Database Administrator (MS SQL Server)- Contract - Columbia, SC

Senior Database Administrator (MS SQL Server)

Location: Columbia, SC Onsite

Interview Process: One round of Virtual Interviews

Duration: 12 Months
Employment Type: Contract
Experience Required: 07+ Years

Candidate location: Candidates must be a CURRENT SC or NC Resident. No Relocation Allowed.

Project Scope:

Seeking an experienced Senior Database Administrator to support and manage enterprise database environments in a highly secure, compliance-driven infrastructure. The consultant will lead database administration initiatives involving Microsoft SQL Server environments, database architecture, security compliance, disaster recovery, automation, and performance optimization.

The role will be responsible for planning, implementing, monitoring, and maintaining mission-critical database systems while ensuring compliance with security standards such as STIG, PCI, NIST, and Pub1075. The consultant will collaborate with application, infrastructure, and security teams to design scalable database solutions, support database modernization efforts, improve operational processes, and provide strategic recommendations for database enhancements.

This position requires strong expertise in SQL Server clustering, database security, change management, automation, backup and recovery, and high-availability architectures within enterprise environments.

Key Responsibilities:

· Administer, maintain, and optimize Microsoft SQL Server 2019, 2022, and 2025 environments.

· Design and support highly available database solutions using clustering technologies.

· Monitor database performance, integrity, availability, and security compliance.

· Lead database infrastructure projects from planning through implementation and support.

· Implement and maintain disaster recovery and failover solutions.

· Develop and automate administrative processes using PowerShell, JSON, and scripting tools.

· Ensure compliance with STIG, PCI, NIST, Pub1075, and other regulatory standards.

· Manage database backups, recovery procedures, upgrades, and patching activities.

· Perform database architecture reviews, capacity planning, and performance tuning.

· Create technical documentation, deployment guides, operational procedures, and support runbooks.

· Collaborate with infrastructure, security, and application teams to support enterprise initiatives.

· Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and guidance to junior administrators and support staff.

· Participate in 24x7 on-call support rotations for critical database environments.

· Coordinate with vendors for software support, troubleshooting, and issue resolution.

Required Skills & Experience:

·6+ years of Microsoft SQL Server Administration (2019–2025) with clustering experience.

·6+ years of experience supporting projects involving STIG, PCI, and NIST compliance requirements.

·6+ years of Change Management experience.

· Strong database performance tuning and optimization skills.

· Experience with backup, recovery, high availability, and disaster recovery solutions.

· PowerShell scripting and automation experience.

· Strong knowledge of database security and access management.

· Experience managing enterprise-scale database environments.

Preferred Skills:

· Experience with Pub1075 compliance implementations and audits.

· Quest Spotlight administration and monitoring.

· Quest LiteSpeed administration.

· Hybrid Cloud Architecture experience.

· Hyperconverged Infrastructure experience.

· Shell Scripting and JSON.

· Active Directory user access and role-based access control management.

· Windows Server 2019 / 2022 / 2025 administration.

· VMware virtualization environments.

· LAN and VLAN networking knowledge.

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field, OR equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

Preferred Certifications

• Microsoft SQL Server Certifications
  
• Microsoft Server Certifications
  
• Additional industry certifications related to database administration, infrastructure, or cybersecurity.