Senior database administrator

<p><b><u><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;">POSITION OVERVIEW: </span></u></b></p><p>Cloud Kinetics is looking for a Sr Database Administrator to join our ProServ PoD (Practice on Demand) team. In this role, you will be deployed on AWS Professional Services engagements in India, working hands-on to administer, optimize, and maintain cloud-native database environments for enterprise customers on AWS. You will serve as a key database operations specialist, ensuring the reliability, performance, security, and availability of mission-critical database workloads running on Amazon Aurora, RDS, and DynamoDB. As a Sr Database Administrator within Cloud Kinetics’ ProServ PoD, you will be embedded in AWS Proserv engagements, managing day-to-day database operations, executing database migrations using AWS DMS, and implementing backup, disaster recovery, and performance tuning strategies. You will work closely with Database Architects, Solutions Architects, and customer engineering teams to drive database operational excellence that meets AWS best practices and customer success criteria.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;">KEY RESPONSIBILITIES</span></u></b></p><p><b><u>Sr Database Administration (Aurora / RDS / DynamoDB)</u></b></p><ul><li>Administer and optimize Amazon Aurora (MySQL/PostgreSQL-compatible), Amazon RDS (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server), and Amazon DynamoDB instances in production AWS environments.</li><li>Manage database parameter groups, option groups, instance sizing, storage scaling, Multi-AZ configurations, and read replica deployments to meet application availability and performance requirements.</li><li>Monitor database engine health, resource utilization, and operational metrics using Amazon CloudWatch, Performance Insights, and Enhanced Monitoring dashboards.</li><li>Manage database maintenance windows, apply engine version upgrades, and coordinate patch deployments to minimize customer downtime during operational change windows.</li><li>Respond to and resolve database incidents, outages, and performance degradations, executing root cause analysis and implementing preventative remediation measures.</li></ul><p><b><u>Database Migrations (AWS DMS)</u></b></p><ul><li>Plan and execute homogeneous and heterogeneous database migrations using AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) and AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT).</li><li>Configure DMS replication instances, replication tasks, source/target endpoints, and ongoing replication for continuous data migration scenarios.</li><li>Perform pre-migration assessments, data validation, schema conversion reviews, and migration wave planning to minimise risk and downtime during customer migration windows.</li><li>Validate data integrity, row counts, and application connectivity post-migration, executing cutover activities and rollback procedures as required.</li><li>Document migration runbooks, data validation reports, cutover plans, and post-migration configuration records for handover to customer database operations teams.</li></ul><p><b><u>Performance Monitoring & Tuning</u></b></p><ul><li>Monitor database performance continuously using Amazon RDS Performance Insights, Enhanced Monitoring, CloudWatch Metrics, and CloudWatch Logs Insights to proactively identify bottlenecks and anomalies.</li><li>Identify and resolve slow query issues, locking contention, connection pooling bottlenecks, storage I/O constraints, and resource utilization spikes in production database environments.</li><li>Analyze query execution plans, index utilization, and table statistics to recommend and implement SQL and schema-level performance improvements in collaboration with development teams.</li><li>Configure and tune database parameter groups, memory allocation, connection limits, and query cache settings to optimize engine performance for specific workload patterns.</li><li>Establish and maintain performance baselines, alerting thresholds, and operational dashboards to support proactive database operations and capacity planning.</li></ul><p><b><u>Backup, Restore & Disaster Recovery</u></b></p><ul><li>Design and implement automated backup strategies using Amazon RDS automated backups, manual snapshots, and AWS Backup to meet customer Recovery Point Objective (RPO) requirements.</li><li> Configure and test Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR) capabilities, ensuring restore procedures are validated and documented as part of operational runbooks.</li><li>Implement cross-region snapshot replication and read replica promotion strategies to support disaster recovery and business continuity requirements.</li><li> Execute and validate DR failover procedures, coordinating with Solutions Architects and customer teams to meet Recovery Time Objective (RTO) targets.</li><li>Maintain and test DR runbooks, failover playbooks, and restore procedures on a regular cadence to ensure production readiness during actual disaster events.</li></ul><p><b><u>Security & Patch Management</u></b></p><ul><li>Implement AWS database security best practices including encryption at rest (AWS KMS), encryption in transit (TLS/SSL), IAM database authentication, and VPC network isolation for database instances.</li><li>Manage database user accounts, roles, permissions, and access controls across RDS and Aurora instances, applying least-privilege principles and periodic access reviews.