Oracle Patching SME

Cognizant; Toronto; On-site; CAD 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognizant seeks an experienced Oracle Patch Tower Lead to own quarterly PSU/RU and CPU patch cycles across 20,700+ Oracle DB instances including RAC Grid Infrastructure rolling patches, ASM considerations, and Data Guard switchovers. You will interface with client DBA L2/L3 and application owners during Canada hours, ensuring governance and timely changes.

Responsibilities include patch execution, backup validation, post-patch verification, and incident RCA.

Qualifications

• Mandatory ITIL 4 Foundation certification.
• Oracle patching expertise across 20,700+ DB instances including RAC and Data Guard.
• Experience with Change governance and cross-team coordination.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute quarterly PSU/RU and CPU patches via OPatch/opatchauto and datapatch.
• Perform GI/RAC rolling patching with ASM and Data Guard considerations.
• Take pre-patch backups, run health checks, verify post-patch, and rollback if needed.
• Track CVEs, version currency, and EOL/EOS migrations; maintain CMDB/KEDB.
• Coordinate sign-off with client DBA L2/L3 and application owners; RCA for patch failures.
• Author RFC/CAB submissions; align with patch release calendars.
• Own tower compliance reporting; present KPIs for governance reviews.

Skills

Oracle patching

Oracle RAC

Data Guard

Grid Infrastructure

ASM

OPatch

opatchauto

datapatch

Bash/Shell scripting

Ansible

Python DBA scripts

ITSM & CMDB

OEM/Monitoring

Education

ITIL 4 Foundation

OCP – Oracle Database 19c

OCA (SME level)

OCM (strong plus)

Oracle RAC/Grid Infrastructure credential

OCI certification

Tools

OPatch

opatchauto

datapatch

RMAN

KEDB/CMDB tooling

Job description

ROLE SUMMARY

The Oracle DB Patching Tower Lead (Onshore) is the primary Oracle interface to client DBA L2/L3 and application owners during Canada hours. This role owns quarterly PSU/RU and CPU patch cycles across 20,700+ Oracle DB instances — including RAC Grid Infrastructure rolling patches, ASM considerations, Data Guard switchovers, and OPatch/opatchauto execution. Deep Oracle DBA patching expertise is mandatory, along with strong change governance and cross-team coordination.

ROLE IN THE OPERATING MODEL

• Tower/pod lead and SME for Oracle patching — primary Oracle interface to client DBA L2/L3 and application owners during Canada hours and weekend windows
• Coordinates application-owner sign-off post-patching; owns Oracle tower compliance reporting to the Patch Service Lead
• Operates as Oracle execution layer under client direction; database design and engineering remain client DBA L2/L3 owned
• Directs offshore Oracle SMEs during onshore hours; manages escalation within agreed SLTs

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Plan and execute Oracle quarterly PSU/RU and CPU security patches via OPatch/opatchauto and datapatch
• Perform Grid Infrastructure/RAC rolling patching with ASM and Data Guard considerations to minimise disruption
• Take pre-patch RMAN backups, run health checks, validate post-patch, and roll back PSU/RU on failure
• Track DB CVEs, version currency, and EOL/EOS (e.g., 12c → 19c migration need); maintain compliance and update CMDB/KEDB
• Coordinate with client DBA L2/L3 and application owners for sign-off; perform RCA for patch failures
• Author RFC/CAB submissions for Oracle patch waves; align with client quarterly release calendar
• Own Oracle tower compliance reporting; present KPIs to the Patch Service Lead for governance reviews

TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE SCOPE

• Execute Oracle quarterly PSU/RU and CPU patches via OPatch/opatchauto and datapatch across standalone, RAC, and Data Guard environments
• Perform GI/RAC rolling patching — node-by-node execution, cluster resource validation, ASM disk group health checks
• Take pre-patch RMAN backups; run INVALID object recompilation and listener restart post-patch
• Execute OPatch conflict analysis and prerequisite checks; manage opatch prereq failure workarounds
• Roll back PSU/RU on failure; document RCA and update KEDB
• Track Oracle CPU release schedule (Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct) and plan waves 4–6 weeks in advance
• Author RFC/CAB documentation; coordinate maintenance window scheduling with DBA teams

SKILLS, TOOLS & COMPETENCIES

Primary Skills

• DB Platforms: Oracle 11g/12c/19c/21c · Oracle RAC · Oracle Data Guard · Oracle GI (Grid Infrastructure) · ASM
• Patching Tools: OPatch · opatchauto · datapatch · OJVM patching · PSU/RU/CPU/GDR patch types · Conflict detection
• Automation: Bash/Shell scripting · Ansible Oracle roles · Python DBA scripts · opatchauto orchestration
• ITSM & Vuln: ServiceNow (Change/CMDB) · Tenable · Qualys · RFC/CAB · KEDB management
• Observability: Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) · Splunk · Dynatrace · Moogsoft · AWR/ASH awareness

Secondary Skills

• SQL/PL-SQL fundamentals and shell scripting for Oracle automation
• Oracle Exadata / Engineered Systems awareness
• Multitenant architecture (CDB/PDB) patching awareness
• Cloud DB (OCI/Azure) fundamentals

CERTIFICATIONS

Mandatory

• ITIL 4 Foundation

Preferred (one or more)

• Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) — Oracle Database 19c (mandatory preference)
• Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) acceptable at SME level; Oracle Certified Master (OCM) a strong plus
• Oracle RAC / Grid Infrastructure Specialist credential
• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) certification — advantageous

NICE TO HAVE

• Experience patching Oracle in financial services with high-availability, zero-downtime requirements
• Oracle Exadata patching experience
• OEM 13c grid monitoring operational experience

WORK MODEL & COMMITMENT

Hours: Canada business hours + weekend change window coverage

Shift Model: Hybrid onshore; quarterly PSU cycles and weekend maintenance windows

On-Call: Yes — emergency Oracle CVE response and RAC failover events

Language: English (mandatory)

Compensation

We are offering between $60,000 – $85,000. Applications will be accepted until Aug 21, 2026.Cognizant will only consider applicants for this position who are legally authorized to work in Canada without requiring employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future.

Disclaimer

The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.

*Please note, this role is not able to offer visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future*