Senior Administrator, Database Operations

Senior Administrator, Database Operations

Server Engineering

US Exempt Regular

Full time

Stateside Exempt 3.4

The Senior Administrator, Database Operations is responsible for providing senior-level administration, operational leadership, performance management, security oversight, and lifecycle support for enterprise database platforms that support mission-critical academic, administrative, financial, research, and operational systems across UMGC. This role serves as the primary technical escalation point for database operations, ensuring database environments remain secure, highly available, performant, recoverable, and aligned with institutional requirements. The Senior Administrator partners closely with Application Engineering, Infrastructure, Cloud Engineering, Information Security, Data Enablement, vendors, and business stakeholders to maintain reliable and resilient database services across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Database Administration & Operational Leadership. 

• Administer, configure, maintain, and optimize enterprise database environments across production, development, testing, and disaster recovery environments.
• Establish operational standards, administration practices, and procedures that promote platform stability, performance, and reliability. 

Database Lifecycle, Deployment & Platform Modernization. 

• Lead database provisioning, upgrades, patching, migrations, environment management, onboarding activities, and lifecycle management initiatives.
• Support modernization and cloud adoption efforts while ensuring alignment with change management, security, and operational requirements.  

Performance Optimization, Monitoring & Reliability Engineering. 

• Provide senior-level oversight for database monitoring, observability, health management, capacity planning, performance analysis, and optimization activities.
• Identify performance bottlenecks, tune database services, and drive proactive improvements that enhance reliability and scalability.  

Backup, Recovery & Continuity Management. 

• Lead backup, restore, replication, high-availability, failover, and disaster recovery activities. Validate recovery capabilities and continuity plans while ensuring enterprise databases remain recoverable and resilient during operational disruptions. 

Security, Compliance & Data Protection. 

• Administer and monitor database security controls including access management, authentication, encryption, auditing, and privileged access practices.
• Support compliance requirements, governance standards, and institutional policies related to data protection and security. 

Incident Management, Mentoring & Continuous Improvement. 

• Serve as the senior escalation point for database incidents, problem management, root cause analysis, and operational risk mitigation activities.
• Mentor database administrators, maintain operational documentation, and contribute to automation, modernization, and operational maturity initiatives. 
• Other duties as assigned.

Competencies: 

• Database operations leadership 

• Technical problem solving and analytical thinking 

• Database performance optimization 

• Operational excellence and service reliability 

• Security, compliance, and data protection awareness 

• Systems thinking and troubleshooting 

• Collaboration and stakeholder engagement 

• Technical documentation and knowledge sharing 

• Accountability and ownership 

• Continuous improvement mindset 

• Adaptability and learning agility 

• Customer service and operational focus. 

Skills: 

• Enterprise database administration (Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL) 

• Query optimization and database performance tuning 

• Database monitoring, observability, and health management 

• Backup, recovery, replication, and disaster recovery operations 

• High availability, clustering, and failover architectures 

• Cloud database administration (Azure SQL, AWS RDS, Google Cloud SQL) 

• Database migrations and platform modernization 

• Database security, auditing, and compliance controls 

• Linux and Windows database platform administration 

• PowerShell, Bash, SQL, and automation scripting 

• ITSM Incident, Change, Problem, and Release Management 

• Capacity planning and performance analysis 

• Technical documentation and runbook development 

• Root cause analysis and operational troubleshooting. 

Education & Experience Requirements: 

Education:

• ​​Bachelor's Degree​ in Computer Science, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, Database Administration, Data Management, or a related discipline or equivalent combination of education and experience. 

Experience:  

• 5+ years of experience in database administration, database operations, systems administration, or related technical disciplines. 

• Experience supporting enterprise-scale production databases and mission-critical applications. 

• Experience performing performance tuning, optimization, backup, recovery, replication, and maintenance activities. 

• Experience supporting cloud, hybrid, and traditional database environments. 

• Experience leading troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and remediation efforts for database performance, availability, and reliability issues. 

• Experience serving as a senior technical resource for operational support activities. 

Preferred Experience Requirements: 

Education:

• Master's Degree​  in Computer Science, Information Systems, Information Technology, Database Administration, Data Management, or a related discipline. 

Experience:  

• Progressive experience supporting enterprise database environments, database operations, or platform administration. 

• Experience serving as a Senior Database Administrator, Database Operations Lead, Database Engineer, Data Platform Administrator, or similar senior technical role. 

• Experience supporting large-scale cloud database services including Azure SQL, AWS RDS, cloud-native database platforms, and hybrid environments. 

• Experience implementing high availability, disaster recovery, clustering, replication, and business continuity solutions. 

• Experience supporting operational modernization, automation, observability, and reliability engineering initiatives. 

• Experience supporting higher education, healthcare, government, financial services, or similarly complex enterprise environments. 

Certifications:  

• Microsoft SQL Server Certifications 

• Oracle Database Certifications 

• PostgreSQL Certifications 

• Azure Database Administrator Associate 

• AWS Database Certifications 

• ITIL Foundation Certification 

• CISSP or related security certification. 

All submissions should include a cover letter and resume.

The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination. UMGC is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, ancestry, political affiliation or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

Workplace Accommodations:

The University of Maryland Global Campus Global Campus (UMGC) is committed to creating and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive working environment for people of all abilities. UMGC is dedicated to the principle that no qualified individual with a disability shall, based on disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of the University, or be subjected to discrimination. For information about UMGC’s Reasonable Workplace Accommodation Policy or to request an accommodation, applicants/candidates can contact Employee Accommodations via email at [email protected]. 

Benefits Package Highlights:

• Generous Time Off: Enjoy 22 days of paid vacation, 15 days of sick leave, 3 personal days, and 16 paid holidays (17 during general election years). For part-time employees, time off rates will be prorated based on the number of hours worked.

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Access to health care, medical with vision, dental, and prescription plans for both individuals and families, effective from the 1st of the month following your hire date.

• Insurance Options: Term Life Insurance, Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, and Long-Term Disability (LTD) Insurance. Part-time employees working less than 0.5 FTE are not eligible for LTD.

• Flexible Spending Accounts: Available for medical and dependent care expenses.

• Retirement Plans: Choose between the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) or the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS).

• Supplemental Retirement Plans: include 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), and various Roth options. The university does not provide matching funds.

• Tuition Remission: Immediate availability for Regular Exempt Staff. Spouses and dependent children are eligible for undergraduate tuition remission after two years of service. NOTE: For part-time employees (at least 50 percent of the time), tuition remission benefits are prorated.

Hiring Range:

$105,000.00 - $125,000.00