Senior SQL Server Database Administrator (DBA)
Kingston, Surrey – Hybrid - £85,000
An established and rapidly growing business are looking for an experienced Senior SQL Server Database Administrator to take full technical ownership of their SQL Server estate, driving the modernisation, scalability, performance and resilience of our database services across a hybrid cloud environment.
This is a hands-on, senior technical role where you will be responsible for the stability and continuous improvement of business-critical database platforms supporting 24/7 production services. You will work across both Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) environments, ensuring the database estate is secure, highly available, optimised and fit for future growth.
You will play a key role in shaping database architecture and design, working closely with agile development teams to influence technical decisions, challenge inefficient database code and promote best practices. From advanced performance tuning and disaster recovery to security governance and data lifecycle management, you will ensure our database services meet the highest standards of operational excellence.
As a senior member of the team, you will also provide technical guidance and mentorship to fellow DBAs, championing continuous improvement and helping establish a culture of accountability, collaboration and engineering excellence.
Key Responsibilities
Database Architecture and Design
- Own and govern relational database design and data modelling standards across the SQL Server estate.
- Work with development teams early in the delivery lifecycle to design scalable schemas, appropriate data types, effective indexing strategies and partitioning solutions.
- Ensure database architecture supports performance, resilience, security and long-term scalability.
Developer Collaboration and Technical Leadership
- Collaborate with agile development teams to review T-SQL, stored procedures and database design decisions.
- Provide practical guidance to developers on writing efficient T-SQL and implementing high-performing database solutions.
Performance Tuning and Optimisation
- Proactively monitor database workloads, identify performance bottlenecks and resolve complex database issues.
- Analyse execution plans and optimise queries, indexes, storage configurations and overall database performance.
- Drive continuous improvements in database efficiency, stability and resource utilisation.
SQL Server Estate Ownership
- Take end-to-end responsibility for the configuration, maintenance, health and performance of the SQL Server estate.
- Manage day-to-day operational activities, monitoring, patching and database lifecycle management.
- Maintain the reliability and availability of business-critical production systems operating 24/7/365.
Azure and Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure
- Administer and optimise SQL Server workloads across Azure Virtual Machines (IaaS), Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance (PaaS).
- Support the ongoing evolution and modernisation of database services across hybrid and cloud-based infrastructure.
- Ensure database platforms are appropriately configured, scalable, resilient and cost-effective.
High Availability and Disaster Recovery
- Design, implement and maintain robust high-availability and disaster recovery solutions across Azure environments.
- Configure and manage Azure SQL Failover Groups and multi-region resilience strategies where appropriate.
- Automate and regularly test backup, restoration, failover and recovery procedures to meet business continuity and recovery objectives.
Security, Compliance and Data Governance
- Implement and maintain database security controls, including encryption at rest and in transit, access management and auditing.
- Enforce data retention, archiving and lifecycle policies in line with organisational requirements and regulatory obligations.
- Support ISO 27001 compliance through effective security governance, evidence gathering and ongoing control validation.
Mentorship and Continuous Improvement
- Provide technical guidance, coaching and support to junior and mid-level DBAs.
- Promote knowledge sharing, consistent engineering standards and operational best practices.
- Identify opportunities to improve database architecture, automation, tooling and the wider SQL Server feature set.
The ideal candidate will be technically strong and proactive DBA who takes ownership, works independently and understands the importance of reliable, secure and high-performing database services. You combine deep SQL Server expertise with practical Azure experience and the confidence to influence technical decisions across development and infrastructure teams.
You are comfortable working in complex production environments, resolving challenging performance issues and balancing operational stability with continuous improvement.
Essential Skills and Experience
- At least five years of commercial experience as a SQL Server DBA, supporting high-volume, business-critical production applications in 24/7 environments.
- Proven experience managing SQL Server databases across both Azure Virtual Machines (IaaS) and Azure SQL PaaS services, including SQL Database and Managed Instance
- Advanced T-SQL skills, with expert knowledge of query optimisation, execution plans, indexing, database design and storage configuration.
- Experience supporting ISO 27001-aligned security controls, data retention policies and regulatory compliance requirements.