Senior PostgreSQL and SQL Server Administrator

Role: Senior PostgreSQL and SQL Server Administrator

Location: Baltimore, MD

Contract

Highly experienced Senior PostgreSQL and SQL Server Administrator with a strong background in SQL Server and hands-on experience managing AWS RDS and Amazon Aurora environments (SQL Server and PostgreSQL). This role will be responsible for managing, tuning, securing, and ensuring the high availability of our database systems across hybrid infrastructure, supporting critical business applications in a shared and scalable platform.

Key Responsibilities:

1.      Administer, maintain, and optimize Microsoft SQL Server databases (on-prem and cloud-based).

2.      Manage database instances in AWS RDS and Aurora (for SQL Server and PostgreSQL), including provisioning, monitoring, backups, and patching.

3.      Design and implement database backup strategies and disaster recovery plans.

4.      Monitor performance and proactively tune SQL queries, indexes, and system configurations.

5.      Implement and enforce database security, including user roles, permissions, and audit trails.

6.      Perform database upgrades, patches, and migrations with minimal downtime.

7.      Collaborate with application and data teams on schema design, deployment strategies, and integration planning.

8.      Automate routine database tasks using PowerShell, T-SQL, and AWS CLI/SDKs where appropriate.

9.      Participate in capacity planning and forecasting for high-growth, high-availability systems.

10. Support DevOps and CI/CD pipelines by aligning database provisioning and schema changes with deployment workflows.

11. Maintain documentation of all database systems, standard operating procedures, and configurations.

Required Skills & Experience:

1.      8+ years of hands-on experience administering Microsoft SQL Server databases (2016 and above).

2.      2+ years working with Amazon RDS and Aurora (especially PostgreSQL and SQL Server flavors).

3.      Strong understanding of SQL performance tuning, query optimization, indexing strategies, and execution plans.

4.      Experience with database replication, clustering, Always On availability groups, or Aurora Multi-AZ setups.

5.      Familiarity with PostgreSQL administration in AWS environments.

6.      Proficiency in T-SQL, PowerShell, and/or scripting for automation.

7.      Working knowledge of cloud-native monitoring tools (e.g., Amazon CloudWatch, Datadog, etc.).

8.      Familiarity with infrastructure as code (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation) is a plus.

Preferred Qualifications:

1.      Experience in managing multi-tenant database environments or shared platform deployments.

2.      Exposure to DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines in database development workflows.