Database Administrator

Job Title: Database Administrator

Contract Period: 6 month

Payrate: $40-45/hour on W2 + Benefits

Work location: Ridgefield Park NJ 07660

We're seeking an experienced Senior Database Systems Manager to lead the administration, optimization, and expansion of our relational database environments. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in SQL and Oracle, a strong background in Linux and scripting, and hands-on experience building and operating highly available, high-performance database clusters both on-premises and in the public cloud.

Key Responsibilities

Database Administration & Operations

Architect, deploy, and maintain mission-critical SQL Server and Oracle databases

Lead PostgreSQL administration efforts: installation, patching, replication, and performance tuning

Implement and manage high-availability (RAC, Data Guard, ASM, Always On) and disaster recovery solutions

Disaster recovery planning and execution (DR drills, RTO/RPO analysis)

Performance & Capacity Management

Monitor and optimize query performance; conduct regular health checks and capacity planning

Develop proactive alerting and self-healing mechanisms using monitoring tools (e.g., Prometheus, Oracle Enterprise Manager, AWS CloudWatch, Azure Monitor)

Cloud Infrastructure & Automation

Design and operate database deployments in AWS or Azure (RDS/Aurora, EC2, EKS/AKS)

Implement Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM templates) for repeatable, compliant provisioning

Scripting & Tooling

Automate routine tasks and deployments using Bash, Python, or PowerShell

Integrate database workflows into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps)

Security & Compliance

Enforce database security best practices: access controls, encryption (TDE), auditing, and vulnerability scanning

Collaborate with Security and Compliance teams to meet SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA requirements

Leadership & Collaboration

Mentor junior DBAs and establish operational standards and runbooks

Communicate database health, project status, and risks to technical and non-technical stakeholders

Partner with cross-functional teams on schema design, data migration, and performance tuning initiatives

Required Qualifications (Must Have)

Experience: 6+ years managing enterprise-scale database environments

Core Technologies:

SQL & Oracle: Expert-level administration, backup/restore, replication, RAC, Data Guard

Linux Administration: RHEL/CentOS/Ubuntu, filesystem tuning, kernel parameters

Highly Available Systems: Proven track record with high-performance, 24 7 database clusters

Scripting: Proficiency in Bash and one higher-level language (Python, Perl, or PowerShell)

Communication: Exceptional verbal and written skills; comfortable presenting to executives

Team Leadership: Experience mentoring DBAs and driving process improvements

Preferred Qualifications (Good to have)

PostgreSQL: Hands-on administration (logical/physical replication, partitioning, extensions)

Public Cloud: Operational experience with AWS RDS/Aurora or Azure SQL/VM deployments

Infrastructure-as-Code: Terraform, CloudFormation, or Azure Resource Manager

CI/CD & DevOps: Database change management with Flyway, Liquibase, or similar tools

Monitoring & Observability: Prometheus/Grafana, Oracle Enterprise Manager, Cloud-native monitoring

dditional Desirable Skills

Performance schema and in-depth query optimization (e.g., Oracle AWR, SQL Server DMVs)

Experience with NoSQL or NewSQL platforms (MongoDB, Cassandra, CockroachDB)

Familiarity with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) for database workloads

Data modeling and ETL processes (SSIS, AWS Glue, Apache Airflow)