SQL Server Cloud Database Lead

Peraton is seeking a Senior Microsoft SQL Server Database Lead to provide advanced technical expertise and leadership in support of a large government agency. This role is responsible for the design, implementation, maintenance, and support of mission‑critical database environments hosted on both AWS EC2 and Amazon RDS. The Senior DBA will serve as a technical leader within the team, provide mentorship to junior staff, consultations with customer stakeholders (application teams, partners, end users, ensure adherence to security and compliance standards, and support the program’s operational, performance, and availability objectives.

Location: Remote

Shift Schedule: 8am – 5pm Eastern Standard Time (EST). This position will participate in 24x7 on-call rotations for the production environment.

What You Will do:

• Lead the planning, installation, configuration, and optimization of Microsoft SQL Server environments in AWS cloud-hosted infrastructures.
• Architect and implement high availability and disaster recovery solutions, including Always On Availability Groups, Windows Failover Clustering, replication, and log shipping.
• Continually seek ways to fully automate database functions, ability to provide data migration solutions, and facilitate innovation conversations.
• Work with cross functional teams to provide solutions to customers, application teams, with the ability to present executive level value and outcomes.
• Provide technical leadership to the DBA team, including mentoring, reviewing technical deliverables, and reinforcing best practices.
• Develop, implement, and maintain database security controls and auditing solutions in accordance with CIS, SCSEM, and federal compliance requirements.
• Manage vulnerability remediation activities by analyzing NESSUS scan results, applying corrective actions, and documenting compliance.
• Implement and manage database encryption and key rotation using SQL Server TDE, TLS, and AWS KMS.
• Direct backup, restore, and disaster recovery processes; perform verification and testing of all backup strategies.
• Conduct performance analysis, capacity planning, and proactive monitoring utilizing Datadog and other monitoring tools.
• Oversee and coordinate database patching, upgrades, maintenance windows, and certificate management.
• Conduct advanced query tuning and execution plan analysis for application performance optimization.
• Support CI/CD pipelines by integrating database deployments with GitLab and Liquibase.
• Automate operational tasks using PowerShell, AWS CLI, or Python (monitoring, patching, deployment, maintenance).
• Ensure adherence to standardized procedures, operational runbooks, and change management protocols.
• Collaborate with application, infrastructure, and security teams to support business requirements, resolve issues, and ensure database reliability.
• Participate in technical design reviews and provide architectural guidance for database-related components.
• Lead the resolution of complex incidents and problems, perform root-cause analysis, and implement long‑term corrective measures.
• Engage subject matter experts or vendor support as needed for escalated issues.
• Review, approve, and implement database change requests in alignment with program policies and best practices.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation of database configurations, processes, standards, and operational procedures.

Basic Qualifications: 

• Must be a U.S. Citizen with the ability to obtain and maintain the required Public Trust level clearance.
• Bachelor’s degree and 8 years of relevant experience, or a High School Diploma or equivalent and 12 years of experience
• Minimum 7 years of production Microsoft SQL Server DBA experience supporting enterprise-scale environments.
• Experience with SQL Server 2019/2022 in virtualized and high‑availability configurations.
• Advanced knowledge of Always On Availability Groups, replication, log shipping, SQL Agent jobs, maintenance plans, and Ola Hallengren maintenance frameworks.
• Experience with AWS RDS databases PostgreSQL, Oracle, and Redshift.
• Experience with SQL Server performance tuning using execution plans, DMVs, extended events, and wait statistics.
• Strong understanding of AWS VPC networking concepts (subnets, routing, security groups) as they relate to database deployments.
• Experience with AWS cloud services, including:
  • Amazon EC2 for SQL Server instances
  • Amazon RDS for SQL Server
  • AWS Backup
  • AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) for database access controls
  • AWS CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Systems Manager, and Parameter Store
  • AWS KMS for encryption and key management
• Strong understanding of Windows Server, Active Directory and Group Managed Service Accounts.
• Strong PowerShell scripting skills for automation and administration.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present information to technical and non‑technical audiences, including leadership.
• Experience working effectively in a remote environment and collaborating across distributed teams.
• Experience with Transact‑SQL development and scripting.