The Senior SQL Administrator is responsible for the administration, performance, availability, security, recoverability, and integrity of enterprise database platforms across on-premises and cloud-based environments. This position designs, implements, monitors, optimizes, and supports highly available database platforms used by businesses, manufacturing, quality, reporting, integration, and infrastructure systems.
Serving as a database subject matter expert, the Sr. SQL Database Administrator partners with Infrastructure, Applications, Security, Quality, and business teams to maintain stable, secure, scalable, and compliant database services across on-premises and cloud environments.
Specific Duties and Responsibilities
Database Operations, Availability & Performance:
- Manage the day-to-day operations of enterprise database platforms, including configuration, maintenance, patching, backups, restores, performance, security, and capacity.
- Administer, maintain, and optimize Microsoft SQL Server environments across on-premises, virtualized, and cloud-hosted platforms.
- Monitor database health, performance, job execution, storage utilization, blocking, deadlocks, replication, availability groups, and backup success.
- Perform database performance tuning, including query analysis, indexing strategy, execution plan review, statistics maintenance, wait analysis, and resource optimization.
- Implement and support high availability and disaster recovery solutions, including SQL Server Always On Availability Groups, clustering, log shipping, replication, backups, and restore testing.
- Plan and execute database maintenance activities, including index maintenance, integrity checks, patching, upgrades, and lifecycle management.
- Support database capacity planning, storage forecasting, performance baselining, and scalability planning for business-critical systems.
- Provide after hours on-call support on a rotation schedule with other staff members.
Security, Access Control & Data Integrity:
- Maintain database security controls, including authentication, authorization, least-privilege access, role-based permissions, encryption, auditing, and privileged access review.
- Partner with Security and Infrastructure teams to support secure database connectivity, certificate use, service accounts, firewall rules, vulnerability remediation, and patch compliance.
- Protect the integrity of enterprise data through routine DBCC checks, backup validation, restore testing, change review, and controlled release practices.
- Review and support database changes, schema updates, stored procedures, SQL Agent jobs, integrations, and application releases to reduce operational risk.
- Maintain database inventory, configuration standards, operational documentation, recovery procedures, and support runbooks.
Troubleshooting, Automation & Continuous Improvement:
- Lead troubleshooting and root-cause analysis for complex database incidents, performance degradation, failed jobs, restore issues, connectivity problems, and application-impacting database events.
- Develop and maintain automation for database maintenance, monitoring, alerting, reporting, backup validation, user access review, and operational support activities.
- Create tools, dashboards, procedures, and documentation to support IT, Applications Development, Client Support, Quality, and business teams.
- Recommend database design, configuration, indexing, monitoring, security, and resiliency improvements to strengthen performance, reliability, security, and scalability.
- Stay current with developments in database administration, SQL Server, Azure SQL, backup and recovery practices, automation, security, and enterprise compliance technologies.
Compliance, Governance & Collaboration:
- Follow established change management, release management, incident management, security, and governance practices for database platforms.
- Adhere to the Company's Quality Management System (QMS) as well as domestic and global quality system regulations, standards, and procedures.
- Understand relevant security, privacy, and compliance principles and adhere to the regulations, standards, and procedures that are applicable to the Company.
- Ensure other members of the department to follow the QMS, regulations, standards, and procedures.
- Ensure database administration activities are documented, controlled, auditable, and aligned with applicable IT and quality system requirements.
- Collaborate with IT, application owners, business partners, vendors, and support teams to maintain reliable database operations and resolve issues effectively.
- Communicate technical and complex database information clearly, both verbally and in writing.
- Perform other work-related duties as assigned.
Position Qualifications - Required:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Data Management, or a related field with 8+ years of enterprise-level database administration and/or database engineering experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- 5+ years of experience supporting high availability, disaster recovery, backup, restore, and database recovery strategies for business-critical systems.
- Strong experience with SQL Server performance tuning, indexing, query optimization, execution plans, wait statistics, SQL Agent jobs, and database maintenance plans.
- Experience administering SQL Server Always On Availability Groups, failover clustering, log shipping, replication, or equivalent high availability technologies.
- Experience with database security practices, including least privilege access, role-based permissions, encryption, auditing, service accounts, and privileged access controls.
- Experience with PowerShell, T-SQL scripting, automation, monitoring, alerting, and operational reporting.
- Experience with enterprise backup platforms, restore validation, database integrity checks, and disaster recovery testing.
- Working knowledge of Windows Server, Active Directory, DNS, networking fundamentals, storage, virtualization, and cloud infrastructure as they relate to database services.
- Ability to plan, organize, and document complex database administration activities and configure systems in alignment with institutional policies and procedures.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities, handle concurrent projects, respond effectively to urgent or complex operational issues, and communicate clearly with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- High degree of accuracy, attention to detail, data stewardship, documentation discipline, and organizational skills.
Position Qualifications - Preferred
- Experience supporting Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, or SQL Server hosted in Microsoft Azure is preferred.
- Experience supporting integrations with ERP, MES, LIMS, QMS, reporting, data warehouse, or enterprise application platforms is preferred.
- Experience with SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), Power BI gateways, or related reporting and integration technologies is preferred.
- Microsoft SQL Server, Azure Database Administrator Associate, or equivalent database certification is preferred.
Working Conditions
- General office environment
- Willingness and ability to work on site.
- Requires some lifting and moving of up to 10 pounds
- Must be able to move between buildings and floors.
- Must be able to remain stationary and use a computer or other standard office equipment, such as a printer or copy machine, for an extensive period of time each day.
- Must be able to read, prepare emails, and produce documents and spreadsheets.
- Must be able to move within the office and access file cabinets or supplies, as needed.
- Must be able to communicate and exchange accurate information with employees at all levels on a daily basis.
Annual Base Salary Range: $140,000 - $200,000/ year
We offer a competitive compensation package plus a benefits and equity program, when applicable.
Individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, and work location.
What We Offer
- A collaborative teamwork environment where learning is constant, and performance is rewarded.
- The opportunity to be part of the team that is revolutionizing the treatment of some of the world's most devastating diseases.
- A generous benefits package for eligible employees that includes medical, dental, vision, life, AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance, 401(k) with employer match, paid parental leave, eleven paid company holidays per year, a minimum of fifteen days of accrued vacation per year, which increases with tenure, and paid sick time in compliance with applicable law(s).
Penumbra, Inc., headquartered in Alameda, California, is a global healthcare company focused on innovative therapies. Penumbra designs, develops, manufactures, and markets novel products and has a broad portfolio that addresses challenging medical conditions in markets with significant unmet need. Penumbra sells its products to hospitals and healthcare providers primarily through its direct sales organization in the United States, most of Europe, Canada, and Australia, and through distributors in select international markets. The Penumbra logo is a trademark of Penumbra, Inc.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.
If you reside in the State of California, please also refer to Penumbra's Privacy Notice for California Residents.
For additional information on Penumbra’s commitment to being an equal opportunity employer, please see Penumbra's AAP Policy Statement.
