Big challenges need bold thinkers.
If you’re someone who sees problems as opportunities, you’ll thrive here. RESPEC is 100% employee-owned, which means we take ownership of every challenge. Here, your ideas drive real solutions. Since 1969, we’ve tackled complex challenges in energy transition, infrastructure resilience, digital transformation, and sustainability.
At RESPEC, you’ll work alongside clients to take on critical problems. Depending on your expertise, you might design infrastructure in remote locations, develop renewable energy solutions for global projects, or apply data-driven technology to improve mining and water systems.
We bring deep technical knowledge, real-world experience, and a commitment to work that matters. If you're looking for a place where your contributions have real impact, you’ll fit right in.
We do not accept unsolicited resumes from third-party recruiters.
Job DescriptionRESPEC is seeking an accomplished, hands-on Senior Database Developer to support a mission-critical statewide education data project for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and its Texas Student Data System (TSDS). In this position, you will serve as the primary database subject matter expert, taking direct ownership of architecting, optimizing, and maintaining complex database pipelines that process data across more than 1,200 public school districts. Working within an Agile-focused development lifecycle, you will optimize query performance, integrate complex JSON-based data structures within Oracle environments, and collaborate closely with cross-functional software engineering teams to guarantee data accuracy, high throughput, and system integrity.
Core Responsibilities
As a lead technical contributor on this engagement, your day-to-day focus will center on building and refining enterprise-grade relational database solutions:
- Database Engineering & Optimization: Design, implement, and maintain advanced Oracle SQL and PL/SQL packages, procedures, and functions. You will actively profile query plans and tune database operations to minimize SGA, PGA, and Temporary Space consumption, ensuring seamless data flows across heavy transaction cycles.
- Modern Data Handling & ETL: Architect robust data-manipulation routines capable of querying, transforming, and persisting JSON structures natively inside Oracle tables and relational views. You will also develop reliable data-mapping pipelines and interface with multi-database ecosystems encompassing Oracle, SQL Server, and MySQL.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration & Code Quality: Partner closely with full-stack Java and .NET application engineers to diagnose integration bottlenecks, troubleshoot application-level database interaction issues, and conduct thorough development and unit testing with complete technical documentation.
- Agile Release Management: Actively participate in sprint planning, backlog grooming, and release deployments, ensuring that all data schema changes and database enhancements adhere to rigorous client software development standards.
Required Technical Experience
To qualify for this opportunity, candidates must clearly demonstrate the following baseline technical qualifications:
- 8+ Years of Enterprise Database & Systems Experience:
- Deep expertise in Oracle SQL and advanced PL/SQL programming, including practical usage of bulk collect, partitioned structures, and complex data modeling.
- Proven background in database performance tuning and optimization, with specific experience troubleshooting resource-intensive queries to optimize SGA, PGA, and TempSpace utilization.
- Hands-on experience developing and managing solutions in Microsoft SQL Server alongside relational database systems.
- Demonstrated track record of conducting end-to-end unit testing, comprehensive test case design, and technical system documentation.
- Continuous experience delivering database features within structured Agile or Scrum project workflows.
- 4+ Years of Specialized JSON & Optimization Experience:
- Practical experience storing, parsing, querying, and manipulating JSON payloads directly within Oracle database tables.
- Demonstrated ability to design complex analytical queries and high-performance views that source directly from JSON data formats.
- Hands-on tuning and optimization of stored procedures and views interacting heavily with nested JSON structures.
Preferred Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience utilizing Jira for backlog tracking and Bitbucket/Git for version control.
- 2+ years of hands-on exposure to Nomad workload orchestration.
- 2+ years of domain experience supporting the Texas Student Data System (TSDS) or comparable large-scale state agency education platforms.
- Familiarity with JasperReports, enterprise ETL orchestration tools, or reviewing integration hooks within Java and .NET backends.
Work Model & Location
- Classification: Primary Remote / Telework with client-coordinated flexibility.
- Schedule: Full-time, standard business hours from Monday through Friday (8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Central Time, 40 hours per week). Occasional pre-approved evening or weekend hours may occur during major deployment releases.
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.
Skills Required
- 8+ years enterprise database and systems experience
- Deep expertise in Oracle SQL and advanced PL/SQL (bulk collect, partitioning, complex data modeling)
- Proven experience in database performance tuning and optimization (SGA, PGA, TempSpace troubleshooting)
- Hands-on experience with Microsoft SQL Server alongside relational database systems
- End-to-end unit testing, test case design, and technical system documentation experience
- Experience delivering database features within Agile/Scrum workflows
- 4+ years storing, parsing, querying, and manipulating JSON payloads inside Oracle tables
- Designing complex analytical queries and high-performance views sourcing JSON data
- Tuning stored procedures and views interacting heavily with nested JSON structures
- Experience using Jira for backlog tracking and Bitbucket/Git for version control
- Hands-on exposure to Nomad workload orchestration
- Domain experience with the Texas Student Data System (TSDS) or comparable state education platforms
- Familiarity with JasperReports and enterprise ETL orchestration tools
RESPEC Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about RESPEC and has not been reviewed or approved by RESPEC.
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Retirement Support — - Retirement Support: Retirement benefits are positioned as a meaningful part of total rewards through the combination of an ESOP and a 401(k). Long-term wealth-building potential is emphasized as a differentiator versus base-salary-only comparisons.
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Healthcare Strength — - Healthcare Strength: Core medical, dental, and vision coverage is presented as a standard, comprehensive foundation. Additional protection coverage (life and disability) is also included, strengthening the overall benefits stack.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — - Fair & Transparent Compensation: Pay is characterized as generally fair-to-good when viewed across roles and in combination with total rewards. Clear salary ranges appearing in some job postings further support expectations-setting for certain positions.
RESPEC Insights
What We Do
In a world where one superhero can handle almost any problem, our entire team of award-winning technology experts is on a mission to make your business better. With extra vision to see solutions that others can’t and vast knowledge to bridge the gaps that others don’t, we’re transformers with the know-how to solve the world’s hardest problems. At RESPEC, we thrive on technology and making our clients successful. This is why we do what we do. From the depths of a cavern to the heights of a volcano, from an antiquated computer system to a business in dire need of re-engineering, our technical and business experts find solutions for extreme situations... like the time we cleansed and migrated 100 million rows of legacy data or the time we protected Mt. Rushmore. Know-How is Everything. We use our resourcefulness and vast experience to solve problems. It’s called know-how. And when you have it, problems aren’t problems at all. Know-how defines the core of who we are. It is how our clients see us. Know-how speaks to ingenuity, aptitude, and skill—it is not merely knowledge; it is knowledge on how to get things done. Imagine having access to a think tank with hundreds of diversely talented engineers, scientists, programmers, and developers under one roof—that’s RESPEC. Each team member is highly trained and skilled in understanding and applying the laws of a specific universe to solve any kind of problem. That’s why we have to talk about our team in terms of superheroes.
