Sr. Database Engineer

Starz•Greenwood Village, CO

11d•$95,000 - $149,000

About The Position

STARZ is seeking an experienced Sr. Database Engineer to design, build, and support the data infrastructure powering its applications and services. The position bridges traditional on-premises database administration with modern cloud-native data architecture, requiring hands-on expertise across relational and non-relational platforms. The engineer will advise development teams on data-layer selection and implementation while maintaining the performance, security, and resiliency of existing systems. The role covers AWS-managed relational, non-relational, search, and caching services; on-premises SQL Server and Oracle databases; and Snowflake data warehouse administration. It also includes establishing architecture standards, monitoring database health, implementing security controls, automating cloud database operations, supporting incident response, documenting systems, and contributing to migrations, modernization, and SOX IT general control evidence reviews. The position is based on the Denver, Colorado local labor market for compensation purposes. The estimated starting salary range is $95,000 to $149,000 per year. Full-time employees are eligible for medical, dental, and vision insurance; a company-matched 401(k); paid holidays; accrued vacation; front-loaded sick and wellness leave; and a discretionary annual bonus. Tuition reimbursement is also listed among company benefits.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
Strong experience with AWS-managed data services, including several of DynamoDB, DocumentDB, RDS (MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server), OpenSearch/Elasticsearch, and ElastiCache.
Hands-on experience administering SQL Server and Oracle databases in highly available on-premises environments using AOAG SQL Clusters and Oracle DataGuard.
Hands-on experience with Snowflake administration.
Strong understanding of relational database design, normalization, indexing strategies, and query optimization.
Working knowledge of NoSQL and search-engine data modeling concepts, including key-value, document, and search-index patterns.
Strong experience advising development teams on data architecture decisions, including SQL versus NoSQL trade-offs, caching strategies, and search indexing.
Proficiency with SQL, PowerShell, and Bash scripting.
Solid experience with Terraform for infrastructure-as-code provisioning of cloud data resources.
Understanding of data security, access control, and compliance principles as applied to database environments.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

AWS certification relevant to data or database services, such as AWS Certified Database, AWS Specialty, or AWS Certified Solutions Architect.
Experience with CI/CD pipelines for database schema changes and deployments.
Experience developing Ansible playbooks to support database maintenance operations.
Experience supporting hybrid architectures that connect legacy on-premises systems with cloud-native services.

Responsibilities

Partner with software engineering teams during service design to recommend appropriate data stores and architectures based on access patterns, consistency requirements, scalability, and cost.
Design, deploy, and manage AWS data layers across relational, non-relational, search, and caching technologies.
Administer, tune, and support on-premises SQL Server and Oracle databases, including backup and recovery, high availability, performance tuning, patching, and capacity planning.
Administer Snowflake cloud data warehouse environments, including security controls, zero-copy clone pipelines, and cost governance.
Develop and enforce data architecture standards, naming conventions, and best practices across on-premises and cloud environments.
Monitor database health and performance, and proactively resolve bottlenecks, replication issues, and capacity constraints.
Implement and maintain database security controls, including encryption at rest and in transit, access management, and compliance with internal and regulatory requirements.
Build and maintain automation for provisioning, monitoring, backup, and maintenance of cloud database platforms.
Participate in the on-call rotation for database-related incidents.
Document database architecture, data flows, and operational runbooks.
Collaborate across business units on data migrations, integrations, and modernization initiatives.
Identify process improvements, reduce manual tasks, and eliminate human error through automation.
Gather evidence and perform periodic reviews supporting SOX IT general control objectives.