Job Description & Details
This is a hands-on senior database role where you'll be juggling both legacy on-premises SQL Server instances and modern Azure database workloads. If you enjoy deep-dive performance tuning and architecting high-availability systems rather than just babysitting database servers, this contract is worth a serious look.
What You'll Actually Be Doing
Expect to spend your days knee-deep in execution plans, tracing blocking queries, and figuring out why a specific batch job is choking the I/O subsystem. You will also lead database migrations to Azure SQL and manage HA/DR setups like Always On Availability Groups. Half your time will be troubleshooting elusive production bottlenecks, while the rest is spent collaborating with developers to review dodgy T-SQL code and schema designs before they hit production.
The Core Tech Stack
Your bread and butter here will be Microsoft SQL Server administration and advanced T-SQL combined with a solid grasp of Azure SQL Database, Managed Instances, and SQL Server on Azure VMs. You need to be completely fluent in configuring Always On Availability Groups, setting up robust backup/recovery strategies, and automating repetitive tasks using PowerShell. Familiarity with Azure monitoring tools, Key Vault, and Redgate utilities will separate you from the rest of the applicant pool.
Interview Expectations
When you sit down with the engineering leads, expect them to drop a complex performance scenario on you, asking how you would troubleshoot a query that suddenly went sideways despite having a seemingly good execution plan. They want to hear about your systematic approach to locking, indexing, and wait stats, not just canned textbook definitions. You should also be ready to explain a time you managed a critical HA/DR failover under pressure and how you mitigated data loss risks.
Application Advice
Make sure your resume doesn't just list tools, but highlights measurable impact, such as cutting query execution times by a specific percentage or successfully migrating terabytes of data to Azure with minimal downtime. Weave in exact keywords from the description like Always On, T-SQL performance tuning, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and PowerShell automation to ensure your profile easily clears the automated parsing filters.