Database Administrator Sr Principal

Type of Requisition:
Regular

Clearance Level Must Currently Possess:
None

Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain:
None

Public Trust/Other Required:
None

Job Family:
IT Infrastructure and Operations

Job Qualifications:

Skills:
AWS Cloud Computing, IBM DB2 Database, Linux, Microsoft SQL Server, Unix
Certifications:
None
Experience:
8 + years of related experience
ship Required:
No

Job Description:

DATABASE ADMINISTRATOR SR PRINCIPAL

Advance how our customers operate while you advance your career. Join GDIT as a Database Administrator Sr Principal and build an impactful career in enterprise IT, collaborating with people who are driven and resourceful like you.

MEANINGFUL WORK AND PERSONAL IMPACT
We're seeking a seasoned Senior Database Administrator (DBA) for the NCMMIS program with deep expertise in IBM Mainframe (z/OS), Db2 (z/OS and LUW), Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and AWS Cloud services. In this role, you'll own the reliability, performance, security, and modernization of mission-critical data platforms across on-prem, mainframe, and cloud. You'll lead complex migrations, optimize large-scale databases, automate operations, and partner closely with application, security, and infrastructure teams to deliver resilient, compliant, and cost-effective data services.

Key Responsibilities

Platform Ownership & Operations
- Administer, configure, and maintain databases across Db2 for z/OS, Db2 LUW, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and AWS (e.g., RDS/Aurora, EC2-based instances, CloudWatch/Config, and backup/DR services).
- Manage schema design, indexing strategies, data partitioning, compression, and workload management for high-throughput transactional and analytical systems.
- Implement and verify backup/restore, HA/DR, log shipping, replication, and failover strategies (native tools and third-party solutions).
- Perform capacity planning and cost optimization (licenses, storage tiers, IOPS, instance sizing), including AWS cost controls and reservations.

Performance & Reliability
- Conduct deep performance tuning: query optimization, execution plans, parallelism, memory, I/O, buffer pools, and connection management.
- Proactively remediate bottlenecks using profilers, DMVs, EXPLAIN/EXPLAIN ANALYZE, Db2 accounting traces, z/OS SMF data, and cloud metrics.
- Establish SLOs/SLAs, observability dashboards, and alerting for availability, latency, and error budgets.

Security, Compliance & Governance
- Enforce security baselines: encryption (at rest/in transit), secrets management, key rotation (KMS/HSM), RACF/TSS for mainframe, least-privilege roles, and auditing.
- Support compliance requirements (e.g., SOX, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR) with robust access controls, data masking, logging, and evidence for audits.
- Partner with InfoSec on vulnerability remediation, patching cadence, and incident response.

Automation, DevOps & Modernization
- Build infrastructure-as-code patterns for database provisioning and configuration (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, Ansible).
- Automate routine operations using PowerShell, Python, Bash, REXX/JCL (for z/OS), including jobs for checks, patching, and reporting.
- Lead data migrations and modernization initiatives (e.g., mainframe offload, heterogeneous migrations, schema conversions, and refactoring for cloud-native services).
- Collaborate with engineering to enable CI/CD for database changes, versioning, and repeatable deployments (e.g., Redgate, Liquibase, Flyway).

Consulting & Leadership
- Serve as a subject matter expert for architecture reviews, capacity assessments, and database design guidance.
- Mentor junior DBAs/engineers; establish best practices, runbooks, and knowledge bases.
- Coordinate vendor engagements and manage licensing/commercial considerations.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO SUCCEED
Bring your technology expertise and drive for innovation to GDIT. The Database Administrator Sr Principal must have:
- 8-12+ years of progressive DBA experience across Db2 (z/OS & LUW), SQL Server, and PostgreSQL, including production ownership in enterprise environments.
- Hands-on mainframe experience: TSO/ISPF, JCL, Linux, Db2 utilities, and performance analysis using SMF/IFC data and Db2 traces.
- Proven AWS experience running databases on RDS/Aurora and EC2, with strong knowledge of networking, storage, IAM, and monitoring (CloudWatch).
- Expert-level performance tuning and query optimization; adept with execution plans, indexing, partitioning, and statistics maintenance.
- Strong command of backup/restore, replication, HA/DR, and business continuity across on-prem and cloud.
- Practical automation skills with PowerShell, Python, Bash, and mainframe scripting (REXX, JCL).
- Solid grasp of security, compliance, and audit practices; experience with encryption, RBAC, auditing, and key management.
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and incident leadership under pressure.

