Infrastructure Operations (MSSQL Database) Senior Engineer - AVP

State Street•Princeton, NJ

1d•$100,000 - $167,500•Hybrid

About The Position

The Infrastructure Operations (MSSQL Database) Senior Engineer is part of State Street’s Data Platform Engineering & Operations team, which engineers and delivers self-service, performant, and resilient database services. The role leads the Global SQL Server Database product, with emphasis on on-premises and cloud delivery, and may support cloud-native databases as needed. It governs day-to-day MSSQL infrastructure operations, ensures technology SLAs and OLAs are met, and drives platform availability, security, resilience, and automation. The role provides technical leadership and end-to-end support for the Microsoft SQL Server database platform. It serves as an escalation point for major incidents, oversees incident, problem, change, knowledge, and configuration management, and collaborates with business partners, technology peers, service providers, and vendors to improve availability, performance, and reliability. The position also mentors engineers and supports database lifecycle activities, including migrations to the cloud, security audits, and continuous improvement of operational processes.

Requirements

At least 5 years of experience in L3/L4 production support as a Microsoft SQL Server Database Administrator in enterprise environments.
At least 8 years of experience managing and supporting Microsoft SQL Server databases in 24x7x365 mission-critical production environments.
Strong expertise in Microsoft SQL Server architecture, administration, security, performance tuning, backup and recovery, and high-availability solutions.
Deep understanding of SQL Server internals, performance optimization, clustering, Always On Availability Groups, replication, and disaster recovery solutions.
Experience supporting large-scale SQL Server deployments across on-premises, AWS, and Azure platforms.
Strong troubleshooting, analytical, and critical-thinking skills, including root cause analysis and permanent resolution implementation.
Experience managing major incidents, severity outages, production stability initiatives, and service restoration.
Experience with database monitoring, capacity planning, patch management, upgrades, security hardening, and vulnerability remediation.
Strong understanding of database security, access controls, encryption, auditing, and regulatory compliance requirements.
Experience leading automation initiatives and automating database administration, monitoring, patching, and operational workflows using scripting and Infrastructure-as-Code frameworks.
Experience with PowerShell scripting, Ansible, Terraform, infrastructure automation, CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, and Infrastructure-as-Code.
Ability to coordinate with application, infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, and architecture teams.
Strong verbal and written communication skills, including experience interacting with senior stakeholders and business partners.
Experience providing technical leadership, mentoring junior engineers, and driving operational excellence.
Hands-on experience with database backup, recovery, and migration technologies.
Knowledge of SQL Server database tuning, performance tuning, and query optimization.
Experience monitoring and tuning databases using Query Store, DMVs, PerfMon, Profiler, Event Viewer, Extended Events, and other tools.
Hands-on experience with SQL Server high-availability and disaster-recovery options and clustering solutions.
Working knowledge of SSIS and Reporting Services.
Experience working with vendors.
PowerShell or .NET experience.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline.
Microsoft SQL Server certification such as MCSA, MCSE, MCPS, or equivalent.
ITIL Foundation certification.
Experience in banking, financial services, or other highly regulated industries.
Experience with Tanium and other security products.
Exposure to Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, or NoSQL platforms.
Experience supporting hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud database architectures.
Familiarity with audit, risk, compliance, and regulatory frameworks in financial services.
Experience with enterprise monitoring and observability platforms.
Knowledge of data protection, disaster recovery testing, and business continuity planning.
Experience working with vendors, infrastructure partners, and cross-functional teams on project delivery and platform upgrades.
Exposure to FinOps, cloud cost optimization, and infrastructure governance practices.

Responsibilities

Lead the Global SQL Server Database product, emphasizing on-premises and cloud delivery, with optional support for cloud-native databases.
Govern day-to-day MSSQL database infrastructure platform operations and ensure technology SLAs and OLAs are met.
Serve as a technical bridge between engineering team members and service providers.
Act as an escalation point for major incidents involving Microsoft SQL Server database infrastructure.
Establish and govern KRIs, KPIs, and metrics related to operational procedures.
Manage incident, change, knowledge, and problem management, as well as configuration management for relational database infrastructure platforms.
Provide end-to-end support for the Microsoft SQL Server platform, including database monitoring, problem investigation, and solution development.
Drive automation of engineering and operational processes.
Manage and support database lifecycle activities, including SQL Server migrations to the cloud.
Collaborate with internal and external auditors to enhance security, implement database auditing processes, and participate in security audits.
Follow customer incident management processes and drive their continuous improvement.
Manage in-scope incidents in the customer IT environment according to the customer’s incident management process.
Open problem tickets from incident tickets and improve the quality and use of the Known Error Database and recommended workarounds.
Mentor engineers and lead operational excellence initiatives.
Coordinate with application, infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, and architecture teams during incidents and project delivery.

Benefits

Retirement savings plan (401K) with company match.
Basic life, medical, dental, vision, and long-term disability insurance, with other optional additional coverages.
Paid time off, including vacation, sick leave, short-term disability, and family care responsibilities.
Access to an Employee Assistance Program.
Eligibility for annual performance-based awards, excluding certain sales roles subject to sales incentive plans.
Eligibility for certain tax-advantaged savings plans.
Inclusive development opportunities.
Flexible work-life support.
Paid volunteer days.
Employee networks.