Senior MS SQL Database Administrator - Mechanicsville, VA

Zohorecruit; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

VDOT ITD Tolling seeks a SQL Server/Cloud DBA to administer and support SQL Server and cloud databases within the Tolling Engineering and Operations Team. The role includes help desk and application support duties in rotation.

The candidate will manage SQL Server and cloud databases, perform installations and migrations, and tune performance while collaborating with Engineering and Operations professionals. Strong T‑SQL, clustering, and deadlock analysis are essential.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or higher in CS/IS or equivalent experience.
• 6+ years of MS SQL Server database experience.
• 3–4 years upgrading E‑ZPass Virginia Tolling SQL Server environments from SQL 2012 to 2019.
• Experience diagnosing deadlocks and blocking in Tolling workloads.
• Experience tuning Very Large Databases (2 TB+) including index optimization and workload analysis.

Responsibilities

• Monitor databases to ensure uptime and availability.
• Troubleshoot connectivity, access, and security issues.
• Tune long-running SQL and optimize performance.
• Review and refine database tasks to align with priorities.
• Utilize OS scripting for maintenance and diagnostics.
• Plan and execute changes to existing database implementations.
• Perform SQL Server installations (2022, 2025+) with failover clustering.
• Demonstrate data modeling knowledge.

Skills

MS SQL Server

SQL Performance Tuning

Azure Cloud

SSIS SSAS SSRS

Transact-SQL

Database Upgrades

Deadlock Analysis

VLDB Tuning

SQL Server Clustering

Windows Server

Education

Master’s degree in Computer Science / Information Systems

Tools

Azure Cloud Services

SQL Server Management Studio

Job description

Richmond, United States | Posted on 10/05/2026

• Actual Job Title 812167 - VDOT Senior MS SQL Database Administrator
• Job Type FT Contract
• Date Opened 10/05/2026
• Target Date 10/09/2026
• Country United States
• Assigned Recruiter(s) Dinesh Mathi
• Number of Positions 1

Job Description

VDOT ITD Tolling group is seeking a SQL Server / Cloud DBA to join the Tolling Eng and Ops Team to administer and support SQL Server and cloud databases in the Tolling group; the role also includes help desk and application support responsibilities.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Information Technology Division (ITD) Tolling group is seeking a SQL Server database /Cloud database administrator to join the Tolling Engineering and Operations Team. The selected candidate will administer and support SQL Server and cloud databases in the Tolling group. Additional help desk and application support responsibilities will be part of rotation with the Tolling team.

The selected candidate has:

• ·Expertise working as a SQL Server DBA
• ·Expertise working with SQL clustering, mirroringand high availability
• ·Experience working with large SQL databases
• ·Expertise in writing Transact SQL
• ·Experience tuning SQL Server databases
• ·Expertise in installing, upgrading, patching andmigrating SQL Server databases
• ·Experience working on a Windows platform
• ·Exposure to SSIS, SSAS, & SSRS
• ·Experience working with Azure Cloud

The selected candidate will:

• ·Monitor databases to maintain/ensure databaseuptime and availability.
• ·Troubleshoot application/database issues relatedto connectivity, access, security, etc.
• ·Tune long running SQL
• ·Review & refine existing database tasks andprocesses to better align with agency/group priorities.
• ·Leverage & utilize O/S scripting utilitiesin support of database maintenance/diagnosis/support.
• ·Review the existing database implementation andpropose, execute, and/or direct necessary changes.
• ·Perform SQL Server installations (2022,2025+ w/failover clustering).
• ·Knowledgeable of data modeling principles

Be expected to...

• ·Rely on experience and judgment to plan andaccomplish goals.
• ·Independently perform a variety of complicatedtasks.
• ·Work with a team of Engineering and Operationsprofessionals.
• ·Communicate clearly and effectively, bothspeaking and in writing.

Qualifications:

• ·At least 6 years of experience w/ Microsoft SQLServer database
• ·At least 1 year of Azure, Snowflake, orDatabricks experience (a certification is acceptable in lieu of experience)
• ·Master’s degree in computer science, informationsystems or other applicable and/or equivalent skills, knowledge and/or workhistory
• ·Demonstrated experience in communicatingeffectively using standard requirements and design artifacts
• ·Minimum 3–4 years hands‑on experience upgradingE‑ZPassVirginia Tolling SQL Server environments from SQL 2012 to SQL 2019, includingcompatibility evaluations, Query Tuning Assistant, and Database MigrationAssistant.
• ·Experience diagnosing and resolving deadlocksand blocking in Tolling production workloads, including extended events, QueryStore, and wait statistic analysis.
• ·Experience tuning Very Large Databases (2 TB+)including index optimization, long‑running workload analysis, andminimizing resource contention.

Desired knowledge of and experience with the followingtechnologies:

• ·Cloud databases (Azure, Snowflake, and/orDatabricks)

Requirements

• Skill
• Required / Desired
• Amount
• of Experience
• MS SQL Server Database Management
• Required
• 6
• Years
• SQL Server Tuning
• Required
• 3
• Years
• Upgrading E-ZPass tolling databases
• Required
• 2
• Years
• Diagnosing and resolving deadlocks and blocking in Tolling production workloads
• Required
• 3
• Years
• Tuning Very Large Databases (2 TB+) including index optimization, long-running workload analysis, and minimizing resource contention
• Required
• 2
• Years
• Experience working with SSIS, SSRS & SSAS
• Required
• 3
• Years
• Coding & debugging Transact SQL
• Required
• 1
• Years
• Expertise in installing, upgrading, patching and migrating SQLServer databases
• Required
• 4
• Years
• DB Administration on Azure Cloud, Snowflake, and/or Databricks
• Nice to have
• 1
• Years