DBA/App Admin Manager

IT Database/Application Admin Manager

This role is a 6-month contract to hire opportunity. It is a hybrid work model onsite 3 days per week (Tues/Weds/Thurs) and remote Mondays/Fridays.

Role Overview

The IT Database/Application Admin Manager leads a team of database and application administrators supporting critical business systems. The role focuses on operational reliability, risk management, team development, and collaboration with business and technology stakeholders. It requires a person-oriented technical leader balancing these priorities effectively.

Key Responsibilities

• Leading, coaching, and developing database and application administration teams with clear expectations and accountability.
• Ensuring stability, availability, security, and performance of production database and application environments.
• Managing daily operations such as incident, problem, and change management, capacity planning, backup and recovery, and disaster recovery preparedness.
• Collaborating with infrastructure, security, project management, business teams, executives, and vendors to align technology services with business needs and risk expectations.
• Utilizing operational metrics like service availability, Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR), root cause analysis, and change success rates to enhance service quality and team performance.
• Communicating technical issues clearly in business terms, including impact, urgency, ownership, and next steps.
• Supporting vendor coordination, budget management, audit readiness, and continuous improvement.
• Promoting a culture of ownership, collaboration, documentation, and reliable service delivery.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• Over 7 years in IT operations, database or application administration, infrastructure, or related fields.
• At least 3 years of team leadership experience involving coaching, performance management, hiring, prioritization, and development.
• Experience supporting production, business-critical systems in structured operational environments.
• Strong adherence to Change Management procedures within SOX/SOCII compliance frameworks.
• Working knowledge of relational databases, application and server administration, backup and recovery, disaster recovery, change management, security practices, and cloud platforms.
• Ability to assess technical risks, ask diagnostic questions, and guide teams through complex operational challenges.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to explain technical issues to non-technical stakeholders.

Technical Qualifications

The role requires diverse technical skills with about 25% focused on SQL database administration. Daily tasks include server and software installation and administration. Key technical qualifications include:

• Microsoft SQL Server (2016 to 2022), SSIS, SSRS, SSAS with over 5 years' experience.
• Microsoft Windows Operating Systems (2016 and later) for client and server environments, 5+ years.
• Linux OS and server management (Ubuntu or similar), 1+ years.
• VMware or virtual server infrastructure, 2+ years.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office software, SQL Management Studio, T-SQL, SQL Profiler, Extended Events, and other monitoring/performance tools.
• At least 2 years of Microsoft PowerShell experience.
• Server OS operations and patching.
• Microsoft Active Directory tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Working in regulated industries or financial environments with audit, compliance, security, or risk management demands.
• Vendor management, budgeting, service-level management, and technology roadmap planning.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud.
• Experience with Azure DevOps repositories and deployment methods.
• Knowledge of ticketing systems like ServiceNow.
• Familiarity with MS Visual Studio development.
• Use of systems monitoring software such as Dynatrace, Prometheus/Grafana, or Quest Spotlight.
• Experience with Windows clustering and Always On configurations (2+ years preferred).
• Understanding financial environments including loan accounting and origination.
• Container technologies like Docker, Kubernetes Swarms.

Leadership Profile

The ideal candidate combines technical credibility with strong leadership skills. Key leadership attributes include:

• Setting clear direction.
• Developing team members.
• Clear communication.
• Sound decision-making under pressure.
• Enabling the team to deliver reliable service. Leadership and team management are the primary priorities, followed by operational excellence, technical expertise, business communication, and ongoing professional development.