Senior Sql Database Administrator

Lead Forensics; Portsmouth; Hybrid; GBP 85,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote-first culture

Occasional onsite collaboration

Job summary

Lead Forensics is seeking a Senior SQL Server DBA to own the core MS SQL Server estate and cloud databases (including SingleStore) for our SaaS products. You’ll drive availability, performance, security, automation, and lifecycle management across production, non‑production, and cloud environments, partnering with engineering, architecture and security teams.

You have 8+ years’ production database experience, expert T-SQL and HA/DR knowledge, and a proven ability to automate operations and

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience administering production databases, with senior DBA experience
• Strong, hands-on expertise with Microsoft SQL Server including installation, configuration, upgrades, backups, recovery, security and performance tuning
• Proven experience with high-volume OLTP SaaS environments and Always On/HA-DR options
• Experience automating operational tasks using scripting, CI/CD pipelines, and monitoring tools
• Experience with cloud databases (Azure or AWS) and distributed SQL platforms like SingleStore
• Strong collaboration skills across engineering, platform, and security teams
• Good understanding of data modeling, performance tuning, and security in regulated environments

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the current DBA to administer, monitor, and support all production and non-production Microsoft SQL Server instances and cloud database services, including SingleStore
• Ensure the highest levels of availability, reliability, performance, scalability, and security for SaaS workloads
• Lead proactive monitoring, capacity planning, health reporting, and incident response; identify risks before impact
• Diagnose and resolve complex queries, blocking, deadlocks, and resource contention; contribute to root-cause analysis
• Tune queries, indexes, schemas, and configurations; collaborate with developers to optimize data access
• Design, manage, and test backup, restore, HA/DR processes aligned with RPO/RTO
• Automate deployment and maintenance tasks via T-SQL, scripting, and CI/CD tooling
• Support safe releases and changes through the software delivery lifecycle
• Maintain runbooks, architecture records, and operational documentation

Job description

Senior SQL Server DBA - SaaS software production environment

About Lead Forensics

Lead Forensics is a rapidly growing SaaS leader in the B2B sales and marketing space. We are seeking an accomplished Senior SQL Server Database Administrator to join our engineering organisation. In this key role, you will partner with our existing DBA to manage, optimise, and protect the database platforms powering our customer-facing products and critical internal systems.

Role Overview

As a Senior SQL Server DBA, you will have end-to-end responsibility for our core Microsoft SQL Server estate and our expanding cloud database environment, including SingleStore. You’ll drive production operations, performance engineering, availability, security, automation, and lifecycle management for both transactional and analytical workloads.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced, pragmatic, and hands-on DBA who excels in technical leadership and is passionate about service quality. You’ll closely collaborate with software engineering, architecture, infrastructure, and security teams to maintain robust existing databases and modernise delivery with cloud and DevOps practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the current DBA to administer, monitor, and support all production and non-production Microsoft SQL Server instances and cloud database services, including SingleStore.
• Ensure the highest levels of availability, reliability, performance, scalability, and security for our business-critical SaaS workloads.
• Take ownership of proactive monitoring, alerting, capacity planning, and health reporting; identifying trends and addressing risks before they affect customers.
• Diagnose and resolve complex issues including queries, blocking, deadlocks, resource contention, storage, replication, and connectivity, and contribute to root-cause analysis and permanent solutions.
• Tune queries, indexes, execution plans, schemas, and configurations, working alongside developers to maximize application performance and data access efficiency.
• Design, manage, and regularly test robust backup, restore, high-availability, and disaster-recovery processes aligned with recovery objectives.
• Protect database security through least-privilege access, intelligent role design, encryption, auditing, vulnerability management, and regular access reviews in line with ISO 27001 standards.
• Plan and lead database installations, upgrades, patching, migrations, refreshes, and decommissioning following controlled change management and validation procedures.
• Automate repeatable administration, monitoring, and deployment tasks using T-SQL, scripting, and infrastructure or CI/CD pipeline tools.
• Support and review database changes throughout the software delivery lifecycle, ensuring safe releases using mature DevOps practices.
• Maintain up-to-date runbooks, architecture records, operational documentation, and knowledge sharing to reduce key-person dependency.
• Participate in a structured on-call/out-of-hours rota to support critical production services and planned maintenance.

About You

Experience & Background

• 8+ years of experience administering business-critical production databases, with significant recent experience in a senior DBA role.
• Strong, hands-on expertise with Microsoft SQL Server, including installation, configuration, upgrades, patching, backups, recovery, security, and performance tuning.
• Proven experience supporting high-volume OLTP systems and large datasets in demanding 24×7 environments, ideally SaaS.
• Advanced knowledge of SQL Server high-availability and disaster-recovery (HA/DR) options, such as Always On Availability Groups, clustering, replication, log shipping, and performing tested restores.
• Experience working effectively with software engineers, platform teams, and information security professionals across distributed teams.

Technical & Methodological Strengths

• Expert-level T-SQL skills, with deep understanding of execution plans, indexing, statistics, locking, isolation levels, and query optimization.
• Solid experience in database observability, baselining, and troubleshooting with native and third-party monitoring tools.
• Demonstrated ability to automate operational tasks using scripting, source control, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Hands-on experience managing databases in Azure or AWS, including managed services, resilient architecture, monitoring, and cost control.
• Experience with SingleStore or a distributed SQL platform, or the drive and aptitude to quickly build expertise here.
• Strong understanding of data modeling, schema design, partitioning, lifecycle management, and the differing needs of OLTP and analytical workloads.
• Excellent knowledge of secure database operation, privacy, auditing, and change management in a regulated environment.

Mindset & Style

• Calm, methodical, and accountable during production incidents with a strong sense of ownership for service reliability.
• Highly analytical, with the ability to transition between detailed troubleshooting, long-term improvement, and commercial priorities.
• Proactive about reducing manual effort through automation, standardization, and operational controls.
• Clear communicator capable of translating database risks, trade-offs, and recommendations for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Committed to continuous learning and adopting new database technologies when they create meaningful value.

Ideal Candidate Will Demonstrate

• A strong record of improving the reliability and performance of complex production SQL Server environments supporting SaaS products.
• Evidence of incident prevention through monitoring, capacity planning, disciplined operational practices, and proactive improvements.
• Experience managing successful database migrations or modernization projects with minimal service disruption and robust rollback plans.
• The ability to constructively challenge database designs and collaborate with engineering to balance performance, resilience, speed, and cost.
• Relevant Microsoft, cloud, or database certifications are welcomed, but demonstrable expertise is paramount.

Why Join Lead Forensics?

• Senior, hands-on role with significant influence over the reliability and evolution of our core data platforms.
• Opportunity to work with both established SQL Server services and innovative cloud database technologies like SingleStore.
• Collaborate with talented engineering, architecture, infrastructure, and security professionals at scale.
• Be part of a fast-paced, forward-thinking company focused on delivering high-performance, commercially effective SaaS solutions.
• Remote-first culture with occasional onsite collaboration.

What We Offer

• Employment with a rapidly growing UK SaaS company.
• Remote role (hybrid working in our Cosham office available if preferred) with availability to visit for occasional in-person workshops.
• Competitive salary and benefits.
• Exceptional company culture - displaying strong DNA, a “One Team” ethos, and focus on growth.
• Opportunities to give back through volunteer days, fundraisers, and charity events.