Database Administrator

Database Administrators manage, secure and optimize the organization's operational database systems so that data remains accurate, accessible and protected, supporting the data systems behind the Glassdoor website. Core duties include maintaining high availability, disaster recovery, performance tuning, access control and system security. The role works closely with engineers on system design, performance tuning and technical support. Expected outcomes are high database availability and performance, zero data loss in case of disaster, and adherence to security protocols. This is not a Data Engineering role. Candidates whose primary experience is with reporting software (such as Tableau) or workflow and processing technologies (such as Airflow or Spark) are not a fit.

Key Responsibilities:

• Maintain high availability of production database systems and keep them performing well.
• Plan for and carry out disaster recovery, ensuring zero data loss in case of disaster.
• Keep database systems secure, including access control, and adhere to security protocols.
• Analyze and tune database performance, and diagnose difficult performance issues.
• Work closely with engineers on system design, performance tuning and technical support.
• Operate hands-on in an extremely technical environment, administering the data systems that support the Glassdoor website.
• Stay composed under pressure and navigate extremely stressful situations.

Requirements

Must-Have Skills:

• Mid-level with 3 to 4 years of hands-on experience in the skills listed below.
• Experience with both Microsoft SQL Server and Aurora PostgreSQL; candidates may be stronger in either one.
• Experience with AWS, particularly RDS and Aurora.
• Programming experience with PowerShell or Python.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools, such as Terraform.
• Experience with Kafka (Confluent Kafka), such as administration and troubleshooting.
• Extensive experience with performance analysis and tuning.
• Experience working closely with engineering teams, including requirements gathering, design reviews and delivering work on tight deadlines.
• Experience administering high-function, high-availability production systems.
• Experience performing disaster recoveries.
• Adept at diagnosing difficult performance issues.

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.