Preferred Qualifications
- Certifications: AWS Certified Database - Specialty, AWS SysOps Administrator, AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate, IBM Db2 certifications, Microsoft DP-300 (Administering Relational Databases on Microsoft Azure), PostgreSQL Professional.
- Experience with modern data ecosystems (e.g., Kafka, Snowflake, Redshift) and ETL/ELT tooling (e.g., Informatica, dbt, SSIS, AWS Glue).
- Experience with Observability tooling (e.g., CloudWatch, Grafana/Prometheus, Datadog, Dynatrace, Idera, Redgate).
- Familiarity with ITIL, Agile, and DevOps practices; prior work enabling database change automation and release governance.

Core Competencies
- Systems Thinking: Balances reliability, performance, cost, and risk across hybrid environments.
- Operational Excellence: Builds resilient processes and automation-first solutions.
- Security Mindset: Designs for least privilege and auditability; anticipates threats.
- Collaboration: Influences cross-functional decisions and mentors teammates.
- Ownership & Judgment: Drives outcomes; makes clear trade-offs under ambiguity.

Tools & Technologies
- Mainframe: z/OS, TSO/ISPF, JCL, RACF/TSS, IBM Data Studio, Db2 utilities (RUNSTATS, REORG, COPY/RECOVER)
- Relational DBs: Db2 LUW, SQL Server (SSMS/DMVs), PostgreSQL (psql/EXPLAIN), Redgate/Idera
- Cloud: AWS RDS/Aurora, EC2, S3, KMS, CloudWatch, Parameter Store/Secrets Manager, Injestion and Integration Services
- Automation/Infra: Terraform/CloudFormation, Ansible, Git, CI/CD (Azure DevOps/GitHub Actions)
- Data Modeling: Idera ER/Studio, Erwin Data Modeler

GDIT IS YOUR PLACE
At GDIT, the mission is our purpose, and our people are at the center of everything we do.
Growth: AI-powered career tool that identifies career steps and learning opportunities
Support: An internal mobility team focused on helping you achieve your career goals
Rewards: Comprehensive benefits and wellness packages, 401K with company match, and competitive pay and paid time off
Flexibility: Full-flex work week to own your priorities at work and at home
Community: Award-winning culture of innovation and a military-friendly workplace

OWN YOUR OPPORTUNITY
Explore an enterprise IT career at GDIT and you'll find endless opportunities to grow alongside colleagues who share your desire to drive operations forward.

The likely salary range for this position is $129,813 - $155,250. This is not, however, a guarantee of compensation or salary. Rather, salary will be set based on experience, geographic location and possibly contractual requirements and could fall outside of this range.

Scheduled Weekly Hours:
40

Travel Required:
None

Telecommuting Options:
Remote

Work Location:
Any Location / Remote

Additional Work Locations:

Total Rewards at GDIT:
Our benefits package for all US-based employees includes a variety of medical plan options, some with Health Savings Accounts, dental plan options, a vision plan, and a 401(k) plan offering the ability to contribute both pre and post-tax dollars up to the IRS annual limits and receive a company match. To encourage work/life balance, GDIT offers employees full flex work weeks where possible and a variety of paid time off plans, including vacation, sick and personal time, holidays, paid parental, military, bereavement and jury duty leave. GDIT typically provides new employees with 15 days of paid leave per calendar year to be used for vacations, personal business, and illness and an additional 10 paid holidays per year. Paid leave and paid holidays are prorated based on the employee's date of hire. The GDIT Paid Family Leave program provides a total of up to 160 hours of paid leave in a rolling 12 month period for eligible employees. To ensure our employees are able to protect their income, other offerings such as short and long-term disability benefits, life, accidental death and dismemberment, personal accident, critical illness and business travel and accident insurance are provided or available. We regularly review our Total Rewards package to ensure our offerings are competitive and reflect what our employees have told us they value most.

We are GDIT. A global technology and professional services company that delivers consulting, technology and mission services to every major agency across the U.S. government, defense and intelligence community. Our 30,000 experts extract the power of technology to create immediate value and deliver solutions at the edge of innovation. We operate across 50 countries worldwide, offering leading capabilities in digital modernization, AI/ML, Cloud, Cyber and application development. Together with our clients, we strive to create a safer, smarter world by harnessing the power of deep expertise and advanced technology.

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Equal Opportunity Employer / Individuals with Disabilities / Protected Veterans