job summary:
Are you a people-first leader who still loves staying close to technology? We are seeking an IT Database & Application Administration Manager to lead, coach, and inspire a talented team of administrators. This is a Contract-to-Hire opportunity operating on a hybrid schedule (onsite 3 days a week, Tuesday through Thursday).
In this role, you will strike the perfect balance between technical credibility and strategic leadership-ensuring the stability, performance, and security of our business-critical production environments. As a champion for operational excellence, you will steer daily operations across incident and change management, disaster recovery, and capacity planning. More than just a supervisor, you will be a collaborative partner to cross-functional teams, executives, and vendors, translating complex technical challenges into clear, business-driven solutions.
location: Austin, Texas
job type: Contract
salary: $75 - 80 per hour
work hours: 8am to 5pm
education: Bachelors
responsibilities:
- Leading, coaching, and developing database and application administration teams with clear expectations and accountability.
- Ensuring stability, availability, security, and performance of production database and application environments.
- Managing daily operations such as incident, problem, and change management, capacity planning, backup and recovery, and disaster recovery preparedness.
- Collaborating with infrastructure, security, project management, business teams, executives, and vendors to align technology services with business needs and risk expectations.
- Utilizing operational metrics like service availability, Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR), root cause analysis, and change success rates to enhance service quality and team performance.
- Communicating technical issues clearly in business terms, including impact, urgency, ownership, and next steps.
- Supporting vendor coordination, budget management, audit readiness, and continuous improvement.
- Promoting a culture of ownership, collaboration, documentation, and reliable service delivery.
qualifications:
Education & Experience: You hold a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent professional experience) backed by 7+ years in infrastructure, IT operations, database administration, or systems management.
People Leadership: You have at least 3 years of experience leading technical teams. You excel at coaching, managing performance, hiring talent, delegating priorities, and fostering professional growth.
Operational Excellence: You are comfortable supporting mission-critical production environments and leading teams through complex operational hurdles by assessing technical risks and asking the right diagnostic questions.
Communication & Influence: You possess exceptional communication skills, with a proven ability to translate complex technical challenges into clear, actionable insights for non-technical stakeholders.
Compliance & Process
Structured Environments: You have a strong track record of working within structured operational frameworks.
Governance: You hold a deep commitment to strict Change Management procedures, particularly within SOX and SOC II compliance structures.
Technical Expertise
This role leverages a diverse technical toolkit, with roughly a quarter of your time focused on SQL database administration alongside daily server and software lifecycle management.
Primary Technical Requirements
Database Management (5+ Years): Deep expertise in Microsoft SQL Server (versions 2016 through 2022), including SSIS, SSRS, and SSAS.
Windows Ecosystem (5+ Years): Strong command of Microsoft Windows Operating Systems (2016 and newer) across both client and server environments.
Virtualization (2+ Years): Hands-on experience managing VMware or similar virtual server infrastructures.
Automation & Scripting (2+ Years): Proficiency with Microsoft PowerShell for automation and administrative tasks.
Linux Environment (1+ Year): Practical familiarity with Linux OS and server administration (Ubuntu or similar distributions).
Systems Administration: Core competence in Active Directory tools, server OS operations, and routine patching protocols.
Tooling & Diagnostics: Highly proficient with SQL Management Studio, T-SQL, SQL Profiler, Extended Events, and standard MS Office applications.
Bonus Points (Preferred Skills)
If you have experience in any of the following areas, you'll stand out:
Advanced Technical Skills
High Availability: 2+ years of experience configuring Windows Clustering and Always On environments.
Cloud & DevOps: Familiarity with major cloud providers (Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud Platform) and deployment workflows via Azure DevOps repositories.
Containers: Exposure to containerization technologies like Docker or Kubernetes Swarms.
Monitoring & Tooling: Experience utilizing systems monitoring software (e.g., Dynatrace, Prometheus, Grafana, Quest Spotlight) and development environments like MS Visual Studio.
Industry & Business Acumen
Regulated Environments: Experience navigating the audit, risk, and security demands of the financial sector or other highly regulated industries (especially loan accounting and origination systems).
IT Service Management: Familiarity with enterprise ticketing platforms like ServiceNow.
Strategic Operations: Background in vendor relations, budget oversight, SLA management, and technology roadmap planning.
Equal Opportunity Employer: Race, Color, Religion, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, National Origin, Age, Genetic Information, Disability, Protected Veteran Status, or any other legally protected group status.
At Randstad Digital, we welcome people of all abilities and want to ensure that our hiring and interview process meets the needs of all applicants. If you require a reasonable accommodation to make your application or interview experience a great one, please contact
Pay offered to a successful candidate will be based on several factors including the candidate's education, work experience, work location, specific job duties, certifications, etc. In addition, Randstad Digital offers a comprehensive benefits package, including: medical, prescription, dental, vision, AD&D, and life insurance offerings, short-term disability, and a 401K plan (all benefits are based on eligibility).
This posting is open for thirty (30) days.
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