Lead Data Administrator - MSSQL ($70-85k + bonus)

Responsibilities

• Lead the overall strategy, governance, and operations of enterprise‑grade Microsoft SQL Server and Azure SQL environments, ensuring stability, performance, availability, and security.
• Drive performance tuning, index and query optimization, capacity planning, lifecycle management, and incident/problem resolution for mission‑critical workloads.
• Lead modernization initiatives, including migration to Azure SQL platforms, adoption of automation, Infrastructure as Code, and CI/CD for database changes.
• Ensure compliance with security, audit, and regulatory requirements through strong access control, encryption, monitoring, and governance frameworks.
• Partner with application, infrastructure, security, and business teams to ensure database solutions meet architectural, performance, and business requirements.
• Mentor DBA team members, establish best practices, and provide technical leadership across the organization.

Requirements

• Minimum 10 years of hands‑on experience administering Microsoft SQL Server in large, complex enterprise environments.
• Strong expertise in SQL Server engine internals, query tuning, indexing strategies, memory/I/O optimization, and troubleshooting using Query Store, Extended Events, and wait statistics.
• Proven experience with high availability and disaster recovery patterns including Always On AG, clustering, log shipping, and replication.
• Solid knowledge of MSSQL, Azure SQL (Database, Managed Instance) and SQL Server on Azure VMs, including networking, security, performance, and cost management.
• Strong understanding of database security controls: TDE, Always Encrypted, auditing, RBAC, identity integration, and key management.
• Experience leading technical teams or acting as a senior SME influencing architectural decisions.
• Excellent communication, analytical thinking, and stakeholder engagement skills in both Chinese (Cantonese preferred) and English.