Database Administrator, Junior

The Database Administrator, Junior supports the reliability and security of enterprise databases by performing routine administration tasks under the guidance of more senior database staff. The role assists with monitoring database health, executing backups and restores, and supporting patching and upgrades that affect mission-critical systems. It contributes to performance tuning and query optimization efforts to ensure responsive data access for applications operating in a highly regulated government environment. 

Key Responsibilities

• Assist with day-to-day administration of relational database platforms such as Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, or PostgreSQL, including creating and modifying schemas, tables, indexes, and basic user roles. 

• Monitor database health and performance metrics, identify common bottlenecks such as inefficient queries or missing indexes, and escalate complex tuning issues to senior DBAs. 

• Execute and validate scheduled backup and restore jobs, support disaster recovery testing, and help maintain recovery procedures for mission-critical systems. 

• Implement standard security controls such as user provisioning, role-based access, and basic auditing in alignment with organizational and regulatory policies. 

• Participate in installation, patching, and minor version upgrades of database engines and related tools in development, test, and production environments. 

• Work with application and data teams to troubleshoot connectivity issues, resolve data access errors, and support database changes required for new releases or deployments. 

• Apply foundational knowledge of normalization, indexing, and query plans to support efficient data modeling and SQL query optimization. 

• Maintain documentation for database configurations, standard operating procedures, and change records to support compliance in a highly regulated government environment. 

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (BA/BS) in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent relevant work experience. 

• 0–3 years of hands-on experience in database administration or closely related roles supporting enterprise data systems. 

• Training or practical experience with relational database systems such as Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, or PostgreSQL. 

• Foundational understanding of database structures, principles, and best practices, including normalization, indexing, and query optimization. 

• Familiarity with database security, backup and recovery, and disaster recovery concepts. 

• Active SECRET security clearance or ability to obtain and maintain clearance as required by the client. 

• U.S. citizenship and willingness to travel less than 10% of the time. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with automation or scripting (such as PowerShell, Bash, or SQL scripts) to streamline routine DBA tasks like health checks and maintenance. 

• Exposure to cloud-hosted or virtualized database instances in secured environments. 

• Industry certifications such as Oracle Certified Professional or Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate. 

• Prior experience supporting databases in highly regulated or federal IT environments.