading E-ZPass / Tolling SQL Server environments is highly important for this role.

Required Experience

• 6+ years of MS SQL Server database administration and management.

• 3+ years of SQL Server performance tuning experience.

• 3 4 years of hands-on experience upgrading E-ZPass / Tolling SQL Server environments, preferably from SQL Server 2012 to SQL Server 2019.

• Experience using Database Migration Assistant (DMA), Query Tuning Assistant, and compatibility-level assessments during SQL Server upgrades.

• 3+ years of experience diagnosing and resolving deadlocks, blocking, and performance issues in production Tolling environments.

• Hands-on experience with Extended Events, Query Store, wait statistics, execution plans, and performance troubleshooting.

• 2+ years of experience tuning Very Large Databases (VLDBs), preferably 2 TB or larger.

• Strong experience with index optimization, resource contention analysis, long-running query analysis, and workload tuning.

• 4+ years of experience installing, upgrading, patching, migrating, and maintaining Microsoft SQL Server databases.

• 3+ years of experience with SSIS, SSRS, and SSAS.

• Strong experience writing, troubleshooting, and debugging T-SQL / Transact-SQL.

• At least 1 year of experience with Azure, Snowflake, Databricks, or other cloud database technologies.

• Strong experience working with Windows Server environments.

SQL Server Administration Skills

• SQL Server administration, monitoring, maintenance, and production support.

• SQL Server 2019, 2022, and newer versions.

• SQL Server installation, configuration, upgrades, patching, and migrations.

• Experience implementing and supporting SQL Server Failover Clustering.

• Strong knowledge of SQL Server clustering, mirroring, high availability, and disaster recovery.

• Database backup, restore, recovery, and availability management.

• SQL Server security, permissions, access management, and connectivity troubleshooting.

• Database health monitoring and uptime management.

• Performance monitoring and capacity planning.

• Strong knowledge of data modeling and relational database principles.

Performance Tuning Responsibilities

• Diagnose and resolve database deadlocks, blocking, locking, and resource contention.

• Tune long-running SQL queries and stored procedures.

• Analyze execution plans, Query Store data, Extended Events, and wait statistics.

• Perform index analysis, optimization, rebuilding, and maintenance.

• Identify database bottlenecks and recommend corrective actions.

• Tune large-scale SQL Server workloads supporting high-volume transactional environments.

• Review existing database configurations and recommend performance improvements.

Tolling / E-ZPass Experience

• Hands-on experience supporting E-ZPass, electronic toll collection, or Tolling database environments.

• Experience upgrading Tolling databases from legacy SQL Server versions to newer platforms.

• Ability to analyze application compatibility during database upgrades.

• Experience troubleshooting production database performance issues in high-volume Tolling systems.

• Strong understanding of availability and performance requirements for transaction-intensive Tolling applications.

Cloud Database Experience

Experience with one or more of the following:

• Microsoft Azure

• Azure SQL Database / Azure SQL Managed Instance

• Snowflake

• Databricks

• Cloud database migration and modernization

Additional Technical Skills

• SSIS

• SSRS

• SSAS

• T-SQL

• SQL Server Query Store

• Extended Events

• Database Migration Assistant

• Query Tuning Assistant

• Windows Server

• PowerShell or other OS scripting utilities

• Database monitoring and diagnostic tools

• High Availability / Disaster Recovery

• Failover Clustering

Key Responsibilities

• Administer and support SQL Server and cloud databases supporting the Tolling organization.

• Monitor production databases to ensure availability, reliability, performance, and uptime.

• Troubleshoot application and database issues involving connectivity, access, security, and performance.

• Install and configure SQL Server 2022/2025+ environments with failover clustering.

• Perform SQL Server upgrades, migrations, patching, and platform modernization activities.

• Support database administration, performance tuning, backup, recovery, and maintenance.

• Analyze and tune long-running SQL queries.

• Diagnose deadlocks, blocking, locking, and database resource contention.

• Review existing database implementations and recommend architectural or operational improvements.

• Support large databases and high-volume transaction-processing environments.

• Utilize operating-system scripting tools for database maintenance, automation, monitoring, and diagnostics.

• Review and improve existing database processes to align with engineering and operational priorities.

• Participate in application support and help-desk rotation as required.

• Work collaboratively with Engineering and Operations teams.

• Create and maintain technical documentation, requirements, and design artifacts.

• Communicate clearly with technical teams, application teams, business stakeholders, and leadership.

Preferred Skills

• SQL Server 2019, 2022, or newer.

• E-ZPass / Tolling industry experience.

• Azure database technologies.

• Snowflake.

• Databricks.

• Large-scale transactional database environments.

• SQL Server High Availability and Failover Clustering.

• Database modernization and cloud migration experience.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a senior SQL Server DBA with strong production support and performance-tuning experience who has previously worked with E-ZPass or Tolling systems, managed 2 TB+ SQL Server databases, performed major SQL Server upgrades, and supported highly available mission-critical database environments.