Cloud-First SQL Database Administrator - Azure

iO Associates; Lancashire; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

iO Associates is seeking an Azure-focused database engineer to own production SQL Server environments in Azure. The role requires hands-on cloud experience with Azure SQL Database or Azure SQL Managed Instance and a track record of moving workloads to the cloud.

You will work within a Cloud Platform team to deploy, operate, secure, and improve database estates, driving automation and cloud-native practices across development and production environments.

Qualifications

• Minimum five years of production database administration experience.
• Strong Microsoft SQL Server expertise and production ownership.
• Hands-on experience with Azure at scale in production environments.
• Experience with backups, restore, HA/DR, security and vulnerability management.

Responsibilities

• Manage and optimise production database services within Azure.
• Support migration of SQL Server workloads to Azure.
• Monitor performance; tune queries, indexing, capacity, CPU and I/O.
• Design and maintain backup, restore, HA and disaster-recovery processes.
• Implement database security, encryption, access controls, patching and vulnerability management.
• Automate database provisioning, configuration and routine operational tasks.
• Improve CI/CD processes for database changes and deployments.
• Establish cloud database standards, documentation and runbooks.
• Collaborate with Platform Engineering, Architecture, Information Security and Compliance teams.
• Provide production ownership of Azure-based databases.

Skills

SQL Server fundamentals

Azure cloud experience

Automation scripting

DevOps practices

CI/CD for databases

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Managed Instance

SQL Server

PowerShell

Job description

This is not a traditional on-premise SQL Server DBA position.

We are looking for a genuinely cloud-first DBA who combines strong SQL Server fundamentals with substantial, recent experience managing production database services in Microsoft Azure.

You must already be comfortable operating within Azure at scale. This role will not suit someone whose career has been almost entirely focused on on-premise SQL Server and who is now looking for their first meaningful cloud opportunity.

The role

Working within a modern Cloud Platform team, you will take responsibility for the deployment, operation, security and continual improvement of development and production database environments.

You will help move the database estate towards cloud-native, automated and repeatable ways of working-improving resilience, performance, security and operational efficiency across the platform.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Managing and optimising production database services within Azure
• Supporting the modernisation and migration of SQL Server workloads into Azure
• Monitoring performance and resolving issues involving queries, indexing, capacity, CPU and I/O
• Designing and maintaining backup, restore, high-availability and disaster-recovery processes
• Implementing database security, encryption, access controls, patching and vulnerability management
• Automating database provisioning, configuration and routine operational tasks
• Improving CI/CD processes for database changes and deployments
• Establishing cloud database standards, documentation and operational runbooks
• Working closely with Platform Engineering, Architecture, Information Security, Compliance and application teams
• At least five years' experience in database administration, with strong Microsoft SQL Server expertise
• Substantial, recent hands-on experience operating large-scale Azure infrastructure and database services
• Production experience with Azure SQL Database and/or Azure SQL Managed Instance
• Experience modernising or migrating SQL Server workloads into Azure-not simply supporting SQL Server on-premise
• Strong knowledge of performance monitoring, query optimisation, indexing and capacity management
• Expertise across backup, restore, replication, resilience and disaster recovery
• Experience applying database security and least-privilege access controls within Azure
• Strong scripting and automation capability using PowerShell, Python or similar
• Experience with modern CloudOps, DevOps or Site Reliability Engineering practices
• Familiarity with CI/CD, source-controlled database changes and automated deployments
• Working knowledge of Windows and Linux operating environments
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills within a complex enterprise environment

What "cloud-first" means for this position:

Your Azure experience must be practical and production-based. Certifications are valuable, but they will not replace evidence that you have personally operated, secured, automated and optimised database platforms within Azure.

This opportunity is unlikely to be suitable if your experience is predominantly:

• Long-term administration of traditional on-premise SQL Server estates
• Limited to SQL Server hosted on Azure virtual machines
• Based on training, certifications or personal projects rather than production ownership
• Focused on manual DBA processes without automation, DevOps or cloud-native practices

We are looking for someone who is already an Azure-focused database engineer-not a traditional DBA hoping to transition into one.