Senior Database Administrator

Senior Database Administrator – SQL Server & Azure
London, City: Hybrid
Salary: £85,000 + Package

Overview
An excellent opportunity has arisen for an experienced Senior Database Administrator to join a global organisation with a complex hybrid technology environment. You will manage and improve a database estate across on-premises SQL Server, Azure SQL and Azure Cosmos DB. The role combines database administration with automation, engineering, security, high availability, disaster recovery and DevOps.

A key focus will be supporting the SQL Server 2025 upgrade programme, migrating remaining SQL Server 2019 and 2022 environments while ensuring robust testing, deployment and operational stability.

Role & Responsibilities

• Administer and maintain SQL Server, Azure SQL and Azure Cosmos DB across production and non-production environments.
• Plan and deliver SQL Server upgrades and migrations, including compatibility assessments, testing, deployment and rollback planning.
• Install, configure, patch and upgrade SQL Server instances across complex environments.
• Support Always On Availability Groups, clustering, SQL Server replication and other high-availability technologies.
• Manage database performance, capacity, security, backups, restores and maintenance.
• Troubleshoot database and application incidents, identifying root causes and implementing permanent fixes.
• Develop and maintain T-SQL, PowerShell, Azure Automation Runbooks and database monitoring tools.
• Support Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines, Git and DACPAC-based database deployment processes.
• Support disaster recovery exercises, failover testing and database recovery validation.
• Work closely with Data Engineering across SSIS, SSRS, SSAS, Azure Data Factory and Power BI.
• Contribute to database standards, documentation, automation and continuous improvement.
• Participate in an on-call rota and out-of-hours maintenance where required.

Skills & Experience

• Strong commercial experience administering production Microsoft SQL Server environments across on-premises and Azure.
• Extensive experience with SQL Server installation, patching, upgrades, migrations and performance tuning.
• Strong T-SQL skills and experience troubleshooting complex database and application issues.
• Hands-on experience with Always On Availability Groups, replication, clustering, backup, recovery and disaster recovery.
• Practical PowerShell and Azure Automation experience.
• Experience supporting Azure SQL Database and Azure Cosmos DB within hybrid environments.
• Experience with Azure DevOps, Git, CI/CD and DACPAC-based database deployments.
• Experience supporting SSIS, SSRS and SSAS.
• Experience using KQL for Azure resource inventory and operational reporting.
• Proven experience delivering SQL Server upgrades or migrations, including testing, rollback and post-upgrade validation.