Principal Database Administrator

Cox Communications; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 178,000 - 297,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) employer match

Paid time off

Job summary

Cox Automotive is seeking a Principal Database Administrator to lead migration from on-premises databases to a scalable, cloud-native platform on AWS. You will partner with multiple product teams to stabilize existing infrastructure and architect a phased migration while ensuring high availability and security across enterprise systems.

The role requires expert-level leadership for SQL Server and cloud data platforms, with a focus on performance, backup/recovery, and CI/CD for database changes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related discipline; 10+ years in database roles.
• Experience with AWS RDS (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle) and NoSQL like DynamoDB.
• Experience designing high-performance, fault-tolerant databases and cloud migrations.

Responsibilities

• Support multiple product teams across Dealer Solutions and drive cloud migration initiatives.
• Manage on-premises database environment and lead phased migration to AWS.
• Define database strategy and drive modernization across engineering teams.
• Ensure high availability, security, and performance of enterprise platforms.

Skills

AWS RDS

NoSQL DynamoDB

SQL Server

Performance tuning

Cloud migration

High availability/DR

CI/CD for DB changes

Data modeling

Leadership & mentoring

Agile/Scrum/Kanban

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IS/Engineering or related

Master's degree in related field

PhD in related field

14+ years directly related experience

Tools

AWS

DynamoDB

GoldenGate/Always On

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Company Cox Automotive - USA Job Family Group Information Technology Job Profile Principal Database Administrator Management Level Director Flexible Work Option Hybrid - Ability to work remotely part of the week Travel % No Work Shift Day Compensation Compensation includes a base salary in the range of $178,200.00 - $297,000.00. The base salary may vary within the anticipated base pay range based on factors such as the ultimate location of the position and the selected candidate’s knowledge, skills, and abilities. Position may be eligible for additional compensation that may include an incentive program.

Job Description The Principal Database Administrator will support multiple product teams across Dealer Solutions and play a key role in working on (managed and optimized enterprise database systems) cloud migration initiatives. This role will be responsible for managing, optimizing, and re-architecting the current on-premises database environment. As a key technical enabler of the organization’s cloud strategy, the Senior Database Administrator will first stabilize and remediate the existing database infrastructure, then design and execute a safe, phased migration to AWS. This position bridges the gap between the current aging, monolithic on-premises database environment running on on-prem infrastructure and a future-state scalable, cost-efficient, cloud-native database platform. The ideal candidate is a technical leader who serves as the organization's primary database authority. They are responsible for defining database strategy, driving cloud modernization efforts, advising architects and software engineers on data architecture decisions, ensuring high availability and security of enterprise platforms, and leading complex migration, resiliency, and performance initiatives. They possess deep expertise across both traditional relational databases and modern cloud-native data platforms while influencing technical direction across multiple engineering teams.

Min Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related discipline with 10+ years of experience in database administration, database engineering, or related technical roles.
• The right candidate may also have a Master's degree with 8+ years of experience, a Ph.D. with 5+ years of experience, or 14+ years of directly related experience.
• Experience in database design, database code development, database administration, and systems engineering to build high-performance, fault-tolerant database systems and infrastructure for database-centric applications.
• 8+ years of experienced with multiple AWS RDS database technologies (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle) and NoSQL services such as DynamoDB, understanding trade-offs between AWS-managed variants.
• Experience supporting 24x7 production systems with strict SLAs and uptime requirements.
• Expertise in high-availability and disaster-recovery technologies (clustering, replication, failover, backup/restore strategies) to reduce risk and downtime across critical systems.
• Strong background in high-availability/disaster-recovery technologies (e.g., clustering, log shipping, GoldenGate, Always On, replica sets).
• Perform logical and physical database design, data modeling, performance management/monitoring architecting and building databases from business requirements through planning, testing, and production deployment.
• Provide expert-level leadership for Microsoft SQL Server environments, serving as the highest-level technical authority across database architecture, platform strategy, modernization, upgrades, migrations, cloud transformation, high availability, disaster recovery, replication, clustering, and backup/recovery ensuring resilient, scalable platforms with minimal business disruption and downtime.
• 8 years of performance tuning, indexing strategies, query optimization, and execution plan analysis.
• Drive innovation through implementation across functional teams, both internal and external, to meet business requirements.
• Ability to design and support solutions spanning relational databases and microservice architectures, selecting the right technology for the right workload.
• Strong collaboration with software engineers and architects on application and data architecture decisions, ensuring systems are built for scalability, resilience, and performance.
• Use of observability tools and operational intelligence platforms to proactively monitor database health and drive data-informed operational decisions.
• 8+ years Building and maturing CI/CD practices for database changes (schema migrations, deployment automation, version control, automated testing).
• Mentor database administrators, influence architects and developers, review complex technical designs, lead strategic initiatives, and define the long-term evolution of the database platform.
• Strong communication skills translating technical trade-offs for engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience working in Agile development environments (Scrum, Kanban, or similar), collaborating within sprint-based delivery cycles.

