Database Administrator

Role: Database Administrator
Location: Woodlawn, MD – 100% On-Site (5 days/week)
Duration: Long Term
Experience: 12+ Years

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Primary Responsibilities:

·         Administer, configure, monitor, and maintain PostgreSQL Community Edition, Greenplum, and IBM DB2 databases across development, QA, staging, and production environments.

·         Design, implement, and manage database architecture solutions, including schema design, data modeling, clustering, replication, and partitioning strategies across all supported platforms.

·         Perform performance tuning and query optimization for PostgreSQL, Greenplum (MPP query optimization, distribution keys, resource queues), and DB2 workloads.

·         Develop and maintain backup, recovery, and disaster recovery procedures for all database platforms; conduct periodic DR testing to validate recoverability.

·         Configure and manage high availability (HA) and failover solutions (e.g., Patroni/streaming replication for PostgreSQL, Greenplum segment mirroring, DB2 HADR).

·         Troubleshoot and resolve database issues including integrity problems, performance bottlenecks, blocking/deadlocking, replication failures, connectivity issues, and security vulnerabilities.

·         Create, test, and deploy automation scripts (Python, Bash, or Shell) to streamline database operations, patching, monitoring, and routine maintenance tasks.

·         Establish and manage database user accounts, roles, and permissions; enforce least-privilege security controls in compliance with SSA and federal security standards (FISMA, NIST 800-53).

·         Set up alerting and monitoring frameworks (e.g., Nagios, Prometheus, Grafana, native DB monitoring) to ensure system health, availability, and proactive incident response.

·         Conduct capacity monitoring and short- and long-term capacity planning in collaboration with application developers, system architects, and infrastructure teams.

·         Develop and maintain technical documentation for database build, configuration, patching, upgrade, and operational procedures.

·         Collaborate with application development, architecture, and DevOps/release management teams to provide DBA guidance for new deployments, migrations, and schema changes.

·         Participate in technical reviews and walkthroughs of system design documentation; provide architectural recommendations aligned with SSA standards.

·         Support database migrations and platform upgrades, including PostgreSQL version upgrades, Greenplum cluster expansions, and DB2 maintenance releases.

·         Provide on-call support and off-hours maintenance windows as scheduled; apply production packages during non-peak hours.

·         Adhere to SSA’s change management, incident management, and SDLC processes and procedures.

Minimum Qualifications:

·         Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field; equivalent work experience accepted in lieu of degree.

·         10+ years of enterprise database administration experience spanning PostgreSQL, Greenplum, and IBM DB2.

·         Minimum 5 years of hands-on PostgreSQL DBA experience, including installation, configuration, tuning, replication, and administration of PostgreSQL Community Edition.

·         Minimum 3 years of Greenplum DBA experience, including MPP architecture administration, segment configuration, resource queue management, and Greenplum-specific performance tuning.

·         Minimum 3 years of IBM DB2 z/OS administration experience, including instance management, catalog management, HADR configuration, and DB2 utilities. DB2 LUW experience also considered.

·         Strong proficiency in SQL across all supported platforms; ability to write and optimize complex queries, stored procedures, and functions.

·         Solid knowledge of database security principles: role-based access control, encryption at rest and in transit, auditing, and compliance with federal security frameworks.

·         Experience with backup and recovery tools native to each platform (pg_dump/pg_basebackup for PostgreSQL, gpbackup/gprestore for Greenplum, DB2 BACKUP/RESTORE utilities).

·         Familiarity with Linux/UNIX operating systems and shell scripting in a database administration context.

·         Experience in an AWS or hybrid cloud environment.

·         Strong troubleshooting, analytical, and documentation skills.

·         Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance (U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residence required).

Desired Qualifications:

·         Active Public Trust or higher-level security clearance.

·         Experience supporting federal government clients, particularly SSA or other large civilian agencies.

·         Python scripting experience for database automation, monitoring, and operational tasks.

·         Familiarity with additional database platforms such as NoSQL (MongoDB, Cassandra), Oracle, or Microsoft SQL Server.

·         Experience with database monitoring tools such as pgBadger or equivalent commercial monitoring platforms.

·         Exposure to DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code tools (Ansible, Terraform) in the context of database deployments.

·         Knowledge of FISMA compliance requirements and experience working within an ATO (Authority to Operate) framework.

·         Greenplum or IBM DB2 professional certification.

·         PostgreSQL certification (e.g., EDB PostgreSQL Associate/Professional).