Sr Database Engineer

Cox Automotive Inc.; Draper (UT); On-site; USD 102,000 - 169,000; Full time

Job summary

Cox Automotive Inc. is seeking a Database Administrator to ensure the health, reliability, and performance of enterprise databases hosted on AWS. The role centers on PostgreSQL or MySQL on Linux/AWS RDS, with Oracle 19c experience welcomed. You will work under the Lead DBA, handling day-to-day operations and escalations as needed.

Responsibilities include monitoring, maintenance, backups, and performance tuning, with collaboration across development teams to optimize queries and workloads.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field with 4 years of hands-on database administration experience.
• Primary expertise in PostgreSQL on Linux / AWS RDS, MySQL on Linux / AWS RDS, or Oracle 19c on Linux.
• Experience with backups and recovery strategies (pg_basebackup/pgBackRest, RMAN, Percona XtraBackup).
• Experience with AWS-hosted databases (EC2/RDS) and security (RBAC) practices.

Responsibilities

• Monitor health, performance, and availability of Production, QA, and Development databases on AWS.
• Respond to alerts, investigate root causes, and resolve common issues.
• Perform scheduled maintenance, backups, and environment refreshes.
• Administer databases on Linux EC2 and AWS RDS, including patching and upgrades.
• Collaborate with developers to optimize queries and support deployments.
• Maintain runbooks and document automation scripts.

Skills

Unix/Linux scripting

PL/SQL / PG/SQL scripting

On-call support

RBAC / security

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related field

Tools

PostgreSQL on Linux

MySQL on Linux

Oracle 19c on Linux

AWS RDS / EC2

Job description

The Database Administrator is responsible for the day-to-day operational health, reliability, and performance of enterprise database environments hosted on AWS. The primary database platform for this role is PostgreSQL or MySQL on Linux/AWS RDS; candidates with solid Oracle 19c experience are equally welcome. Reporting to the Lead Database Administrator, this role executes within established architectural standards, independently resolving the full spectrum of operational database issues while escalating complex architectural decisions as appropriate.

Key Responsibilities

Daily Operations & Monitoring

• Monitor health, performance, and availability of Production, QA, and Development databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, and/or Oracle) hosted on AWS on a daily basis.
• Respond to monitoring alerts, investigate root causes, and resolve common issues: space exhaustion, blocking sessions, runaway queries, and service disruptions.
• Track resource utilization (CPU, memory, I/O, storage) and report capacity trends to the Lead DBA for planning.
• Review database alert logs, audit logs, and job scheduler outputs proactively; participate in the rotating on-call DBA schedule.

Maintenance & Administration

• Execute scheduled and ad hoc maintenance: table reorganization, index rebuilding, statistics gathering, tablespace/schema management, and object defragmentation.
• Administer databases on Linux EC2 instances and AWS RDS - including startup/shutdown, patch application, and minor version updates under Lead DBA guidance.
• Manage database user accounts, roles, and privileges in accordance with security policies and RBAC standards.
• Apply patches and cumulative updates in non-production environments, documenting steps for Lead DBA review before production rollout.
• Perform database cloning and environment refreshes for QA and development on a scheduled and on-demand basis.

Backup, Recovery & Business Continuity

• Execute and validate backup jobs (RMAN for Oracle; pg_basebackup/pgBackRest for PostgreSQL; mysqldump/Percona XtraBackup for MySQL), ensuring schedules meet RPO targets.
• Perform point-in-time and full restores in non-production environments to verify backup integrity and document recovery procedures.
• Monitor AWS RDS automated backup and snapshot jobs; alert the Lead DBA to failures or anomalies.
• Assist with disaster recovery testing and failover validation under Lead DBA direction; maintain up-to-date backup and recovery runbooks.

Performance Monitoring & Query Tuning

• Identify slow-running queries and performance bottlenecks using platform-appropriate tools: EXPLAIN/EXPLAIN ANALYZE (PostgreSQL/MySQL), Oracle AWR/ADDM/ASH, wait event analysis, and execution plan review.
• Assist application developers in tuning PL/SQL, PG/SQL, and T-SQL code for improved database access efficiency.
• Monitor and manage index health; rebuild or coalesce fragmented indexes within maintenance schedules.
• Review and optimize long-running batch jobs and scheduled tasks to minimize contention during peak hours.

Automation & Scripting

• Write and maintain UNIX/Linux shell scripts to automate recurring tasks: log archiving, space checks, health reporting, and backup verification.
• Schedule and manage automated jobs using cron, pgAgent / MySQL Event Scheduler, Oracle DBMS_SCHEDULER, and/or SQL Server Agent as applicable.
• Maintain and update existing Terraform scripts for minor infrastructure changes under Lead DBA review and approval.
• Document all automation scripts with clear inline comments; maintain a centralized runbook repository.

Development Support & Collaboration

• Write, test, and debug PL/SQL, PG/SQL, and SQL scripts, stored procedures, and ad hoc queries in support of development and operations teams.
• Collaborate with application development teams to provide database support during sprint cycles, deployments, and hotfixes.
• Assist with data loads, migrations, and import/export operations using platform-native tools (pg_dump, mysqldump, Oracle Data Pump, SQL*Loader) and AWS DMS.
• Support QA teams by providing accurate test data, database snapshots, and query assistance for validation activities.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field, plus 4 years of hands-on database administration experience.
• Primary expertise in at least one of the following: PostgreSQL on Linux / AWS RDS, MySQL on Linux / AWS RDS, or Oracle 19c on Linux. Multi-platform experience is a strong plus.
• Solid working knowledge of backup and recovery strategies on your primary platform (pg_basebackup / pgBackRest, Percona XtraBackup, or Oracle RMAN).
• Working knowledge of database performance diagnostics: EXPLAIN/EXPLAIN ANALYZE, query plan analysis, wait event analysis, and index tuning.
• Hands-on experience writing SQL and scripting in PL/SQL and/or PG/SQL for operational and support tasks.
• Practical UNIX/Linux systems administration and shell scripting experience (bash/ksh).
• Exposure to AWS-hosted database environments: EC2-hosted databases and/or AWS RDS.
• Understanding of database security fundamentals: user privilege management, role-based access control (RBAC), and auditing.
• Strong attention to detail, disciplined change management habits, and reliable follow-through on assigned tasks.
• Good communication skills with the ability to document procedures clearly and coordinate effectively with developers, QA teams, and the Lead DBA.

Preferred Qualifications

• Cross-platform DBA experience: working knowledge of at least two of PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Oracle in a production environment.
• Familiarity with Oracle Data Guard, PostgreSQL Streaming Replication, or MySQL Group Replication for standby/HA configurations.
• Experience with AWS RDS and Aurora for PostgreSQL or MySQL workloads.
• Exposure to Terraform or other infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tooling.
• MS SQL Server administration experience in a production setting.
• Experience in an Agile/Scrum delivery environment.
• Knowledge of load testing tools and performance benchmarking methodologies.
• Familiarity with streaming or integration technologies: AWS Kinesis, Apache Kafka, or Informatica.
• Relevant professional certification: PostgreSQL Professional Certification, Oracle OCP, AWS Database Specialty, or equivalent.

USD 101,500.00 - 169,100.00 per year

Compensation

Compensation includes a base salary in the range of $101,500.00 - $169,100.00. 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