SQL Server Data Platform Engineer na None

Position Title: SQL Server Data Platform Engineer       Department: Data and Analytics

Classification: Exempt/Grade 13                                                         Approved By: Benito Santoro

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

Position Reports To: CDO – Chief Data Officer             Positions Supervised: None 

All team members work toward a common purpose to Brighten the Financial Future of the Communities We Serve. Each employee supports our members by promoting and offering relevant services and products to meet their diverse needs.  We deliver outstanding service by embracing our core values of Integrity, Collaboration, Accountability, Passion, and Self-Improvement. 

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POSITION PURPOSE

This role is responsible for managing and optimizing the Microsoft SQL Server platform. Core duties include administration, security, backups and recovery, performance tuning, job automation, and support of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). In addition, the engineer may be called on to deliver data solutions by building or enhancing SSIS packages, stored procedures, views, and SQL code in support of business and project requests. The position ensures reliable operations today while preparing the platform for future modernization.

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ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND BASIC DUTIES

1. Administer SQL Server Platform Services
   1. Install, configure, and maintain SQL Server instances across non-prod and prod
   2. Manage databases, filegroups, and capacity planning
   3. Configure and maintain SQL Server Agent, linked servers, and integration endpoints
   4. Own backup and recovery models, test restores, and ensure Recovery Point Objective (RPO)/Recovery Time Objective (RTO) adherence
   5. Configure and support high-availability and disaster-recovery options such as Always On Availability Groups, Failover Cluster Instances, and log shipping
2. Optimizes Database Performance and Query Efficiency
   1. Review, debug, and optimize T-SQL stored procedures and functions using execution plans and Dynamic Management Views (DMVs)
   2. Design and maintain indexing strategies including clustered, nonclustered, and filtered indexes
   3. Manage statistics, mitigate parameter sniffing, and optimize tempdb usage
   4. Assist Engineers as needed with reducing long-running queries and stabilizing performance
3. Automates Jobs and Manages SSIS Operations
   1. Support, debug, and improve SQL Server Agent jobs and schedules
   2. Standardize job ownership, credentials, alerts, and notifications
   3. Automate administrative tasks and 3^rd party data retrieval jobs
   4. Keep database objects and job scripts in source control and implement continuous integration and continuous delivery to on-premises SQL Server using a self-hosted automation agent such as Azure Pipelines or GitHub Actions
   5. Define and maintain deployment and environment configuration standards for SQL Server Integration Services
4. Enforce Data Security and Regulatory Compliance
   1. Implement and monitor least-privilege access, AD integration, and role-based controls
   2. Configure auditing, encryption at rest and in transit, and data protection features as appropriate
   3. Align with organizational policies and applicable regulations including BSA, AML, MIP, and OFAC
5. Monitoring Platform Health and Responds to Incidents
   1. Implement and tune monitoring and alerting for availability, performance, and job health
   2. Perform root cause analysis, and drive corrective actions
   3. Produce concise operational metrics and support development of dashboards for platform health
   4. Monitor key DQ indicators and alerts for priority tables; drive root cause analysis and corrective actions within the database scope
6. Documents Systems and Transfers Operational Knowledge
   1. Write clear runbooks, standard operating procedures, and current-state system diagrams
   2. Maintain an authoritative inventory of servers, instances, databases, jobs, and data flows
   3. Provide level-2 and level-3 support and mentor peers on platform best practices
7. Supports and Integrates Data Engineering Solutions
   1. Design and build data pipelines using SQL Server, SSIS, and other tools to ingest, transform, and load data from diverse sources.
   2. Develop and maintain data models (e.g., star schema, snowflake schema) to support analytics and reporting.
   3. Integrate data from APIs and external systems, ensuring consistency and quality.
   4. Optimize data infrastructure for performance, scalability, and cost efficiency.
   5. Build and enhance stored procedures, views, and SQL logic to deliver business and project data requests, and modify existing code (procedures, views, staging logic) to add columns, fix joins, or improve performance
   6. Maintain and harden existing SQL Server Integration Services packages and schedules with logging and restart ability

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QUALIFICATIONS

Education/Certification:        

• Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field, or equivalent experience required
• Microsoft certification such as Azure Database Administrator Associate or legacy SQL Server DBA a plus
• Azure Fundamentals or Azure Administrator helpful
• ITIL Foundation or similar service management certification a plus

Required knowledge:              