Drug Testing To be employed in this role, you’ll need to clear a pre-employment drug test. Cox Automotive does not currently administer a pre-employment drug test for marijuana for this position. However, we are a drug-free workplace, so the possession, use or being under the influence of drugs illegal under federal or state law during work hours, on company property and/or in company vehicles is prohibited.

Benefits

Benefits The Company offers eligible employees the flexibility to take as much vacation with pay as they deem consistent with their duties, the company’s needs, and its obligations; seven paid holidays throughout the calendar year; and up to 160 hours of paid wellness annually for their own wellness or that of family members.

• the flexibility to take as much vacation with pay as they deem consistent with their duties, the company’s needs, and its obligations
• seven paid holidays throughout the calendar year
• up to 160 hours of paid wellness annually for their own wellness or that of family members
• additional paid time off in the form of bereavement leave, time off to vote, jury duty leave, volunteer time off, military leave, and parental leave
• Benefits of working at Cox may include health care insurance (medical, dental, vision), retirement planning (401(k)), and paid days off (sick leave, parental leave, flexible vacation/wellness days, and/or PTO)

Employees are also eligible for additional paid time off in the form of bereavement leave, time off to vote, jury duty leave, volunteer time off, military leave, and parental leave.

About Us

Through groundbreaking technology and a commitment to stellar experiences for drivers and dealers alike, Cox Automotive employees are transforming the way the world buys, owns, sells – or simply uses – cars.

Cox Automotive employees get to work on iconic consumer brands like Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book and industry-leading dealer-facing companies like vAuto and Manheim, all while enjoying the people-centered atmosphere that is central to our life at Cox.

Benefits of working at Cox may include health care insurance (medical, dental, vision), retirement planning (401(k)), and paid days off (sick leave, parental leave, flexible vacation/wellness days, and/or PTO). For more details on what benefits you may be offered, visit our benefits page.

Cox is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer – All qualified applicants/employees will receive consideration for employment without regard to that individual’s age, race, color, religion or creed, national origin or ancestry, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, physical or mental disability, veteran status, genetic information, ethnicity, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law. Cox provides reasonable accommodations when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with disability, unless such accommodations would cause an undue hardship.

Applicants must currently be authorized to work in the United States for any employer without current or future sponsorship. No OPT, CPT, STEM/OPT or visa sponsorship now or in future.

Cox brings together the world’s greatest minds to help breathe life into new possibilities – and drive innovation for a better future. That’s why we look for individuals who share our pioneering spirit, have imaginative ideas and are fearless when it comes to tackling the world’s biggest challenges.

Our people love technology – and they love making a difference. They have a passion for finding new solutions and working with brilliant colleagues.

Every day they dedicate themselves to a huge range of exciting projects, contributing to the Cox vision around the globe. From engineering new sustainability solutions that conserve water and energy to creating the infrastructure for the smart cities of tomorrow, there’s no challenge too great for our pioneers.

And there’s no shortage of opportunities for you to make a difference. Come and experience the dynamic, collaborative and creative environments where your ideas are welcome and new discoveries are waiting. To help you grow to your full potential, we strive to support our employees in their career aspirations and promote the freedom to explore new horizons.