Responsibilities

• Configure, maintain, and administer SQL Server instances (SQL Server 2016/2019) for high availability, performance, and security.
• Monitor system health, capacity, and performance using industry-standard tools and build proactive automation where applicable.
• Manage database deployments, schema changes, and release activities in collaboration with development and DevOps teams.

High Availability, Clustering & Replication

• Design, configure, and manage AlwaysOn Availability Groups, including multi-subnet clusters, automatic failover, read-only routing, and AG listener management.
• Implement and support Failover Cluster Instances (FCI) and Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC).
• Manage SQL Server transactional replication, snapshot replication, and peer-to-peer replication, including monitoring, troubleshooting replication latency, reinitialization, and conflict resolution.
• Build DR strategies using AGs, replication, and log shipping based on RPO/RTO requirements.
• Participate in HA/DR testing, root cause analysis, and post-incident reviews.

• Analyze and optimize SQL queries, stored procedures, execution plans, indexing strategies, and server configuration parameters.
• Identify performance bottlenecks related to CPU, IO, memory, blocking, deadlocks, and inefficient query patterns.
• Implement index maintenance routines, statistics management, and optimize storage/I/O footprints.

Backup, Recovery & Security

• Manage enterprise backup and recovery strategies using native SQL Server tools or third-party backup solutions.
• Perform recovery testing, PITR validation, and maintain DR runbooks.
• Configure and manage encryption mechanisms including TDE, Always Encrypted, SSL certificates, and column-level encryption.
• Ensure database security, access control, and audit compliance.

Production Support & On-call Responsibilities

• Respond to critical production alerts and participate in a rotational on-call schedule.
• Troubleshoot outages, replication failures, cluster failovers, blocking/deadlock events, and other production issues.
• Write runbooks, SOPs, and RCA documents.

Requirements

• 5-10 years of hands-on SQL Server experience, including:
• Strong experience with AlwaysOn AGs, WSFC clusters, listener configurations, and HA/DR implementations.
• Expertise in SQL Server replication (transactional, snapshot, P2P), including monitoring and troubleshooting.
• Strong T-SQL skills, including writing complex queries, stored procedures, and optimizing SQL code.
• Experience with SQL Server on Azure (IaaS/PaaS) including Managed Instance or SQL Database.
• Experience working in high-availability, large-scale OLTP environments.
• Expertise in index design, statistics, execution plan analysis, and server-level performance tuning.
• Experience with SQL Server security, encryption (TDE, Always Encrypted), certificates, and key management.
• Familiarity with monitoring tools such as SQL Monitor, SolarWinds DPA, Idera, Zabbix, SCOM, etc.
• Strong problem-solving and root cause analysis skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication

• Exposure to PostgreSQL or other open-source databases.
• Experience with PowerShell or other scripting languages for automation.
• Knowledge of CI/CD processes for database deployments.
• Experience with cloud-native HA/DR (Azure Site Recovery, Geo-replication).