Position Summary: This is a senior, hands-on database engineering role responsible for ensuring the stability, performance, security, and compliance of mission-critical SQL Server platforms within a healthcare environment.
Approximately 80% of the role is dedicated to on-premises SQL Server systems supporting high-volume OLTP workloads containing protected health information (PHI). Key responsibilities include performance tuning, high availability and disaster recovery, system stability, data protection, and advanced query optimization.
The remaining 20% of the role focuses on strategic modernization initiatives, including:
- Offloading reporting and analytics workloads from regulated OLTP environments
- Designing and implementing HIPAA-aligned architectures using Azure SQL, Managed Instance, Microsoft Fabric, and OneLake
- Reducing operational overhead and compliance risk across production database systems
This is neither a junior DBA role nor a cloud-only position. The ideal candidate operates with a high degree of autonomy, serves as a senior escalation point for complex database issues, mentors team members, and acts as a steward of data integrity, security, and regulatory compliance.
Essential Position Functions/Responsibilities:
1. Production Database Ownership (Primary Focus) - Serve as the senior owner of on-premises SQL Server environments supporting clinical, financial, and operational healthcare systems
- Act as the final escalation point for critical issues including performance degradation, blocking/deadlocks, corruption, availability, data integrity, and security
- Ensure all database platforms meet HIPAA, internal security, audit, and data retention requirements
- Proactively identify systemic operational and compliance risks; design and implement durable, long-term solutions
2. Performance Engineering & Query Optimization - Diagnose and resolve complex performance challenges, including:
- Blocking and deadlocking
- Query plan instability
- Parallelism and resource contention (CPU, memory, I/O)
- tempdb bottlenecks
- Partitioning and large-scale data access patterns
- Partner with application teams to redesign inefficient SQL, indexing strategies, and schemas
- Establish and enforce performance, scalability, and data minimization best practices
3. High Availability, Recovery, Security & Resilience - Design, implement, and maintain HA/DR solutions (e.g., Always On Availability Groups, Log Shipping, Azure SQL Managed Instance Link)
- Own backup, restore, encryption, and disaster recovery strategies aligned with RTO/RPO and audit expectations
- Continuously validate recoverability and resilience through testing and audit readiness
4. SQL Engineering & Database Development - Design and deliver secure, scalable database solutions, including:
- Data modeling and schema design
- Stored procedures, views, and functions
- Set-based, performance-optimized SQL development
- Enforce least-privilege access models and secure coding standards
- Contribute to and enforce a disciplined SDLC using Database Projects, Git, and Azure DevOps
5. Analytics Offload & Cloud Enablement (Secondary Focus) - Identify and prioritize opportunities to offload reporting and analytics workloads from regulated OLTP systems
- Design hybrid data architectures leveraging:
- Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance
- Microsoft Fabric (Lakehouse and Warehouse) and OneLake
- Ensure PHI handling, masking, retention, and access controls remain compliant across cloud analytics platforms
6. Mentorship, Standards & Documentation - Define and maintain database standards, architectural patterns, security baselines, and operational runbooks
- Mentor developers and junior DBAs on SQL performance, secure development, and compliant data handling
- Maintain architecture diagrams, data dictionaries, and audit-ready documentation
Qualification Requirements:
Skills, Knowledge, Abilities
- Deep understanding of SQL Server internals, including memory management, I/O subsystems, tempdb behavior, and parallelism
- Strong knowledge of OLTP system design and performance characteristics at scale
- Familiarity with regulatory frameworks such as HIPAA and their impact on data architecture, retention, and access
- Knowledge of data modeling, schema design, and data lifecycle management
- Understanding of hybrid and cloud data architectures, including:
- Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance
- Microsoft Fabric (Lakehouse, Warehouse) and OneLake
- Awareness of analytics offloading patterns and separation of OLTP vs. analytical workloads
- Operate independently as a senior technical authority with minimal supervision
- Diagnose and resolve complex, cross-system performance and data integrity issues
- Serve as an escalation point and make sound decisions under pressure in production environments
- Translate business and regulatory requirements into scalable, compliant database solutions
- Collaborate effectively with developers, architects, security teams, and leadership
- Mentor team members and establish standards, best practices, and governance
- Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
Training/Education:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
- Relevant technical training in SQL Server, performance tuning, or cloud data platforms
- Ongoing education in security, compliance, and healthcare data standards is preferred
Experience:
Required - 8+ years of hands-on SQL Server experience in production environments
- Demonstrated ownership of mission-critical databases containing sensitive or regulated data
- Extensive experience in performance tuning, query optimization, and database engineering (not solely administrative)
- Experience operating within HIPAA or similarly regulated environments
- Proven ability to work independently and act as a senior escalation point
Strongly Preferred: - Direct healthcare industry experience
- Experience supporting audits, risk assessments, or compliance reviews
- Experience offloading analytics workloads from OLTP systems
- Hands-on experience with Azure SQL Database / Managed Instance in regulated environments
- Exposure to Microsoft Fabric, OneLake, and Data Factory
Nice to Have: - Experience with automation using PowerShell or C#
- Familiarity with Power Apps or low-code platforms
- Azure or data platform certifications
Base Compensation: $160,000 - $180,000 Department: Information Technology
This is a non-management position
This is a full time position
