Senior Database Architect/Senior Database Engineer

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Engage directly in requirement gathering and analysis sessions with business users, Business Analysts, application teams, and government clients.

• Convert functional, technical, performance, security, and operational requirements into database and data architecture solutions.

• Assist stakeholders in visualizing application data entities, their relationships, structures, interfaces, and processing needs.

• Assess technical alternatives and articulate architectural trade-offs.

• Suggest architectures that meet current requirements while accommodating future growth and modernization.

• Create conceptual, logical, and physical data models.

• Establish logical database architecture to serve as the basis for physical implementation.

• Design scalable, high-performance relational database architectures.

• Develop and maintain database architecture diagrams using tools like Erwin, Visio, or similar alternatives.

• Define schemas, relationships, constraints, partitioning, indexing, and storage strategies.

• Implement normalization and denormalization techniques.

• Set database naming conventions, modeling standards, metadata standards, and architectural guidelines.

• Design solutions for high availability, replication, disaster recovery, backup, business continuity, and data retention.

• Assess both relational and NoSQL database technologies.

• Architect and develop Oracle database solutions for enterprise applications.

• Create and review PL/SQL, SQL queries, stored procedures, packages, functions, triggers, DDL scripts, and database deployment scripts.

• Generate database objects and scripts to support application releases.

• Execute and assist with data migrations and database transformation activities.

• Diagnose application issues involving database logic, scripts, scheduled jobs, and data processing.

• Provide support to application developers regarding database design and development choices.

• Document procedures for database deployment for FDA database administrators.

• Estimate database sizing, retention needs, transaction patterns, and growth forecasts.

• Analyze latency and throughput requirements.

• Conduct workload analysis and capacity planning.

• Monitor and assess database performance, identifying potential bottlenecks.

• Perform SQL and PL/SQL performance tuning.

• Create strategies for indexing, partitioning, caching, and query optimization.

• Design database solutions tailored for cloud and hybrid environments.

• Assist in modernizing and migrating legacy on-premises databases to cloud platforms.

• Evaluate managed database services, traditional platforms, and cloud-native solutions.

• Support Infrastructure as Code and automated database provisioning.

• Create architectures that comply with federal security and compliance requirements.

• Recommend controls for encryption, access control, auditing, logging, monitoring, backup, recovery, and data protection.

• Collaborate with cybersecurity teams to fulfill applicable federal security controls.

• Establish standards for data architecture and assist with metadata, data dictionary, governance, lifecycle, retention, archival, and disposition activities.

• Integrate database modifications into application CI/CD processes.

• Develop repeatable processes for database deployment and rollback.

• Automate database provisioning, deployment, monitoring, and maintenance.

• Act as a senior technical advisor and participate in architecture reviews and technical design discussions.

• Convey architectural concepts to government customers, business users, developers, infrastructure teams, security teams, and project leadership.

• Collaborate with Business Analysts and application architects.

• Mentor database administrators, developers, and engineers.

• Review team database designs and implementation strategies.

• Anticipate future needs regarding data, performance, integration, and technology.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Data Management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.

• Over 8 years of progressive experience in database management.

• At least 5 years of experience in database architecture or application database architecture.

• Proven database architecture responsibility on at least two significant enterprise application or modernization initiatives.

• Experience in designing databases rather than merely administering existing database environments.

• Direct experience collaborating with customers and business stakeholders during requirements analysis and solution design.

• Extensive experience in developing conceptual, logical, and physical data models.

• Familiarity with data modeling and architecture tools, such as Erwin and/or Microsoft Visio.

• Strong knowledge of relational database architecture and design principles.

• Advanced proficiency in Oracle databases and PL/SQL.

• Experience with SQL, PL/SQL, DDL, stored procedures, packages, functions, triggers, and database scripting.

• Solid understanding of database naming conventions and data modeling standards.

• Experience in application database development.

• Background in designing database solutions for mission-critical enterprise applications.

• Strong grasp of database performance tuning, indexing, workload analysis, and capacity planning.

• Experience estimating database size and growth based on expected data volumes.

• Understanding of database latency, concurrency, parallel processing, distributed processing, and scalability factors.

• Knowledge of high availability, disaster recovery, replication, backup, and recovery strategies.

• Experience with at least one major cloud platform, such as AWS or Microsoft Azure.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and strategic thinking abilities.

• Capability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust background investigation.

• Preferred: experience supporting FDA, HHS, or other federal government programs.

• Preferred: experience in modernizing legacy applications and database architectures.

• Preferred: experience migrating on-premises databases to cloud environments.

• Preferred: experience with Oracle Data Pump and Oracle 19c or other current enterprise Oracle versions.

• Preferred: knowledge of PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MySQL, or other relational database platforms.

• Preferred: experience with NoSQL technologies such as MongoDB, DynamoDB, Cassandra, or Cosmos DB.

• Preferred: experience with data warehousing, ETL/ELT processes, and data lake architectures.

• Preferred: experience with UNIX/Linux shell scripting and scheduled processing.

• Preferred: experience supporting CI/CD pipelines for database deployments.

• Preferred: experience utilizing Infrastructure as Code technologies like Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM, or Bicep.

• Preferred: experience with enterprise integration and data exchange platforms.

• Preferred: experience implementing database auditing and monitoring solutions.

• Preferred: familiarity with federal security requirements including FISMA, NIST SP 800-53, and FedRAMP.

• Preferred: understanding of master data management, metadata management, and enterprise data governance.

• Preferred: experience with Oracle Forms, WebLogic, Exadata, or related Oracle enterprise technologies.

• Preferred certifications: Oracle Database certification; AWS database or solutions architecture certification; Microsoft Azure Database Administrator Associate; Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert; Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP); TOGAF or equivalent architecture certification.

🏝️ Benefits

• Comprehensive Health Benefits (Medical, Dental, and Vision).

• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) & Health Savings Account (HSA).

• Retirement Plan with 4% match and discretionary match at year-end.

• Paid Time Off (PTO): 15 days of PTO accrued annually.

• 7 holidays + 3 Floating holidays.

• 2 Innovation days (paid training days).

• Short Term and Long-Term Disability.

• Paid Parental Leave.

• Paid Jury Duty leave.

• Life and AD&D Insurance.

• Critical Illness Insurance.

• Training and Development opportunities.

• Wellness Incentives & Discount programs.

• Employee Referral Program.

• Annual Charity Donation Match.

• Awards and Recognition.