Database Administrator

Job Title Database Administrator Overview We are seeking a hands-on Database Administrator for a remote contract engagement supporting high-availability operational database systems behind a large, high-traffic website. The role focuses on database reliability, security, disaster recovery, performance analysis, and close partnership with engineering teams. Enterprise experience strongly preferred. Key Responsibilities - Maintain high availability and strong performance across production database systems. - Plan, test, and carry out disaster recovery procedures with a zero-data-loss objective. - Maintain database security, access controls, and adherence to security protocols. - Analyze and tune database performance and diagnose difficult production performance issues. - Work closely with engineers on requirements gathering, system design, design reviews, performance tuning, and technical support. - Administer operational data systems in a highly technical production environment. - Deliver reliable work under tight deadlines and remain composed during high-pressure incidents. Must-Have Skills - Approximately 3 to 4 years of hands-on database administration experience. - Experience with both Microsoft SQL Server and Aurora PostgreSQL; deeper expertise in either platform is acceptable. - Hands-on AWS experience, particularly Amazon RDS and Amazon Aurora. - Programming experience with PowerShell or Python. - Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform. - Experience administering and troubleshooting Confluent Kafka. - Extensive experience with database performance analysis and tuning. - Experience administering high-function, high-availability production systems. - Experience planning or performing disaster recovery. - Strong ability to diagnose difficult database performance issues. - Experience working closely with engineering teams through requirements gathering, design reviews, technical support, and deadline-driven delivery. - Experience with database access control and security practices. Nice-to-Have Skills - Experience building Kafka connectors and topics. - Experience with NoSQL databases such as MongoDB. - Experience with Snowflake. - Experience with other relational databases such as MySQL. - Advanced Kafka experience, including KSQL and Flink. Required Tools & Platforms - Microsoft SQL Server and Aurora PostgreSQL. - AWS, Amazon RDS, and Amazon Aurora. - PowerShell or Python. - Terraform or comparable Infrastructure as Code tooling. - Confluent Kafka. Location, Time & Engagement - Candidates must be based in an eligible Latin American country. - Central Time working hours are preferred. - Remote contract engagement, 40 hours per week. - Expected engagement through March 31, 2027; start date to be agreed. - One opening is available. - This is not currently a contract-to-hire opportunity. - Before client submission, viable candidates must complete the Amazon WorkSpaces Health connectivity test and provide a screenshot showing good connectivity to an AWS WorkSpace region.