Senior SQL Server DBA – Databricks

Job Type: Contract to hire
Duration: 3–6 Months
Location: Remote
Potential: Possible Contract-to-Hire
Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM Arizona Time

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Senior SQL Server Database Administrator with hands-on Databricks experience to manage, optimize, secure, and support enterprise Microsoft SQL Server environments.

The ideal candidate will have strong SQL Server DBA expertise along with mandatory hands-on Databricks experience, including Databricks SQL, Delta Lake, workflows, and production data pipelines.

Key Responsibilities

• Administer SQL Server databases, including installation, configuration, patching, upgrades, and maintenance.
• Monitor database health, capacity, availability, and performance.
• Troubleshoot slow queries, blocking, deadlocks, connectivity issues, and resource bottlenecks.
• Optimize T-SQL queries, stored procedures, indexes, and execution plans.
• Manage backup, restoration, disaster recovery, and recovery testing.
• Support SQL Server Always On Availability Groups and failover clustering.
• Maintain database security, permissions, encryption, auditing, and access controls.
• Plan and execute database migrations and upgrades.
• Develop and troubleshoot data pipelines connecting SQL Server and Databricks.
• Support Databricks workflows, Delta Lake tables, SQL workloads, and production troubleshooting.
• Troubleshoot Databricks pipeline, data processing, and performance issues.
• Automate administrative tasks using SQL Server Agent, T-SQL, PowerShell, and scripting.
• Collaborate with application developers and data engineers on database integrations.
• Support SSIS and ETL/ELT workflows as needed.
• Maintain documentation, runbooks, and change records.
• Participate in production support and critical incident resolution.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of database administration experience with strong Microsoft SQL Server experience.
• Mandatory hands-on Databricks experience.
• Experience with Databricks SQL, Delta Lake, Workflows, and production data pipelines.
• Experience integrating SQL Server with Databricks.
• Experience with Apache Spark and Python/PySpark.
• Strong T-SQL, SQL Server architecture, indexing, query optimization, and execution plan analysis.
• Experience with Query Store, Extended Events, and Dynamic Management Views.
• Strong backup/recovery, high availability, and disaster recovery experience.
• Experience with Always On Availability Groups and failover clustering.
• Database security and enterprise access control experience.
• Working knowledge of Windows Server, storage, and networking.
• PowerShell or scripting experience for automation.
• Strong troubleshooting and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Azure Databricks
• Azure Data Factory (ADF)
• Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS)
• Azure SQL Database / Azure SQL Managed Instance
• SQL Server on Azure VMs
• Databricks Unity Catalog
• SSIS / SSRS / Power BI
• Deployment automation and source control
• Microsoft or Databricks certifications

Important: Candidates must have genuine hands-on production experience with both Microsoft SQL Server DBA and Databricks.