Senior Database Administrator

Sphera is a leading global provider of enterprise software and services that enables companies to manage and optimize their environmental, health, safety and sustainability. Our mission is to create a safer, more sustainable and productive world. Sphera is a portfolio company of Blackstone, a U.S.-based alternative asset investment company that focuses on private equity, technology and innovation, and more. Blackstone businesses succeed through strong partnerships, a personalized approach and a commitment to exceptional performance with uncompromising integrity. Sphera and Blackstone are leaders in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) space. We are guided by our core values of Customer Centricity, Accountability, Bias to Action, Innovation, and Collaboration. These values help us recruit the right talent to join our rapidly expanding team of around the globe. It is important to us that each and every Spherion is not only eager to challenge themselves and knows how to get work done but is an awesome addition to our company culture. Sphera is a leading global provider of enterprise software and services that enables companies to manage and optimize their environmental, health, safety and sustainability. Our mission is to create a safer, more sustainable and productive world. Sphera is a portfolio company of Blackstone, a U.S.-based alternative asset investment company that focuses on private equity, technology and innovation, and more. Blackstone businesses succeed through strong partnerships, a personalized approach and a commitment to exceptional performance with uncompromising integrity. Sphera and Blackstone are leaders in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) space. We are guided by our core values which are Customer-Centric, Accountable, Innovative, Collaborative, and Action-Oriented. It is important to us that each and every Spherion is not only eager to challenge themselves and knows how to get work done but is an awesome addition to our company culture.

A Senior Database Administrator owns the performance, availability, and reliability of Sphera's database platforms across our SaaS estate. This is a hands-on role: troubleshooting, fine-tuning, indexing, and fragmentation management for MS-SQL Server across on-premises and Azure PaaS SQL environments. It also owns high availability and disaster recovery for database workloads — clustering, failover, and failback — plus advanced support for database-dependent SaaS applications hosted on Azure. Success here means deep MS-SQL Server expertise, strong command of Azure PaaS SQL and networking, and the ability to work closely with security, DevOps, application, and infrastructure teams.

Core Responsibilities

• Own and operate MS-SQL Server across on-premises VMs, Azure IaaS SQL VMs, and Azure PaaS SQL (Azure SQL Database, Managed Instance) for production and non-production environments, with added exposure to PostgreSQL and MySQL where needed
• Own MS-SQL performance end to end — query optimization, execution plan analysis, indexing strategy, fragmentation remediation, TempDB and statistics management, and resolving blocking, deadlocks, wait stats, and query store issues at scale
• Manage MS-SQL high availability and disaster recovery — clustering (Always on Availability Groups / Failover Cluster Instances), failover and failback, geo-replication, and backup/restore operations, validated through regular failover/DR testing
• Lead patching, upgrades, and vulnerability remediation for MS-SQL Server instances and Azure PaaS SQL deployments
• Provision, configure, and troubleshoot Azure PaaS SQL resources (elastic pools, SQL VMs) — DTU/vCore sizing, throttling, connectivity, and auto-failover groups, optimizing for performance and cost
• Manage database connectivity within Azure networking — VNets, subnets, private endpoints, route tables, NSGs, DNS, hybrid connectivity — partnering with networking and firewall teams on secure routing
• Lead consolidation and migration efforts as workloads move from IaaS to PaaS to serverless, including database migrations, corruption troubleshooting, and data restoration
• Automate operational tasks using T-SQL, PowerShell, Terraform/Bicep, and Azure CLI
• Partner with engineering teams on schema design and query performance for database changes
• Provide Tier-3 & Tier-4 support for database incidents across cloud workloads as part of a 24x7 on-call rotation, including root-cause analysis, collaborating with DevOps, IT, SaaS Ops, Infosec, and application teams on Azure-hosted applications
• Drive change management processes and ensure compliance with organizational standards
• Resolve customer issues professionally and promptly, maintaining the highest standard of customer satisfaction
• Maintain and expand technical documentation for database processes and procedures

Skills

• MS-SQL — Performance tuning, indexing, fragmentation management, Always on Availability Groups / clustering, security fundamentals, troubleshooting
• Azure — PaaS SQL (Azure SQL Database, Managed Instance), networking (VNets, subnets, private endpoints, route tables, NSGs, peering, DNS)
• Scripting — T-SQL, PowerShell, Python/Shell, Azure CLI (Terraform/Bicep a plus)
• Monitoring tools — Working knowledge of Azure Monitor, Prometheus, Grafana, or equivalent
• Added advantage — PostgreSQL, MySQL, Databricks
• Soft skills — Communication, collaboration in a global 24x7 team, troubleshooting mindset, adaptability

Qualification

• Experience — 8–12 years in database administration, including 5+ years supporting SaaS in the cloud, with demonstrated performance tuning, indexing, and HA/DR ownership at scale
• Certifications — DP-300 (Azure Database Administrator Associate), AZ-104 (Azure Administrator) preferred; PostgreSQL/MySQL exposure a plus
• Other — ITIL exposure, customer-facing service experience, strong cross-team communication (security, networking, application, SaaS Ops), awareness of emerging cloud database technologies Sphera is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all colleagues. This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of the job and the general nature and level of work performed by job holders within this job. This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of qualifications, skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities or working conditions associated with the position.