</li><li>Integrate AWS Secrets Manager for database credential management, rotating credentials on a scheduled basis and ensuring applications consume secrets securely.</li><li>Plan and apply database engine patches and minor/major version upgrades within approved maintenance windows, coordinating change management processes with customer operations teams.</li><li>Support security and compliance reviews including audit logging configuration, CloudTrail integration, and customer-specific regulatory requirements (PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR).</li></ul><p><b><u>Query & Schema Optimization</u></b></p><ul><li>Analyze and optimize SQL queries, stored procedures, views, and database schemas in collaboration with application development teams to improve throughput and reduce latency.</li><li>Review and implement indexing strategies, including covering indexes, composite indexes, and index maintenance schedules to support high-performance query execution.</li><li>Conduct database schema reviews during application development cycles, providing recommendations on normalization, data types, partitioning strategies, and constraint design.</li><li>Optimize DynamoDB table designs including partition key selection, sort key strategies, global secondary index (GSI) configurations, and read/write capacity planning to align with application access patterns.</li></ul><p><b><u>Delivery Collaboration & Documentation</u></b></p><ul><li>Work within Agile/Scrum delivery frameworks, participating in sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives as part of AWS ProServ engagement teams.</li><li>Collaborate closely with Database Architects, Solutions Architects, Project Managers, and customer database teams to ensure database operations align with project timelines and engagement milestones.</li><li>Produce technical documentation including database configuration records, operational runbooks, performance reports, and handover documents to support customer knowledge transfer.</li><li>Contribute to the development of reusable database operations playbooks, automation scripts, and delivery templates that improve efficiency across Cloud Kinetics ProServ engagements.</li><li>Proactively identify database operational risks and escalate to the engagement lead with proposed remediation approaches and risk mitigation strategies.</li></ul><p><b><u>REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Education & Experience</u></b></p><ul><li>Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.</li><li>5–8 years of hands-on database administration experience across relational and/or NoSQL databases in enterprise or cloud environments.</li><li>3+ years of direct experience administering AWS-managed database services (Amazon Aurora, RDS, DynamoDB) in production environments.</li><li>Demonstrated experience with database performance monitoring, query optimization, backup/restore operations, and disaster recovery procedures.</li><li>Experience working in professional services, consulting, or managed services delivery environments preferred.</li><li>Proven experience executing database migrations, including use of AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for homogeneous and heterogeneous migration scenarios.</li></ul><p><b><u>Technical Skill :</u></b></p><ul><li>Strong hands-on proficiency with AWS managed database services: Amazon Aurora (MySQL/PostgreSQL-compatible), Amazon RDS (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server), and Amazon DynamoDB.</li><li>Solid experience with AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) and AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) for planning and executing database migration projects.</li><li> Proficiency with database performance monitoring tools: Amazon RDS Performance Insights, Enhanced Monitoring, Amazon CloudWatch Metrics, and CloudWatch Logs Insights.</li><li>Strong SQL skills including query writing, execution plan analysis, index design, stored procedure management, and performance tuning across multiple relational database engines.</li><li>Solid understanding of database backup and recovery mechanisms: RDS automated backups, manual snapshots, Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR), and AWS Backup.</li><li> Experience with database security practices: encryption at rest/in transit, IAM database authentication, Secrets Manager, VPC security groups, and network ACLs.</li><li> Familiarity with database high availability configurations: Multi-AZ deployments, Aurora Global Database, read replicas, and automated failover mechanisms.</li><li>Working knowledge of Amazon DynamoDB operations: table configuration, capacity management (on-demand/provisioned), GSI/LSI design, TTL, and DynamoDB Streams.</li><li> Basic scripting skills in Python, Bash, and/or SQL for operational automation, database health checks, and routine DBA task scripting.</li></ul><p><b><u>Certifications</u></b></p><p>• AWS Certified Database – Specialty (required or in progress).</p><p>• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (required or in progress).</p><p>• AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (preferred).</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:</u></b></p><ul><li>Oracle / SQL Server DBA Background</li><li>DynamoDB Operations</li><li>Automation & Scripting</li><li>Performance Insights & Advanced Monitoring</li> </ul>