Senior Sql Database Administrator

Pear Talent - Finance Recruitment; Abu Dhabi Emirate; On-site; AED 420,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

Pear Talent - Finance Recruitment in Abu Dhabi seeks a Senior SQL Server DBA to own mission-critical production databases and lead SQL Server production support for global operations.

You will drive performance tuning, HA/DR, and automation while contributing to the modernisation of the data platform, including Databricks and cloud data solutions. The role involves 24/7 cross-regional coverage and close collaboration with engineering teams.

Qualifications

• Significant hands-on Microsoft SQL Server experience in enterprise environments.
• Strong expertise in SQL Server performance tuning and optimisation.
• Experience with Always On Availability Groups, HA/DR, replication, backup and recovery.
• Proven experience supporting 24/7 production environments and critical incidents.
• Experience in financial services or high-performance environments is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Take senior ownership of a large-scale SQL Server production environment.
• Provide expert support across SQL Server administration, performance tuning, troubleshooting, HA/DR and disaster recovery.
• Lead and resolve complex production incidents with cross-functional teams.
• Analyse and optimise queries, execution plans, indexing, blocking and performance.
• Support and improve backup/recovery strategies and disaster recovery planning.
• Identify opportunities for automation and operational improvement.

Skills

Microsoft SQL Server

SQL Server performance tuning

Production support

24/7 production coverage

Cloud/data platform

Tools

Always On Availability Groups

HA/DR

Azure

Databricks

Snowflake

Job description

A leading global hedge fund is building out its Data Production Operations capability in Abu Dhabi and is looking for a highly experienced Senior SQL Server DBA / Database Administrator to take ownership of a critical global SQL Server estate.

This is much more than a traditional DBA support role. You'll have genuine ownership of mission-critical production databases supporting global investment and trading operations, while also playing a key role in the modernisation of the firm's wider data platform.

The Opportunity

You'll join a global database and data engineering team responsible for keeping critical data platforms highly available, resilient and performant across regions and time zones.

The role will initially have a strong focus on SQL Server production support and operations, including out-of-hours coverage for US-based teams, but there is significant scope to influence how the platform evolves.

A major part of the longer-term roadmap is the migration and modernisation of a large SQL Server estate, including a significant internal platform containing thousands of tables, with the aim of moving towards Databricks and/or other modern data warehouse technologies.

You'll therefore have the opportunity to combine deep SQL Server expertise with cloud, data platform and modernisation initiatives.

What you'll be doing

• Take senior ownership of a large-scale SQL Server production environment supporting business-critical applications.
• Provide expert support across SQL Server administration, performance tuning, troubleshooting, HA/DR and disaster recovery.
• Lead and resolve complex production incidents, including high-severity issues, working closely with application, infrastructure and engineering teams.
• Analyse and optimise queries, execution plans, indexing, blocking, deadlocks and database performance.
• Support and improve Always On Availability Groups, replication, backup/recovery and disaster recovery strategies.
• Identify opportunities for automation, monitoring, standardisation and operational improvement.
• Work closely with application and engineering teams to understand requirements and provide database solutions rather than simply responding to tickets.
• Contribute to major database migration and modernisation programmes, helping define how workloads move from traditional SQL Server platforms into newer data technologies.
• Partner with global colleagues across the US, UK and UAE to provide resilient 24/7 production coverage.

What we’re looking for

You'll be an experienced SQL Server DBA / Database Administrator with a strong background in complex, production-critical environments. You'll ideally bring:

• Significant hands-on Microsoft SQL Server experience in enterprise environments.
• Strong expertise across SQL Server performance tuning, troubleshooting and optimisation.
• Experience with Always On Availability Groups, HA/DR, replication, backup and recovery.
• Proven experience supporting 24/7 production environments and handling critical incidents.
• Experience working within financial services, investment banking, asset management, hedge funds or similarly high-performance environments is highly desirable.
• Experience supporting applications where database availability and performance have a direct business impact.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively with developers, application teams, infrastructure and senior technology stakeholders.
• A mindset focused on automation, continuous improvement and engineering quality, rather than simply BAU database administration.
• Exposure to Azure, Databricks, Snowflake, modern data warehouses or cloud data platforms would be advantageous.
• Experience of large-scale database migration, cloud migration or data platform modernisation is particularly relevant.

Why consider it?

• High-impact production environment – work on technology where database performance and reliability genuinely matter to the business.
• Real ownership – this is an opportunity to become a senior technical owner within the Abu Dhabi operation rather than another DBA within a large support function.
• Modernisation agenda – contribute to a major programme moving from traditional SQL Server infrastructure towards modern data platforms.
• Global exposure – work directly with engineering and technology teams across the US, UK and UAE.
• AI-enabled engineering environment – the wider technology organisation is actively using tools including Claude Code and OpenAI to improve platform tooling and engineering productivity.
• Career opportunity – significant scope to develop beyond traditional SQL Server administration into broader data engineering, cloud and platform architecture.
• If you're an experienced SQL Server DBA who wants to combine deep technical ownership with large-scale data platform modernisation, this is an opportunity worth exploring.