Senior Database Administrator

• Senior-level DBA role within a large, multi-site European food manufacturing business
• Deep SQL Server specialism required ... on-prem and Azure SQL / Managed Instance
• On-site role based in Rushmere, Craigavon
• Be the technical authority for a business-critical SQL estate and help shape the infrastructure roadmap

Our client is a large, well-established European food manufacturing business operating across multiple sites at significant scale. Their IT Operations function is undergoing meaningful modernisation, with a clear roadmap to evolve their SQL environment from on-prem into the cloud. This is a business where infrastructure professionals are given genuine ownership and are expected to influence technology direction, not just keep the lights on.

This is a senior individual contributor position within the Infrastructure team, reporting to the Infrastructure Manager. You will be the technical escalation point for everything database-related ... owning a complex, business-critical SQL Server estate spanning on-premises and Azure. You will collaborate closely with development, architecture, and wider infrastructure teams, and will have a seat at the table when it comes to design authority decisions and technology strategy.

The right person brings deep SQL expertise, thrives with autonomy, and is comfortable translating complex technical issues for non-technical stakeholders.

• Own and proactively manage the full portfolio of SQL Server infrastructure across on-premises and Azure environments
• Lead technical escalation for high-priority database incidents and complex problem records, driving root cause analysis and resolution
• Design, implement and maintain high availability and disaster recovery solutions for SQL Server
• Drive performance tuning and optimisation across the SQL estate, identifying and resolving bottlenecks proactively
• Lead database security patch management, access management, and compliance with IT change control processes
• Deliver migration of SQL workloads from on-premises SQL Server to Azure SQL and Managed Instance using Data Migration tooling
• Contribute to the Infrastructure Roadmap and Technology Strategy, participating in design authority reviews for IT programmes
• Produce health check reports and service performance reviews, with practical recommendations for risk mitigation and improvement
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to colleagues across the database and infrastructure teams
• Manage third-party vendor relationships for technical support, build and maintenance activities

• Significant experience (5+ years) in a DBA or senior database infrastructure role within a medium to large organisation
• Deep, expert-level knowledge of Microsoft SQL Server administration, including security patch management and access management
• Proven experience with performance tuning and optimisation, backups, restores, and recovery models
• Strong experience with High Availability and Disaster Recovery options for SQL Server (Always On, clustering, log shipping, etc.)
• Hands-on experience supporting Azure PaaS databases including Azure SQL and Managed Instance
• Experience migrating SQL workloads to Azure SQL using Data Migration tooling
• Ability to troubleshoot database connectivity issues relating to firewalls, proxy, and networking
• Scripting capability using SQL cmd and Power Shell
• Experience with SSRS, SSAS, and SSIS
• Thorough working knowledge of ITIL principles and Incident, Change and Problem Management
• Excellent communication skills ... able to translate complex database issues into plain language for business stakeholders
• Full right to work in the UK

• Degree-level qualification, ITIL Foundation (v3 or above), or Prince2 Foundation
• Experience with budgetary or financial controls within a technology function

• A senior, high-ownership role with genuine influence over technology direction and the infrastructure roadmap
• Work across a complex, business-critical SQL estate spanning on-prem and Azure ... no two days the same
• Be the escalation point and technical authority for a database team in a business that invests in its infrastructure
• Stable, established business with significant scale across Europe
• Collaborative IT Operations culture with strong internal progression opportunities