Job Description & Details
This is a hands-on, heavy-database contract role focused on building and optimizing reporting infrastructure using the Microsoft data stack. If you enjoy wrangling complex T-SQL and wrestling legacy reporting requirements into clean SSRS dashboards, this gig keeps you right in the query trenches.
What You'll Actually Be Doing
Your days will heavily revolve around writing and untangling multi-table joins, subqueries, and window functions inside SQL Server. You'll spend a good chunk of time troubleshooting slow queries by pulling execution plans and slapping indexes on tables, alongside building and updating RDL-based reports in SSRS for business stakeholders who need answers yesterday.
The Core Tech Stack
Absolute mastery of T-SQL and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is non-negotiable here, specifically writing bulletproof stored procedures and handling performance tuning. You'll also need solid production experience with SSRS for report creation and Microsoft Visual Studio/TFS for managing your code changes.
Interview Expectations
Expect the technical screen to lean heavily into query optimization, where they might hand you a poorly written query with multiple joins and ask you to refactor it for performance. They'll also grill you on execution plan analysis to see if you actually know why an index scan is happening instead of an index seek.
Application Advice
Make sure your resume screams SQL Server and T-SQL optimization right at the top, avoiding generic data analyst fluff that only mentions Excel or Tableau. Explicitly highlight your experience writing complex stored procedures and SSRS reports to get past the initial keyword filters.