Sr Lead, Database Development

Mployee.me; Pune District; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,100,000; Full time

Job summary

Northern Trust is seeking a senior DBA to own and govern enterprise SQL Server databases across on‑premises and cloud environments. The role focuses on performance, security, and data protection, with leadership responsibilities and incident escalation duties.

You will lead DBA standards, optimize ingestion pipelines, and ensure reliable reporting and data lineage across systems from Pune to the globe. This role is based in Pune and aligns with our customer‑centric, risk‑aware culture.

Qualifications

• Proven experience managing SQL Server databases across on-premises and cloud.
• Knowledge of data protection databases, DR/BA planning and governance.
• Ability to mentor engineers and lead incidents and improvements.

Responsibilities

• Own DBA standards, guardrails, and support models across environments.
• Design, build, and maintain SQL Server databases (on premise and Azure).
• Monitor and tune performance, capacity, and security continually.
• Lead backup, restore, DR, and high-availability strategies.
• Provide senior DBA oversight for ETL/ingestion pipelines.
• Act as escalation point for reporting failures linked to database issues.

Skills

SQL Server

Database design

Performance tuning

Data protection

Leadership

Tools

Azure SQL Managed Instance

SQL Server

Job description

About Northern Trust

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.

Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.

With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

• Primary DBA Ownership (Core Accountability)
• Act as the primary DBA for all Data Protection databases across production, UAT, and development environments.
• Own database availability, performance, capacity, security, backup, recovery, and lifecycle management.
• Serve as final technical escalation for database incidents, outages, and data integrity issues.
• Define and enforce DBA standards, operational guardrails, and support models.
• Database Architecture & Engineering
• Design, build, and maintain enterprise grade SQL Server databases (on premise and cloud, including Azure SQL Managed Instance).
• Own physical and logical database design, including:
• Schema design
• Indexing strategies
• Partitioning
• Performance tuning
• Lead database strategy for new Data Protection services, integrations, and platform migrations.
• Govern schema evolution to ensure backward compatibility and reporting stability.
• Performance, Reliability & Capacity Management
• Proactively monitor and tune database performance (queries, indexes, memory, IO).
• Lead capacity planning and forecasting, including storage, compute, and growth modelling.
• Design and test backup, restore, disaster recovery, and high availability strategies in line with enterprise RTO/RPO expectations.
• Data Ingestion, ETL & Automation
• Provide senior DBA oversight and hands on support for ETL and ingestion pipelines.
• Ensure ingestion processes are performant, resilient, recoverable, and auditable.
• Optimize ingestion for high volume, complex, and inconsistent datasets.
• Drive automation to reduce manual DBA intervention and operational risk.
• SQL Engineering & Reporting Enablement
• Develop and govern complex SQL queries, views, and stored procedures that underpin:
• Regulatory reporting
• Audit evidence
• Executive dashboards
• Ensure reporting accuracy, data lineage, and traceability.
• Act as escalation point for reporting failures driven by database issues.
• Security, Controls & Regulatory Readiness
• Own database level security controls, including:
• Access control models
• Service account governance
• Credential rotation
• Encryption and secure connectivity
• Ensure databases meet audit, regulatory, and risk management expectations, including evidence production.
• Partner with Risk, Audit, and Control teams to remediate database related findings.
• Operational Leadership
• Lead response to major incidents and post incident root cause analysis.
• Mentor engineers and analysts on database best practices without direct line management.
• Provide clear risk signals, options, and recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• Represent DBA interests in architecture, change, and governance forums.
• Documentation & Standards
• Own DBA runbooks, operational documentation, health check reporting, and capacity plans.
• Define repeatable operational procedures for database changes and maintenance.
• Contribute to Data Protection service documentation and control narratives.

Working with Us

As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve.

Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust’s history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.

Reasonable Accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at [e-mail], or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.

About Our Pune Office

The Northern Trust Pune office, established in 2016, is now home to over 3,000 employees. The office handles various functions, including Operations for Asset Servicing and Wealth Management, as well as delivering critical technology solutions that support business operations across the globe.

Our Pune team takes our commitment to service to heart. In 2024, they volunteered more than 10,000+ hours into the communities where they live and work. Learn more.