Principal Database Administrator
We are seeking a Principal Database Administrator to provide technical leadership for mission-critical Oracle database platforms supporting Oracle Health products. This role combines deep database administration expertise with platform engineering, automation, modernization, and operational leadership to ensure highly available, secure, and performant database services across production and non-production environments.
As a Principal DBA, you will partner closely with engineering, cloud infrastructure, security, product, and operations teams to define technical direction, improve database reliability, drive modernization initiatives, and establish best practices that enable scalable platform operations.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide technical leadership and operational ownership for Oracle database platforms across production, non-production, standby, replication, and disaster recovery environments.
- Lead initiatives that improve database availability, scalability, security, and operational resilience through architecture, automation, and continuous improvement.
- Drive operational excellence through proactive monitoring, incident management, capacity planning, root cause analysis, problem management, and service reliability improvements.
- Design, implement, and maintain highly available database architectures using Oracle RAC, Data Guard, ASM, GoldenGate, and related technologies.
- Ensure backup, recovery, disaster recovery, and business continuity strategies are regularly validated, tested, and continuously improved.
- Plan and execute database upgrades, patching, security updates, and lifecycle management activities with minimal business disruption.
- Optimize database performance through SQL tuning, indexing strategies, partitioning, compression, workload analysis, and performance diagnostics.
- Develop automation that streamlines database provisioning, maintenance, monitoring, compliance validation, and operational workflows using scripting and infrastructure automation tools.
- Lead database modernization initiatives, including Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Exadata, Autonomous Database adoption, and cloud migration efforts.
- Collaborate across engineering, infrastructure, security, and product organizations to resolve complex technical challenges, influence architectural decisions, and deliver strategic platform capabilities.
- Establish engineering standards, operational runbooks, documentation, and best practices that improve reliability, consistency, observability, and maintainability.
- Mentor engineers and database administrators through technical leadership, design reviews, knowledge sharing, and operational guidance.
- Partner with Oracle and third-party vendors to resolve complex database and infrastructure issues while ensuring platform stability and supportability.
AI-First Engineering Expectations
As part of Oracle Health's AI-first engineering strategy, you will:
- Leverage AI-assisted engineering practices to improve database operations, troubleshooting, documentation, automation, and operational decision-making.
- Drive adoption of AI-enabled workflows for incident triage, log analysis, SQL optimization, runbook generation, knowledge management, and operational analytics.
- Identify opportunities to automate repetitive operational tasks using AI-assisted tooling while improving quality, consistency, and reducing operational risk.
- Champion responsible AI usage by ensuring adherence to enterprise security, privacy, intellectual property, compliance, and governance standards.
- Promote AI-assisted engineering practices that enhance productivity while maintaining operational excellence, customer trust, and service reliability.
Minimum Qualifications
- 8+ years of experience administering Oracle databases supporting mission-critical production environments.
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical discipline.
- Extensive experience administering Oracle Database on Linux/UNIX platforms.
- Strong expertise in:
- Oracle Database Administration
- Oracle RAC
- Oracle ASM
- Oracle Data Guard
- Oracle GoldenGate
- RMAN Backup and Recovery
- Database Performance Tuning
- SQL Optimization
- Database Security
- Database Upgrades and Patching
- Experience supporting highly available production environments with strong operational discipline and change management practices.
- Proficiency in Shell scripting and experience with Python and/or Perl.
- Experience troubleshooting complex production issues across database, operating system, storage, and networking layers.
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical initiatives, influence architectural decisions, and mentor engineers in a collaborative environment.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present technical concepts to engineering teams, cross-functional stakeholders, and leadership.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Database Services.
- Experience with Oracle Exadata and Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA).
- Experience with Oracle Autonomous Database.
- Experience implementing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools such as Terraform, Ansible, or similar automation frameworks.
- Experience with observability and monitoring platforms, including enterprise monitoring, telemetry, and performance analytics.
- Familiarity with Kubernetes, REST APIs, JSON, and modern platform integration technologies.
- Strong understanding of Linux internals, storage architecture, networking, and system performance.
- Experience supporting regulated, security-sensitive, or highly available enterprise platforms, preferably within healthcare or other regulated industries.
- Knowledge of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and DevSecOps principles.
Certain U.S. based or U.S. customer or client-facing roles may be required to comply with applicable requirements, such as immunization/occupational health mandates, and/or drug testing requirements.
Range and benefit information provided in this posting are specific to the stated locations only
US: Hiring Range in USD from: $91,400 to $187,000 per annum. May be eligible for bonus and equity.
Oracle maintains broad salary ranges for its roles in order to account for variations in knowledge, skills, experience, market conditions and locations, as well as reflect Oracle's differing products, industries and lines of business.
Candidates are typically placed into the range based on the preceding factors as well as internal peer equity.
Oracle US offers a comprehensive benefits package which includes the following:
1. Medical, dental, and vision insurance, including expert medical opinion
2. Short term disability and long term disability
3. Life insurance and AD&D
4. Supplemental life insurance (Employee/Spouse/Child)
5. Health care and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts
6. Pre-tax commuter and parking benefits
7. 401(k) Savings and Investment Plan with company match
8. Paid time off: Flexible Vacation is provided to all eligible employees assigned to a salaried (non-overtime eligible) position. Accrued Vacation is provided to all other employees eligible for vacation benefits. For employees working at least 35 hours per week, the vacation accrual rate is 13 days annually for the first three years of employment and 18 days annually for subsequent years of employment. Vacation accrual is prorated for employees working between 20 and 34 hours per week. Employees working fewer than 20 hours per week are not eligible for vacation.
9. 11 paid holidays
10. Paid sick leave: 72 hours of paid sick leave upon date of hire. Refreshes each calendar year. Unused balance will carry over each year up to a maximum cap of 112 hours.
11. Paid parental leave
12. Adoption assistance
13. Employee Stock Purchase Plan
14. Financial planning and group legal
15. Voluntary benefits including auto, homeowner and pet insurance
The role will generally accept applications for at least three calendar days from the posting date or as long as the job remains posted.
Career Level - IC4