Senior Database Administrator

About Syngenta

At Syngenta Seeds Field Crops, we're shaping the future of agriculture and empowering farmers to meet the ever-growing demand for food and fuel. We’re a global Ag Tech powerhouse, headquartered in the United States, with passionate, local experts collaborating with farmers to deliver solutions that create market opportunities.  We unite precision breeding, advanced biotechnology trait choice, and digital platforms for unmatched in-field performance.  Our seeds help mitigate risks such as disease, insect, weed, and extreme weather pressures, all while promoting sustainable farming practices that protect and enhance our planet. Join our mission of revolutionizing food security and transforming agriculture.

We are seeking a Senior Database Administrator in Durham, NC. In this role, you will be responsible for the administration, optimization, security, modernization, and strategic direction of enterprise database platforms that support critical applications and business processes. This role provides technical leadership for cloud-hosted and enterprise database environments and is accountable for improving availability, performance, scalability, cost efficiency, data protection, and long-term platform sustainability.

The successful candidate will partner with application teams, cloud engineers, infrastructure teams, vendors, and business stakeholders to translate business and technical needs into practical database strategies, standards, modernization plans, and measurable delivery outcomes. This position combines hands-on database administration with strategic platform ownership, automation, governance, and cross-team execution.

Accountabilities: 

• Administer, optimize, secure, and monitor enterprise database platforms across AWS-hosted and enterprise environments, including Amazon RDS, Aurora PostgreSQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and related technologies.
• Define database strategy, standards, governance, service catalog expectations, ownership metadata, operational documentation, and multi-year roadmaps aligned to business priorities, operational needs, and compliance requirements.
• Troubleshoot complex incidents and resolve performance, replication, connectivity, availability, backup, recovery, disaster recovery, and reliability issues for mission-critical database services.
• Lead database modernization initiatives from assessment through execution, including migration to cloud-native and managed database services and improvement of long-term platform sustainability.
• Manage data sources, change data capture, replication, synchronization, transformation, data modeling, and normalization practices to support reliable data flow and trusted business outcomes.
•  Maintain security controls, encryption standards, access controls, vulnerability remediation, audit support, automation, change management, and operational standards for database environments.
• Partner with application, cloud, infrastructure, vendor, and business teams while mentoring junior database administrators through coaching, standards, knowledge sharing, and practical database administration guidance.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of experience administering enterprise database platforms in production environments.
• Hands-on experience with AWS cloud database services, including Amazon RDS and Aurora PostgreSQL.
• Advanced SQL, database architecture, query execution plan analysis, indexing, partitioning, clustering, performance tuning, replication, backup and recovery, high availability, disaster recovery, data modeling, normalization, and roadmap execution expertise.
• Experience troubleshooting complex application, database, and infrastructure issues supporting mission-critical services.
• Experience with database monitoring, operational support, incident response, change management, and problem management processes.
• Strong scripting, automation, analytical, strategic planning, communication, stakeholder management, organizational, and independent execution skills, with the ability to work under minimal supervision and proficiency using database administration tools and utilities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Oracle, MongoDB, and other database technologies beyond the core AWS, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server platforms.
• Experience leading database migration and cloud modernization initiatives.
• Experience working with AWS infrastructure and cloud-native services.
• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code, CI/CD pipelines, and DevOps practices.
• Knowledge of database security, compliance, and governance best practices.
• Experience supporting scientific, research, manufacturing, commercial, or other data-intensive business environments.
• AWS or database-related professional certifications.

•  Authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship

What We Offer

• A culture that celebrates belonging and collaboration, promotes professional development, and strives for a work-life balance that supports team members. Offers flexible work options to support your work and personal needs.
• Full Benefit Package (Medical, Dental & Vision) that starts your first day.
• 401k plan with company match, Profit Sharing & Retirement Savings Contribution.
• Paid Vacation, Paid Holidays, Maternity and Paternity Leave, Education Assistance, Wellness Programs, Corporate Discounts, among other benefits.

Syngenta has been ranked as a top employer by Science Journal. Learn more about our team and our mission here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVCN_51GbNI

Syngenta is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, or any other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

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