Senior Database Engineer

Datavail Infotech•Boulder, CO

About The Position

Datavail is hiring a senior-level SQL Server specialist to support mission-critical database systems across clients and industries. This is an engineering-focused role centered on automation, cloud-native platforms, proactive problem prevention, and consultative client support rather than reactive troubleshooting. The engineer serves as the Primary DBA for one or more clients, building trusted relationships and leading database service delivery through hands-on engineering and strategic guidance. The role focuses on performance tuning and cloud-native database expertise, including T-SQL optimization and refactoring, index strategy, root-cause performance diagnosis, cloud platform tuning, and proactive performance baselining. The engineer advises clients on database architecture, migration, and cost optimization across AWS and Azure; leads architecture, disaster recovery, and capacity planning; and owns the database service lifecycle. This is a full-time position with full medical benefits and up to 20% domestic U.S. travel for client onsite visits.

Requirements

Senior-level SQL Server specialization and database engineering expertise.
Hands-on performance tuning experience, including T-SQL query optimization, execution-plan analysis, and stored-procedure and code refactoring.
Experience with indexing strategies, performance diagnosis, and root-cause analysis.
Hands-on optimization experience with Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and AWS RDS for SQL Server.
Experience with cloud database architecture, migration, and cost optimization across AWS and Azure IaaS and PaaS.
Experience with disaster recovery planning, capacity forecasting, backup strategy, and high-availability/disaster-recovery configuration.
Ability to build automation using Python and PowerShell.
Experience developing deployment and rollback scripts and coordinating database version updates across environments.
Experience migrating or supporting SSIS packages and SSAS cubes, and developing reporting stored procedures.
Ability to work directly with client technical teams and executive stakeholders and communicate technical findings as business-relevant recommendations.
Willingness to travel up to 20% domestically within the United States for client onsite visits.

Responsibilities

Serve as a trusted advisor to clients, proactively identifying performance, availability, and security risks.
Advise clients on cloud database architecture, migration, and cost optimization across AWS and Azure IaaS and PaaS.
Lead architecture design, disaster recovery planning, and capacity forecasting initiatives.
Own the end-to-end database service lifecycle, including backup strategy, HA/DR configuration, proactive tuning, and platform roadmap planning.
Define and track database availability and performance service-level objectives, and drive automated remediation for recurring failure patterns.
Lead root-cause analysis and post-incident reviews for major issues, translating findings into automation or process changes that prevent recurrence.
Design and implement scalable database structures, including partitioning strategies and audit specifications.
Develop and maintain deployment and rollback scripts, and coordinate version updates across environments.
Build Python and PowerShell automation for backup validation, monitoring, alerting, and reporting integrations such as Power BI.
Migrate and support SSIS packages and SSAS cubes, and develop stored procedures for reporting.
Collaborate with client technical teams and executive stakeholders, translating technical findings into business-relevant recommendations.
Optimize T-SQL queries by analyzing and rewriting execution plans, resolving parameter sniffing and statistics/cardinality issues, and using Query Store-based tuning.
Rewrite and refactor stored procedures and T-SQL code for performance, including redesigning logic and set-based approaches when needed.
Design and maintain indexing strategies, including clustered, nonclustered, and covering indexes; evaluate columnstore where appropriate; and manage fragmentation and maintenance without breaking SLAs.
Diagnose performance issues through wait-stats analysis, CPU, memory, and I/O bottleneck isolation, tempdb contention analysis, and blocking/deadlock resolution.
Tune Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and AWS RDS for SQL Server, including service-tier/vCore or DTU sizing, storage throughput/IOPS tuning, elastic pool configuration, and PaaS resource-governor limits.
Establish and monitor performance baselines to detect degradation before it becomes a client-facing incident.