Lead SQL DBA – Managed Services Expert

Ekco; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 25d

Birthday leave

Company pension

EAP

Pluralsight access

Growth opportunities

Job summary

Ekco seeks an experienced SQL Server DBA to lead its Managed SQL Service. The Lead DBA will act as the technical authority for the practice, ensuring customer SQL Server estates are managed, maintained, and optimised to high standards of availability, performance, security and compliance.

The role involves mentoring DBAs, ensuring SLAs are met, managing workloads, and contributing to onboarding and proposed changes.

Qualifications

• Extensive hands-on SQL Server administration across versions 2012–current.
• Excellent HA/DR knowledge: Always On AGs, Failover Clustering, log shipping, replication.
• Backup and restore expertise including URL/blob storage, point-in-time, and full restores.
• Experience configuring and troubleshooting Transactional Replication.
• Strong networking and Windows Server understanding, AD and DNS.
• Scripting and automation via PowerShell and T-SQL.
• Experience with enterprise monitoring tools (Redgate/SolarWinds/Datadog).
• Azure experience incl. Azure SQL, IaaS, or hybrid environments.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership to the DBAs and engineers within the Managed SQL Service team.
• Ensure SLAs and service commitments are met and address risks early.
• Manage the team queue and balance tickets, planned work and projects.
• Maintain accurate documentation, runbooks, and client configuration records.
• Conduct proactive health checks, capacity planning and performance baselining.
• Present findings and recommendations to client stakeholders during reviews.
• Support presales: scoping, sizing, and proposals for database work.
• Lead onboarding of new clients: discovery, health check, remediation plan and transition.
• Plan and lead installations, upgrades, migrations, and decommissioning.
• Participate in a 24/7 on-call rota for the managed service.

Skills

SQL Server

Always On AGs

Failover Clustering

Backup and restore

Replication

PowerShell

T-SQL

Azure SQL

Security administration

Monitoring tools

Tools

Redgate SQL Monitor

SolarWinds SQL Sentry

Datadog

Job description

Ekco seeks an experienced SQL Server DBA to lead its Managed SQL Service. The Lead DBA will act as the technical authority for the practice, ensuring customer SQL Server estates are managed, maintained, and optimised to high standards of availability, performance, security and compliance.

The role involves mentoring DBAs, ensuring SLAs are met, managing workloads, and contributing to onboarding and proposed changes.