Database Administrator

Location: [Pune/Hybrid] 

As a Database Administrator within our Cloud Operations team, you'll be responsible for the day-to-day management, maintenance, and long-term health of our SQL Server database environment. A key focus of the role will be leading and executing database migrations — moving workloads to and within our Azure cloud infrastructure safely and with minimal disruption.

This is a hands-on role suited to someone who takes pride in operational excellence, knows SQL Server inside out, and is comfortable working in a fast-moving, cloud-first environment.

• Administer and maintain SQL Server databases across development, staging, and production environments.
• Monitor database health, performance, and availability, proactively identifying and resolving issues.
• Manage database backups, restores, and disaster recovery processes, ensuring RTO and RPO targets are consistently met.
• Perform routine maintenance tasks including index rebuilds, statistics updates, integrity checks, and patching.
• Manage SQL Server upgrades and patch cycles in line with security and operational requirements.

• Monitor and tune database performance — analysing execution plans, identifying slow queries, and optimising indexes and schema where needed.
• Work with development teams to review and advise on query design, schema changes, and stored procedures.
• Establish and maintain performance baselines, alerting thresholds, and capacity planning processes.

• Plan, execute, and validate SQL Server database migrations — including on-premises to Azure, version upgrades, and cross-environment migrations.
• Assess databases pre-migration for compatibility, risk, and performance impact, producing clear migration plans.
• Execute migrations with minimal downtime, using appropriate tooling (e.g. Azure Database Migration Service, SSMA, backup/restore, log shipping).
• Document migration processes, outcomes, and post-migration validation results.

• Manage SQL Server workloads hosted on Azure, including Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server on Azure VMs.
• Collaborate with the broader Cloud Operations team on infrastructure provisioning, security hardening, and cost optimisation.
• Implement and maintain monitoring and alerting using Azure Monitor, SQL Insights, or equivalent tooling.
• Contribute to IaC practices for database provisioning using Terraform or Azure Bicep.

• Manage database access controls, roles, and permissions in line with least-privilege principles.
• Ensure databases meet relevant compliance and audit requirements (e.g. SOC 2, GDPR).
• Maintain audit trails, encryption at rest and in transit, and data masking practices where required.

• Maintain accurate, up-to-date documentation of database architecture, configurations, runbooks, and migration records.
• Participate in incident response for database-related issues, contributing to post-incident reviews and preventative actions.
• Act as a subject matter expert for SQL Server across the engineering organisation.

• 3+ years of experience as a Database Administrator with SQL Server as the primary platform.
• Deep expertise in SQL Server (2016 and above), including installation, configuration, and administration.
• Proven track record of planning and executing database migrations, including on-premises to cloud.
• Strong experience managing SQL Server workloads on Microsoft Azure — Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and/or SQL Server on Azure VMs.
• Solid understanding of SQL Server high availability and disaster recovery solutions (Always On AG, log shipping, backup/restore).
• Strong T-SQL skills — query optimisation, stored procedures, indexing strategies, and execution plan analysis.
• Experience with database monitoring and alerting tooling (Azure Monitor, SQL Server Profiler, Extended Events).
• Familiarity with Azure DevOps or similar CI/CD tooling for database change management.

• Experience with Azure Database Migration Service (DMS) or SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA).
• Exposure to infrastructure-as-code tooling such as Terraform or Azure Bicep.
• Knowledge of compliance frameworks including SOC 2, ISO 27001, or GDPR.
• Relevant Microsoft certifications (e.g. DP-300: Administering Relational Databases on Microsoft Azure).
• Experience working within an ITSM framework (e.g. ServiceNow, Jira Service Management).

Salary Range: ₹10,00,000 to ₹12,00,000 plus 10% bonus