Azure Cloud Database Administrator

We are looking for a passionate and forward-thinking cloud focused DBA. You will be working as a subject matter expert, playing a key role in maintaining, building, and optimising our data storage solutions. You will work cross-functionally with business domain experts, engineers, product analysts and client delivery teams to troubleshoot performance issues, perform code reviews and ensure our data storage is as efficient and effective as it can be.

You will be developing and evolving the expertise of our product teams in designing and managing their Azure data storage needs as we increasingly move from monolithic to self-contained data stores. You will be working with a mixture of databases, most of which are running on Azure Platform-as-a-Service solutions, with the remaining VMs soon to be migrated

You will be working closely with our evolving support function to answer client queries and resolve support requests and issues, ensuring we continue to provide the stability to meet our business needs.

This opportunity will allow you to have a direct involvement on what we do and how we do it. If you have a desire to learn and wish to accelerate your career, we can give you exposure to every facet of enterprise SaaS software and as much responsibility as you are ready to handle!

Requirements

A good knowledge of the SQL Server engine and its internals will be critical, as much of the day-to-day will be hands on and involve areas such as code reviews, query/index tuning and investigations into blocking and deadlocks.

Additionally, background in a range of SQL Server features (such as backup/recovery solutions, replication, encryption, and security) is required as you'll be responsible for providing scalable and secure solutions for DrDoctor's relational data to help us meet our SLA requirements.

You'll also have experience in major database migrations from on-prem to cloud with minimal downtime and you will use this experience to help us move the last SQL Server instance over to Azure native SQL

Experience working in client facing environments or supporting complex, data-rich live services would also be an advantage, as part of this role will involve reacting to client support requests and queries.

In more detail, we’d like you to have experience of

• Azure SQL Server PaaS solutions including:
  • Azure SQL Database
  • Azure SQL Database Serverless
  • Azure SQL Managed Instance
• Performance and query tuning (locking, blocking, deadlocks, index design)
• SQL Server migrations (particularly to Azure PaaS)
• Database design and optimisations
• High Availability/Disaster Recovery options
• Excellent skills in writing T-SQL including stored procedures, table-valued functions, and triggers
• Replication and log shipping
• Being a database SME for developers and data engineers
• SQL Server/Azure security, auditing, and encryption options
• Managing large-scale test environments and generating test data
• Exposure to DevSecOps practices
• Exposure to Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) e.g. ARM templates, Bicep or Terraform.
• Azure Data Engineering tools e.g. Azure Data Factory, Databricks, Synapse Analytics
• Awareness of GDPR requirements and processes
• Experience with monitoring tools such as RedGate SQL Monitor or Solarwinds SentryOne
• Experience with NoSQL databases e.g. CosmosDB, Neo4j

Bonus points for

We know from research and experience that candidates may not apply if they don’t feel they meet 100% of our requirements. If you don’t tick all the boxes but feel you would be a good fit, we would still love to hear from you. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture!

You will use this experience to help us move the last SQL Server instance over to Azure native SQL

Benefits

I can’t wait to get started, what are the perks?

An awesome team? Ok, you want more?

• Remote by default approach - Everyone at DrDoctor will work remotely most of the time with regular opportunities to socialise and engage at office spaces available in London and Manchester.
• Flexible working (we support your family and personal commitments; you can work where you are at your best and at times when you feel most productive)
• 25 days holiday plus Bank Holidays (with our own extra DrDoctor Bank Holidays thrown in for good measure!)
• 4 duvet days per year for those days that you just don’t feel like working
• Personal development time every other Friday
• Team sports and other fitness classes adhoc
• Mental health support through our partner OpenUp and our own in-house Mental Health First Aiders
• Drinks/other fun things sent to you in the post
• Cycle to work scheme
• Enhanced parental leave (up to 16 weeks fully paid parental leave for anyone who brings a child into their home – whether this is via birth, adoption, or surrogacy)
• Salary banding for this role is: £47k - £68k
• Support in your career progression based on our progression framework, regular 6 months' pay reviews and mentoring opportunities
• EMI share options scheme!

As DrDoctor has grown, we are seeing more of our people wanting to socialise in different ways.

Whilst we know that some of us love to go to the pub, we want to make sure we are including a wide variety of activities and events for our teams to enjoy each other's company, we aim to continue creating an open space for anyone and everyone to suggest how they’d like to spend time with their teams.

When we're able to, we also do summer and Christmas parties and regular company/team socials and away days. So far in 2022, we have enjoyed picnics at a nearby farm, a water colouring session, board games evening and Crystal Maze! We have also held various events for celebrations such as Eid ul-Fitr, Holi Festival, International Women’s Day and our 10-year anniversary!