• SQL Server 2016–2022 engine internals, T-SQL, transaction log, locking, tempdb, storage
• SQL Server Agent jobs, alerts, operators, proxies, and credentials
• Performance tuning using execution plans, DMVs, wait statistics, indexing strategies, and statistics maintenance
• SSIS deployment models, configurations, error handling, and logging
• High Availability (HA)/Disaster Recovery (DR) patterns including Always On Availability Groups, Failover Cluster Instances, log shipping, and replication
• Security hardening including AD integration, RBAC, encryption at rest and in transit, auditing, masking, and row-level security
• Data governance and quality at the database layer including constraints, validation rules, reconciliation checks, and basic lineage metadata
• Windows Server, networking basics, storage IOPS and throughput, and virtualization fundamentals

Experience required:               

• 3+ years in a SQL Server DBA or Database Engineer role with platform management ownership
• Demonstrated success improving performance, reliability, and automation at scale
• Hands-on support and enhancement of existing SSIS and T-SQL codebases
• PowerShell automation and SQL Server Agent job orchestration at scale
• High availability and disaster recovery implementation and recovery testing with documented recovery point and recovery time objectives
• Incident response including root cause analysis and corrective actions
• Database change management using state-based or migration-based approaches
• Creating and managing source control and continuous integration and delivery to on-premises SQL Server using a self-hosted automation agent such as Azure Pipelines or GitHub Actions
• Authoring runbooks, standards, environment documentation, and operational procedures

Skills/Abilities:             

• Diagnose and resolve complex performance and reliability issues using execution plans, dynamic management views, logs, and monitoring tools
• Design indexing and query patterns for transactional and batch workloads; mitigate parameter sniffing and stabilize performance
• Script administrative automation in Transact-SQL and PowerShell
• Build and maintain safe deployment pipelines with approvals, secrets management, and rollback procedures for on-premises SQL Server
• Write clear runbooks, standards, data dictionaries, lineage notes, and table-level service level agreements
• Communicate effectively and partner with Security, Infrastructure, Analytics, and Data Governance teams
• Lead technical direction for the SQL Server platform, mentor peers, and enforce best practices
• Manage competing priorities, participate in an on-call rotation, and deliver to service level agreements
• Support small data-engineering tasks such as modifying stored procedures, views, or SSIS packages to resolve tickets and improve performance

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND REQUIREMENTS OF THIS POSITION

Finger Dexterity:

• Using primarily just the fingers to make small movements such as typing, picking up small objects, or pinching fingers together.

TALKING:

• Position requires capacity for almost continuous verbal communication and detailed or important instructions or ideas must frequently be conveyed accurately, loudly or quickly to other team members.

AVERAGE HEARING:

• Able to hear average or normal conversations and receive ordinary information.

REPETITIVE MOTIONS:                    

• Movements frequently and regularly required using the wrists, hands, and fingers.

AVERAGE VISUAL ABILITIES:       

• Average, ordinary, visual acuity necessary to prepare or inspect documents or products, or operate machinery.

PHYSICAL STRENGTH:                   

• Medium work; exerts up to 20 lbs. of force occasionally, and/or up to 20 lbs. frequently, and 10 lbs. constantly.

WORKING CONDITIONS

NONE:

• No hazardous or significantly unpleasant conditions.   (Such as in a typical office.)

MENTAL ACTIVITIES AND REQUIREMENTS OF THIS POSITION

REASONING ABILITY:       

• Ability to deal with a variety of variables under only limited standardization.
• Able to interpret various instructions.

MATHEMATICS ABILITY: 

• Ability to perform complex math skills using probability and statistics, decimals to compute ratios and percent, and to draw and interpret graphs.

LANGUAGE ABILITY:        

• Ability to read a variety of books, magazines, instruction manuals, forums, technical documentation, and encyclopedias.
• Ability to prepare memos, reports, and essays using proper punctuation, spelling, and grammar.
• Ability to communicate distinctly with appropriate pauses and emphasis; correct punctuation (or sign equivalent) and variation in word order; using present, perfect, and future tenses.

INTENT AND FUNCTION OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Job descriptions assist organizations in ensuring that the hiring process is fairly administered and that qualified employees are selected.  They are also essential to an effective appraisal system and related promotion, transfer, layoff, and termination decisions.  Well-constructed job descriptions are an integral part of any effective compensation system.  

All descriptions have been reviewed to ensure that only essential functions and basic duties have been included.  Peripheral tasks, only incidentally related to each position, have been excluded.   Requirements, skills, and abilities included have been determined to be the minimal standards required to successfully perform the positions.  In no instance, however, should the duties, responsibilities, and requirements delineated be interpreted as all inclusive.  Additional functions and requirements may be assigned by supervisors as deemed appropriate.  

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is possible that requirements may be modified to reasonably accommodate disabled individuals.   However, no accommodations will be made which may pose serious health or safety risks to the employee or others or which impose undue hardships on the organization.

Job descriptions are not intended as and do not create employment contracts.  The organization maintains its status as an at-will employer.   Employees can be terminated for any reason not prohibited by law.