Database and Application Administrator, Information Technology

University of Montana•Missoula Mountain Campus, MT

About The Position

Information Technology invites applications for a Database and Application Administrator to oversee the availability, integrity, security, and performance of the University's enterprise database environment and the applications that run on it, including the Oracle databases behind the Banner ERP supporting student, finance, human resources, and financial aid operations. The position reports directly to the Manager of the Database Administration team within IT's Enterprise Technology division. The administrator manages database platforms and application servers; coordinates patches, releases, and upgrades with campus departments; maintains test and training environments; and administers database and enterprise-application access. The role also supports security reviews, performs database audits and vulnerability remediation, manages backups and recovery, monitors performance and capacity, troubleshoots incidents, and maintains technical documentation. The administrator works with developers, report writers, business offices, vendors, and internal and external partners on application operations, query design, integrations, and incident prevention.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Knowledge of relational database administration on at least one enterprise platform (Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQL Server), including installation, configuration, patching, and version upgrades.
Understanding of backup and recovery design, with the ability to plan and execute a database restore under time pressure.
Ability to write and tune SQL, read execution plans, and diagnose database performance problems.
Knowledge of database security, including privileged access management, role design, encryption, and auditing.
Competency administering cloud-managed databases such as AWS RDS or Azure SQL, or demonstrated ability to learn a cloud platform quickly.
Knowledge of networking fundamentals and database connectivity protocols (e.g., SQLNet/TNS, ODBC, JDBC), including port and firewall requirements.
Ability to document technical work clearly, explain technical constraints to non-technical colleagues, and plan and perform changes during scheduled maintenance windows, including occasional nights and weekends.
Must be eligible to work in the United States upon hire; sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

Solid experience administering Oracle databases in a higher-education Ellucian Banner environment.
Demonstrated experience with automated database deployment or infrastructure-as-code tooling.
Experience coordinating vendor-driven application upgrades with functional business offices.
Experience with PL/SQL, Bash, Python, and/or similar programming languages.

Responsibilities

Manage Ellucian application servers and Application Navigator.
Plan and execute patches, releases, and upgrades with departments across campus, and maintain test and training environments refreshed from production.
Design and administer database roles, privileges, and privileged-access controls, along with account provisioning and role assignment for enterprise applications.
Conduct database audits, apply encryption and masking to regulated data, remediate vulnerabilities on schedule, and support security reviews with Information Security.
Install, configure, patch, and upgrade Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, AWS RDS, and Azure SQL databases.
Monitor database health and capacity, plan for growth, and clone databases between environments.
Design, implement, and test backup and recovery procedures.
Maintain documentation of configurations, standards, upgrade procedures, and known issues.
Analyze execution plans, tune queries and database instances, and advise developers and report writers on query design and data access.
Troubleshoot application and database issues, identify root causes, manage vendor support cases, and lead post-incident reviews to prevent recurrence.
Administer middleware and integration tools, monitor scheduled jobs and data exchanges with internal and external partners, and collaborate with developers on integration requirements.