Sr. Database Reliability Engineer II

Join Aya Healthcare, winner of multiple Top Workplace awards!

Aya Healthcare is seeking a highly skilled Senior Database Reliability Engineer II to join our Data Reliability Engineering team, which is focused on enhancing the performance, scalability, and reliability of our large-scale database infrastructure primarily hosted on Azure.

This role will involve a deep engagement in database performance tuning, reliability engineering, and architectural guidance, supporting our mission-critical SaaS applications. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in Azure, MS SQL, NoSQL, and complex data warehouse and data lake environments with demonstrated ability to lead complex database reliability initiatives and collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary teams. Experience with modern data warehouse and data lake solutions such as Databricks or Snowflake is highly preferred. 

This role may be part of an on call rotation. 

Who We Are: 

We’re a $10+ billion, rapidly growing workforce solutions provider in the healthcare industry. We deliver tech-enabled services that help healthcare organizations meet and manage their contingent labor needs. We build and manage tech-enabled marketplaces for national and local healthcare talent and deliver contingent labor management solutions through our proprietary software platform.

At Aya, we’re obsessed with creating exceptional experiences for our clients, clinicians and employees. In fact, we put employee satisfaction above all else. Our team members are responsible for incomparable customer experience and we know that happy employees are critical to maintaining happy clients. We foster an entrepreneurial, high-energy, low-bureaucracy culture and value innovative thinking and creative problem solving. We embrace diversity in thought and backgrounds unified by a commitment to high achievement. When you join Aya, you’ll be surrounded by teammates who care about you as an individual and leaders who will help you grow both personally and professionally.

Responsibilities: 

• Performance Tuning & Optimization:
  • Conduct comprehensive performance tuning for MS SQL environments, focusing on query optimization and execution plan analysis.
  • Diagnose and resolve query timeouts, deadlocks, and transactional conflicts.
  • Implement best practices for SQL coding to enhance query performance and prevent sub-optimal executions.
• Index Management & Resource Optimization:
  • Review and adjust index strategies, including clustered, non-clustered, and full-text indexing, based on usage statistics and performance needs.
  • Monitor and optimize resource usage, including memory, CPU, and I/O, ensuring efficient database operation.
  • Work closely with infrastructure teams to align hardware and storage configurations with database performance requirements.
• Performance Monitoring & Incident Management:
  • Utilize advanced monitoring tools such as SQL Profiler, Performance Monitor, and SQL Sentry to diagnose performance issues and optimize database operations.
  • Customize real-time monitoring dashboards and set up automated alerts for potential performance degradations, ensuring rapid response and minimal downtime.
  • Lead incident response efforts, performing root cause analysis and implementing corrective actions to prevent future occurrences.
• Lock and Concurrency Management:
  • Design and implement strategies to minimize lock contention and manage concurrency, enhancing transaction flows in high-volume environments.
  • Apply appropriate isolation levels based on workload requirements, balancing data integrity and performance.
• Database Configuration & Maintenance:
  • Regularly review and optimize database configurations, including file placements, growth settings, and recovery models, to align with performance goals.
  • Monitor and manage tempDB usage to prevent bottlenecks and ensure smooth database operation.
  • Conduct regular performance audits, collaborating with development, infrastructure, and QA teams to execute load and stress tests.
• Database Sustainability & Reliability Engineering:
  • Design multi-node configurations for high availability and disaster recovery, ensuring seamless failover processes.
  • Implement and maintain robust backup strategies, including full, differential, and transactional log backups, to meet RTO and RPO objectives.
  • Leverage automation to improve productivity, optimize performance, and quickly adapt to dynamic changes in database usage.
• Capacity Planning & Collaboration:
  • Collaborate with cloud architecture, infrastructure, engineering, and product teams to forecast future database needs and plan capacity accordingly.
  • Analyze historical data to establish database growth trends and guide future scaling strategies.
  • Serve as the primary liaison between database and application development teams, ensuring alignment on performance and reliability objectives.
• Database Administration & Security:
  • Plan and execute database migrations and upgrades with minimal downtime, ensuring system continuity.
  • Establish, review, and enforce security protocols, including user access control, data encryption, and compliance with industry standards.
  • Conduct regular patching cycles and maintain up-to-date database systems.
• Documentation & Training:
  • Maintain comprehensive documentation of database architectures, recovery procedures, and performance tuning strategies.
  • Provide detailed performance reports to management, articulating key findings and recommending solutions for improvement.
  • Mentor junior engineers, conduct workshops, and promote best practices within the team.
• Cross-Training & Knowledge Sharing:
  • Lead training sessions for junior team members and other stakeholders, fostering a collaborative and knowledge-sharing environment.
  • Stay updated on evolving database technologies through workshops, webinars, and conferences, adapting to the latest industry standards.
• Database Design & Deployment Guidance:
  • Provide performance-focused feedback during the software development life cycle to ensure optimal database design and integration.
  • Engage with developers during code reviews to promote efficient database interaction and best practices.
• NoSQL Database Maintenance:
  • Offer expertise in managing NoSQL platforms, focusing on scaling, tuning, and maintenance.
  • Lead projects involving the integration of NoSQL solutions into existing infrastructure.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, a related field, or equivalent work experience. 
• 10+ years of hands-on experience managing MS SQL databases in large-scale environments. 
• 5+ years of experience supporting MS SQL in Azure Cloud environments. 
• 5+ years of experience of MySQL experience
• Proficiency in query optimization, execution plan analysis, and performance troubleshooting. 
• Demonstrated experience in setting up and managing high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) solutions for MS SQL. 
• Strong familiarity with MS SQL tools like SQL Profiler, Performance Monitor, and Execution Plans. 
• Solid understanding of NoSQL database architectures and principles. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• MS SQL Server certifications (e.g., MCSE: Data Management and Analytics). 
• Experience supporting multiple database technologies as part of a Database Reliability Engineering team. 
• Proven experience with large-scale data warehouse/data lake solutions such as Databricks, Snowflake, or similar platforms. 
• Previous leadership or mentorship experience with junior DBAs or database engineers. 
• Proficiency in scripting languages like PowerShell, Python, or Bash for automating database maintenance tasks. 
• Experience with SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS). 
• Familiarity with .NET and Entity Framework interactions with MS SQL Server. 
• Proven ability to handle critical incidents with minimal disruption. 

What We Offer:

• Free premium medical, dental, life and vision insurance   
• Generous 401(k) match   
• Aya also offers other benefits to those that are eligible and where required by applicable law, including reimbursements and discretionary bonuses   
• Aya provides paid sick leave in accordance with all applicable state, federal, and local laws. Aya’s general sick leave policy is that employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. However, to the extent any provisions of the statement above conflict with any applicable paid sick leave laws, the applicable paid sick leave laws are controlling   
• Celebrations! We hit our goals and reward ourselves.   
• Company-sponsored virtual events, happy hours and team-building activities are always on the horizon — plus, you get a special treat on your birthday!  
• Unlimited DTO — we believe in time off!  
• Virtual yoga, meditation or boot camp classes offered daily   

Compensation: Aya reasonably anticipates the pay scale for this position to an annual salary of $190,000 to $205,000.

The pay scale for this position may vary if applicant possesses experience outside of what Aya reasonably anticipates for this position. Bonuses are subject to the role and your manager’s discretion.   

Aya is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EEO), including Disability / Vets, and welcomes all to apply. Please click here for our EEO policy.