Senior SQL Database Automation Engineer

TechClub Inc; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

TechClub Inc. is seeking a Database Engineer who is a strong software/platform engineer with deep hands-on database expertise. This role emphasizes automation, scripting, IaC, and CI/CD, with MS SQL Server as the primary platform.

You will work closely with application and engineering teams to build scalable, automated database solutions. The ideal candidate brings a powerful coding background, experience automating database deployments, and a proactive approach to performance, reliability, and

Qualifications

• 5+ years of enterprise database engineering/administration experience.
• Strong MS SQL Server depth in enterprise/production environments.
• Experience automating database deployments and changes.
• Experience with Git-based development and GitOps practices.
• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code and CI/CD pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Administer, maintain, and engineer enterprise database platforms.
• Primarily support Microsoft SQL Server environments.
• Implement DDL, DCL, schema changes, object migrations, indexes, and data model changes.
• Review and implement database changes following engineering and enterprise standards.
• Support database deployments across development, testing, and production environments.
• Work with application teams on database design, implementation, and troubleshooting.

Skills

SQL development

Database architecture

Git / GitOps

Scripting and automation

CI/CD concepts

Infrastructure-as-Code

Production support

Troubleshooting

Collaboration with engineering teams

Tools

Git

GitOps

PowerShell

Python

Bash

SQL Server Management Studio

Job description

We are looking for a Database Engineer who is first and foremost a strong software/platform engineer with deep hands-on database expertise.

This is not a traditional DBA-only role. The ideal candidate is a strong coder who is comfortable with Git, GitOps, automation, scripting, Infrastructure-as-Code, CI/CD, and engineering tools, while also having solid experience managing and optimizing enterprise databases.

Microsoft SQL Server is the highest-priority database platform for this role. Experience with Oracle, Db2, Cassandra, MarkLogic, or other database technologies is valuable, but strong MS SQL Server expertise is preferred.

What We Are Looking For

The ideal candidate should have:

• Strong software/platform engineering background.
• Excellent coding and scripting skills.
• Experience with Git and GitOps practices.
• Strong automation mindset and experience building tools/scripts.
• Experience automating database deployments and operational processes.
• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code and CI/CD pipelines.
• Deep understanding of database architecture, performance, reliability, and troubleshooting.
• Ability to build solutions rather than simply perform traditional DBA operations.
• Strong problem-solving and root cause analysis skills.
• Experience working closely with application and engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Administer, maintain, and engineer enterprise database platforms.
• Primarily support Microsoft SQL Server environments.
• Implement DDL, DCL, schema changes, object migrations, indexes, and data model changes.
• Review and implement database changes following engineering and enterprise standards.
• Support database deployments across development, testing, and production environments.
• Work with application teams on database design, implementation, and troubleshooting.

Database Performance Engineering

• Monitor and optimize database performance.
• Analyze and tune SQL queries, stored procedures, indexes, and execution plans.
• Troubleshoot CPU, memory, locking, blocking, I/O, and concurrency issues.
• Perform capacity planning and resource optimization.
• Identify performance bottlenecks and develop long-term engineering solutions.
• Recommend database architecture improvements for scalability and reliability.

Automation & Software Engineering

• Develop automation for repetitive database and operational tasks.
• Build scripts and tools using PowerShell, Python, Bash, or similar technologies.
• Automate database deployments and change implementation.
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines and GitOps-based workflows.
• Develop Infrastructure-as-Code and database deployment automation.
• Use Git for source control, versioning, and collaborative development.
• Replace manual DBA processes with repeatable, automated solutions.
• Build reusable tooling and frameworks to improve database operations.

Observability & Reliability

• Build and maintain database monitoring, alerting, dashboards, and operational metrics.
• Improve database observability through automation and instrumentation.
• Monitor availability, performance, capacity, and operational health.
• Participate in incident response and production support.
• Perform root cause analysis and implement permanent corrective actions.
• Support high availability and disaster recovery solutions.
• Manage backup, recovery, and restore processes.

Security & Access Management

• Manage database roles, permissions, and access controls.
• Apply least-privilege principles.
• Support security audits, compliance, and vulnerability remediation.
• Assist with privileged access reviews and security initiatives.

Database Maintenance

• Perform database maintenance, including:
• Statistics updates
• Reorganizations and rebuilds
• Data archival and purging
• Space management
• Database patching and upgrades
• Automate routine maintenance and housekeeping activities.
• Monitor database growth and storage utilization.
• Work closely with application developers and platform engineering teams.
• Advise developers on database design, performance, and scalability.
• Troubleshoot application/database integration issues.
• Review database models and recommend improvements.
• Support database changes throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Participate in architecture and technical design discussions.

Required Technical Skills

Primary

• SQL development and performance tuning
• Database architecture and troubleshooting
• Git / GitOps
• Scripting and automation
• CI/CD concepts and pipelines
• Infrastructure-as-Code
• Production support and incident management

Additional Database Technologies

Experience with one or more of the following is a plus:

• IBM Db2 LUW
• Oracle Database
• MarkLogic

Programming & Automation

• PowerShell
• Python
• Git
• GitOps
• CI/CD
• Infrastructure-as-Code
• Automation frameworks and tooling

Preferred Experience

• 5+ years of enterprise database engineering/administration experience.
• Strong MS SQL Server experience in enterprise or production environments.
• Experience supporting mission-critical applications.
• Experience building database automation and deployment pipelines.
• Experience with Git-based development and GitOps practices.
• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code.
• Experience with high availability and disaster recovery.
• Strong performance engineering and SQL tuning experience.
• Strong troubleshooting and root cause analysis capabilities.
• Experience working directly with software/application engineering teams.
• Experience in regulated or highly controlled environments is a plus.

We are looking for an engineer who happens to be a database expert — not simply a traditional DBA.

Candidates should demonstrate:

Traditional DBA experience alone will not be sufficient. Broad exposure to multiple database platforms is less important than strong MS SQL Server depth combined with clear software/platform engineering ownership.

Priority