Database Administrator (DBA)

Database Administrator (DBA) — Job Description

Summary

Design, install, maintain, secure, and optimize database systems to ensure data availability, integrity, performance, and recoverability for applications and business users.

Key responsibilities

• Installation & configuration: Install, configure, and upgrade database servers and related software (e.g., Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MongoDB).
• Performance tuning: Monitor and tune database performance (queries, indexes, instance parameters), analyze execution plans, and optimize schema and queries.
• Backup & recovery: Design and maintain backup, restore, and disaster recovery procedures; perform periodic restore tests and recovery drills.
• High availability & replication: Implement and manage HA solutions (clustering, replication, log shipping, failover, RAC, Always On, Patroni) and ensure failover readiness.
• Security & access control: Manage database security, authentication, roles, privileges, encryption (at-rest/in-transit), and audit policies to protect sensitive data.
• Capacity planning: Forecast storage, compute, and licensing needs; plan for growth and scale databases appropriately.
• Maintenance & patching: Apply patches, upgrades, and maintenance windows; manage maintenance tasks (statistics, reindexing, vacuuming).
• Monitoring & alerting: Implement monitoring, alerts, and health checks for availability, latency, resource usage, and error conditions.
• Schema & change management: Coordinate schema changes, migrations, and deployments with development teams; enforce change-control procedures and runbook updates.
• Data integrity & troubleshooting: Investigate and resolve data corruption, connectivity issues, deadlocks, long-running transactions, and replication lag.
• Automation & scripting: Automate routine tasks (backups, monitoring, deployments) using scripts and orchestration tools (Bash, PowerShell, Python, Ansible).
• Documentation & standards: Maintain runbooks, SOPs, configuration baselines, and architecture diagrams.
• Compliance & auditing: Support audits and regulatory requirements (PCI, GDPR, HIPAA) with appropriate controls and evidence.
• Collaboration & mentoring: Work with developers, sysadmins, cloud engineers, and site reliability teams; mentor junior DBAs and participate in on-call rotations.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent experience (or relevant certifications).
• Experience: 3–7+ years managing relational/no‑SQL databases in production (adjust per seniority).
• Technical skills: Strong SQL expertise, backup/recovery strategies, performance tuning, replication, partitioning, and familiarity with OS-level concepts (Linux/Windows).
• Platforms & tools: Hands-on experience with one or more major DBMS (Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Cassandra), monitoring tools (Prometheus, Datadog, Oracle Enterprise Manager), and virtualization/containers.
• Cloud & managed DBs: Experience with cloud databases and managed services (AWS RDS/Aurora, Azure SQL, Google Cloud SQL, DynamoDB) desirable.
• Certifications (optional): Oracle OCP, Microsoft MCSA/MCSE, AWS Database Specialty, Certified PostgreSQL DBA, or equivalent.
• Soft skills: Analytical troubleshooting, clear communication, documentation, and teamwork.

Competencies & attributes

• Attention to detail and strong problem-solving skills.
• Ownership mindset and ability to work under incident pressure.
• Proactive in capacity planning, automation, and reducing manual toil.
• Security- and compliance-focused.
• Effective communicator with cross-functional teams.

Pay: QAR110.21 - QAR240.33 per hour

Work Location: In person