Hybrid Lead SQL Server Database Developer – Data Performance

SAGA PLC; Sandgate; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday + bank holidays

Pension matched up to 10%

Annual bonus up to 5%

Life assurance 4x salary

Saga Academy learning platform

Job summary

Saga plc, a long-standing UK specialist in services for people over 50, is seeking a Lead Database Developer to drive performance, scale, and quality of its Customer Hub data solution. You will lead SQL optimisations, data model design, and CI/CD delivery across partner integrations and growth initiatives.

You will mentor delivery teams, shape efficient data flows, and implement automation to improve reliability and speed, while ensuring data security and governance across critical systems.

Qualifications

• Expert knowledge of Microsoft SQL Server development, data engineering and performance optimisation.
• Extensive experience analysing query behaviour, execution plans, indexing approaches and performance diagnostics.
• Strong experience designing and improving high-volume transactional data solutions and business-critical applications.
• Advanced Transact-SQL development and optimisation skills.
• Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines for data-related delivery.
• Strong PowerShell and automation scripting capabilities.
• Experience using Azure DevOps, GitHub, or similar delivery platforms.
• Knowledge of deployment automation practices and repeatable engineering controls.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and root-cause analysis skills.
• Experience improving performance and resilience within business-critical systems.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities within a fast-paced Agile delivery environment.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Investigating performance bottlenecks across customer data processing and integration flows.
• Improving SQL code, stored procedures and data-processing logic for efficient delivery.
• Leading complex performance analysis activities and translating findings into engineering improvements.
• Supporting delivery teams in shaping data models, data flows and integration patterns.
• Helping ensure customer data services meet performance, security and quality expectations.
• Providing technical input into solution decisions affecting data quality and partner integrations.
• Identifying opportunities to improve efficiency of data processing and storage usage.
• Supporting data lifecycle and retention requirements through engineered approaches.
• Assessing data growth trends and recommending scalable designs.
• Developing and improving automated deployment and validation approaches.
• Integrating data change delivery within CI/CD pipelines.
• Implementing automation to improve delivery quality and productivity.
• Supporting release planning by assessing performance and data impact.
• Defining validation criteria for data changes and performance-sensitive releases.
• Working with delivery teams to ensure changes meet performance and quality expectations.
• Contributing to post-release learning for improved delivery outcomes.
• Providing technical guidance on data design, SQL development, performance and scalability.
• Supporting code reviews and engineering improvements for data changes.

Skills

SQL Server

T-SQL

Data engineering

Performance optimisation

Query analysis

CI/CD for data

Automation scripting

Azure DevOps

GitHub

Deployment automation

Agile delivery

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Tools

PowerShell

Azure DevOps

GitHub

SQL Server Management Studio

Job description

Saga plc, a long-standing UK specialist in services for people over 50, is seeking a Lead Database Developer to drive performance, scale, and quality of its Customer Hub data solution. You will lead SQL optimisations, data model design, and CI/CD delivery across partner integrations and growth initiatives.

You will mentor delivery teams, shape efficient data flows, and implement automation to improve reliability and speed, while ensuring data security and governance across critical systems.