SQL/Azure DBA- Remote (EST Hours)

Position Summary
Database Administrator (DBA) with a strong Microsoft technology background, ideally within the financial services industry, to support a major enterprise technology transformation. This individual will play a critical role in migrating the organization's existing on-premises database environment to Microsoft Azure while helping modernize and refactor the broader database and application infrastructure.

The ideal candidate will bring a combination of traditional SQL Server DBA expertise, Azure cloud database experience, and hands-on knowledge of database modernization strategies. This is more than a traditional database administration position the DBA will help evaluate legacy environments, redesign database architectures, optimize performance, improve security, and support the transition toward a modern, scalable cloud-first environment.

Experience working in highly regulated financial environments, where data integrity, availability, security, and compliance are paramount, is desirable.

Key Responsibilities
Administer, maintain, and optimize Microsoft SQL Server database environments across on-premises and Azure cloud infrastructure.
Support enterprise-wide migration of legacy on-premises databases to Microsoft Azure, including assessment, planning, execution, testing, and cutover.
Participate in database modernization and refactoring initiatives, evaluating legacy database architectures and recommending improvements.
Support migrations to Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server running on Azure VMs.
Identify opportunities to modernize legacy database structures, stored procedures, queries, and integrations to take advantage of cloud-native capabilities.
Perform database performance tuning, query optimization, indexing, capacity planning, and troubleshooting.
Develop and implement high-availability and disaster-recovery strategies, including Always On Availability Groups, replication, backup, and recovery.
Establish database security standards, access controls, encryption, auditing, and data protection practices.
Work closely with application developers, cloud engineers, enterprise architects, and infrastructure teams to modernize applications and underlying data platforms.
Support database DevOps initiatives, automated deployments, version control, and infrastructure-as-code practices.
Ensure database environments meet financial services regulatory, audit, and data governance requirements.
Develop migration documentation, database standards, operational procedures, and performance metrics.

Required Skills & Experience
5+ years of hands-on SQL Server database administration experience.
Strong experience with Microsoft SQL Server architecture, installation, configuration, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
Experience supporting enterprise database migrations from on-premises infrastructure to Microsoft Azure.
Working knowledge of Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and Azure SQL on virtual machines.
Strong understanding of database architecture, data modeling, normalization, indexing, and query optimization.
Experience with T-SQL, stored procedures, triggers, functions, and complex SQL queries.
Experience with database backup/recovery, high availability, disaster recovery, and business continuity.
Familiarity with Azure networking, identity management, security, and monitoring.
Experience working with application teams on database refactoring, modernization, and performance improvements.
Strong understanding of database security, encryption, permissions, and auditing.

Preferred / Nice-to-Have Skills
Previous experience in banking, financial services, insurance, or other highly regulated environments.
Microsoft Azure certifications (Azure Database Administrator Associate, Azure Administrator Associate, or Azure Solutions Architect Expert).
Experience with Azure Database Migration Service (DMS).
Familiarity with Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Microsoft Fabric.
Experience with PowerShell, Python, or automation scripting.
Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.
Experience with Terraform, ARM templates, or Bicep.
Exposure to microservices, API-driven architectures, and cloud-native application development.
Experience migrating legacy applications and databases to modern architectures.
Familiarity with data governance, SOX, GLBA, PCI DSS, and other financial services compliance requirements.