#140315 - Database Administrator

We are seeking a hands-on Database Administrator for a remote contract engagement supporting high-availability operational database systems behind a large, high-traffic website. The role focuses on database reliability, security, disaster recovery, performance analysis, and close partnership with engineering teams.

Enterprise experience strongly preferred.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain high availability and strong performance across production database systems.
• Plan, test, and carry out disaster recovery procedures with a zero-data-loss objective.
• Maintain database security, access controls, and adherence to security protocols.
• Analyze and tune database performance and diagnose difficult production performance issues.
• Work closely with engineers on requirements gathering, system design, design reviews, performance tuning, and technical support.
• Administer operational data systems in a highly technical production environment.
• Deliver reliable work under tight deadlines and remain composed during high-pressure incidents.

Must-Have Skills

• Approximately 3 to 4 years of hands-on database administration experience.
• Experience with both Microsoft SQL Server and Aurora PostgreSQL; deeper expertise in either platform is acceptable.
• Hands-on AWS experience, particularly Amazon RDS and Amazon Aurora.
• Programming experience with PowerShell or Python.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform.
• Experience administering and troubleshooting Confluent Kafka.
• Extensive experience with database performance analysis and tuning.
• Experience administering high-function, high-availability production systems.
• Experience planning or performing disaster recovery.
• Strong ability to diagnose difficult database performance issues.
• Experience working closely with engineering teams through requirements gathering, design reviews, technical support, and deadline-driven delivery.
• Experience with database access control and security practices.

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Experience building Kafka connectors and topics.
• Experience with NoSQL databases such as MongoDB.
• Experience with Snowflake.
• Experience with other relational databases such as MySQL.
• Advanced Kafka experience, including KSQL and Flink.

Required Tools & Platforms

• Microsoft SQL Server and Aurora PostgreSQL.
• AWS, Amazon RDS, and Amazon Aurora.
• PowerShell or Python.
• Terraform or comparable Infrastructure as Code tooling.
• Confluent Kafka.

Location, Time & Engagement

• Candidates must be based in an eligible Latin American country.
• Central Time working hours are preferred.
• Remote contract engagement, 40 hours per week.
• Expected engagement through March 31, 2027; start date to be agreed.
• One opening is available.
• This is not currently a contract-to-hire opportunity.
• Before client submission, viable candidates must complete the Amazon WorkSpaces Health connectivity test and provide a screenshot showing good connectivity to an AWS WorkSpace region.