Sr Database Administrator

Cox Automotive; Village of North Hills (NY); Hybrid; USD 122,000 - 203,000; Full time

Job summary

Cox Automotive is seeking a Senior Database Administrator to support Dealer Solutions and drive a phased migration of on-premises SQL Server systems to AWS. The role focuses on stabilizing the current environment, implementing high-availability solutions, and enabling a scalable cloud-native database platform.

You will manage enterprise SQL Server environments, lead upgrades, and design disaster recovery strategies while developing automation and CI/CD pipelines.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related discipline with 4 years' experience, or an equivalent combination.
• Requires 2+ years of AWS database migration experience.
• Requires 5+ years of experience with Microsoft SQL Server in 10+ terabyte environments.
• Strong hands-on experience with SQL Server replication and latency troubleshooting.
• Experience with SQL Server upgrades, migrations, and patching across environments.
• Solid understanding of Windows Server administration related to SQL Server hosting.
• Proven experience with clustering and high-availability solutions (Always On).

Responsibilities

• Manage enterprise-scale SQL Server environments across development, QA, and production.
• Lead SQL Server upgrades, migrations, and patching with minimal downtime.
• Design, implement, and maintain high-availability and disaster recovery solutions (Always On).
• Monitor and optimize SQL Server performance, including tuning queries and indexes.
• Perform backups, recovery, and maintenance to ensure data integrity.
• Develop automation using PowerShell, T-SQL, CI/CD pipelines, and Infrastructure as Code.
• Support monitoring and observability for SQL Server health and performance.
• Establish runbooks and incident response procedures.
• Work on database migrations and cloud transformation initiatives toward AWS.
• Ensure security best practices for access, encryption, auditing, and compliance.
• Collaborate with software engineering, DevOps, infrastructure, product, and security teams.

Skills

SQL Server administration

AWS migration experience

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related field

Tools

PowerShell

T-SQL

CI/CD pipelines

Infrastructure as Code

AWS (RDS/EC2)

Job description

The Senior 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.

• Manage and support enterprise-scale Microsoft SQL Server environments, including databases in the 10+ terabyte range across development, QA, and production.
• Lead and participate in SQL Server upgrades, version migrations, patching, and maintenance efforts with minimal disruption to business-critical applications.
• Design, implement, and maintain high-availability and disaster recovery solutions, particularly Always On Availability Groups.
• Monitor and optimize database performance, availability, and reliability, including tuning queries, indexes, and stored procedures.
• Perform and validate database backup, recovery, and maintenance activities to ensure data integrity and operational continuity.
• Advanced SQL Server administration options (trace flags, DB options, and query hints).
• Develop automation using PowerShell, T‑SQL, CI/CD pipelines, and Infrastructure as Code.
• Support enterprise monitoring, alerting, and observability solutions tailored to SQL Server health, availability, and performance metrics.
• Establish operational standards, runbooks, and incident response procedures.
• Expertise in SQL Server replication across multiple databases; troubleshoot replication latency, distribution bottlenecks, and data consistency issues.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex database issues related to performance, connectivity, storage, security, and application integration.
• Contribute to the planning and execution of database migration and cloud transformation initiatives, with a focus on migrating to AWS (RDS for SQL Server, EC2‑hosted SQL Server).
• Implement database security best practices, including user access management, encryption, auditing, and compliance controls.
• Create and maintain automation scripts, monitoring solutions, operational procedures, and technical documentation.
• Collaborate with software engineering, DevOps, infrastructure, product, and security teams to support business‑critical applications and modernization efforts.

Work Location Requirement

This position follows a hybrid work schedule, requiring employees to work onsite three days per week in Long Island, NY, Overland Park, KS, or Atlanta, GA.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related discipline and 4 years' experience in a related field. The right candidate could also have a different combination, such as a master's degree and 2 years' experience; a Ph.D. and up to 1 year of experience; or 8 years' experience in a related field.
• Requires 2+ years of AWS database migration experience.
• Requires 5+ years of experience with Microsoft SQL Server database platform in the 10+ terabyte range.
• Strong hands‑on experience with SQL Server replication, including troubleshooting latency and consistency issues.
• Demonstrated experience with SQL Server upgrades, migrations, and patching across multiple environments.
• Solid understanding of Windows Server administration as it relates to SQL Server hosting and configuration.
• Proven experience with SQL Server clustering and high‑availability solutions (e.g., failover clustering).

Preferred Qualification

• Nice to have in Atlas MongoDB and PostgreSQL.

USD 121,800.00 - 203,000.00 per year

Compensation

Compensation includes a base salary in the range of $121,800.00 - $203,000.00. 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.

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. 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.

EOE, including disability/vets