- Substantial commercial experience as a SQL Server DBA (typically 8+ years), operating as a senior technical authority or subject matter expert.
- Expert knowledge of SQL Server 2019 / 2022 administration, including Always On Availability Groups, WSFC, backup and recovery, and security.
- Proven performance tuning ability using Query Store, DMVs, wait statistics, Extended Events and execution plan analysis.
- Hands-on experience running SQL Server in Azure (Azure SQL Managed Instance, Azure SQL Database or SQL Server on Azure VMs).
- Hands-on experience running SQL Server in AWS (Amazon RDS for SQL Server, RDS Custom or SQL Server on EC2).
- Strong automation skills: T-SQL and PowerShell applied to real DBA operations.
- Experience with patching,
upgrades and migrations, and with TDE, auditing and least-privilege security models.
- Experience designing and testing high availability and disaster recovery solutions against defined RPO and RTO targets.
- Experience leading technical response to major incidents.
- Robust written and verbal communication, with the ability to adapt message and detail to technical and non-technical audiences.