Senior Database Engineer

Senior Database Engineer

Washington, DC

Type: Contract-to-Hire

Category: Data

Industry: Government

Reference ID: JN -062026-107448

Date Posted: 08/14/2026

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Description:

On-site in Washington, DC

Our client seeks a Senior Database Engineer to lead enterprise PostgreSQL and MySQL database environments across on-premises and AWS cloud. The role includes installation, configuration, maintenance, replication, backup and recovery, performance tuning, and security. The engineer will drive database architecture, capacity planning, high availability and disaster recovery strategies, automation, and enforcement of security practices in AWS. The position is full time on-site at DOT Headquarters with in-person support several days per week, including early or late shifts as needed. The engineer will collaborate with stakeholders, application teams, and infrastructure engineers to streamline deployments and improve reliability. The role requires strong troubleshooting skills, effective multitasking, and the ability to perform under pressure in a high-urgency environment.

Due to federal security clearance requirements, applicant must be a United States Citizen or Permanent Resident with an active Public Trust clearance. This is a contract to hire opportunity. Applicants must be willing and able to work on a w2 basis and convert to FTE following contract duration. For our w2 consultants, we offer a great benefits package that includes Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits, 401k with company matching, and life insurance.

Rate: $55.00 to $65.00/hr. w2

Responsibilities:

• Provide full-time on-site database administration at DOT Headquarters in Washington, DC with early or late shift coverage as needed.

• Install, configure, and maintain PostgreSQL and MySQL across on-premises and AWS environments.

• Configure and optimize AWS services including Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and MySQL, Amazon Aurora, and MySQL Cluster.

• Plan and execute migrations from on-premises to AWS IaaS and PaaS platforms.

• Design and maintain MySQL clustering, replication, failover, and high-availability solutions.

• Contribute to database architecture and capacity planning for scalability, reliability, performance, and security.

• Design and maintain disaster recovery strategies for PostgreSQL and MySQL on AWS.

• Monitor performance, integrity, and security, investigate anomalies, and resolve production incidents.

• Perform maintenance including index optimization, query tuning, statistics updates, backups, and consistency checks.

• Plan and perform upgrades, patching, and migrations for standalone, clustered, and cloud-hosted servers.

• Lead migration projects including lift-and-shift, modernization, and re-platforming to AWS.

• Manage accounts, roles, and permissions per least-privilege and compliance requirements.

• Audit database activity and maintain logs of configuration and schema changes.

• Implement encryption, secure connectivity (TLS/SSL), and other security controls for data at rest and in transit.

• Maintain version-controlled documentation, diagrams, configurations, procedures, and runbooks.

• Generate reports on performance, capacity growth, availability, and usage trends.

• Collaborate with development, infrastructure, cloud, and security teams to streamline deployments and incident resolution.

• Mentor junior DBAs and establish best practices for AWS database administration, automation, and cloud migration.

Experience Requirements:

• Minimum 10 years of related database administration experience supporting SQL environments.

• Strong expertise in PostgreSQL and MySQL administration across on-premises and AWS.

• Hands-on experience with installation, configuration, optimization, clustering, replication, backup and recovery, and maintenance.

• Proven management of environments on VMware, AWS EC2, Amazon RDS, and Amazon Aurora.

• Experience with MySQL Cluster, replication technologies, failover, and HA architectures.

• Ability to analyze execution plans, optimize SQL, and implement performance tuning.

• Experience implementing encryption, IAM integration, SSL/TLS, and secure access controls.

• Hands-on experience migrating PostgreSQL and MySQL clusters to AWS, including assessments and recommendations.

• Experience with backup and recovery tools, monitoring solutions, automation scripting, and disaster recovery planning.

• Participation in on-call rotations and scheduled maintenance windows.

• Experience implementing HA/DR in cloud environments, including AWS and Azure, with GCP as a plus.

• Experience supporting large-scale, mission-critical enterprise databases with strict uptime and performance requirements.

• Strong communication skills and effective collaboration with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Education Requirements:

• AWS Certified Database Specialty, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, or equivalent cloud/database certifications preferred.

Recruitment Transparency Notice

Eliassen Group values transparency in our recruitment practices. Please be advised that Eliassen Group utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) tools as part of its initial application screening and hiring process. You may receive email and SMS notifications from the Eliassen Virtual Recruiting Team ( View email address on click.appcast.io , View phone number on click.appcast.io) inviting you to complete a brief voice screening as part of your application process. These tools assist our hiring teams in different ways, including but not limited to, assistance in reviewing application materials to help identify candidates whose qualifications most closely match the requirements of the position. All AI-assisted evaluations and responses are reviewed by human recruiters before any hiring decisions are made. The use of AI in our process is intended to support fairness, efficiency, and consistency, and Eliassen Group takes measures to prevent bias or discrimination in connection with its hiring practices. By proceeding, you acknowledge, agree, and consent to Eliassen Group's use of these tools, including AI tools, as part of the application and hiring process.

Skills, experience, and other compensable factors will be considered when determining pay rate. The pay range provided in this posting reflects a W2 hourly rate; other employment options may be available that may result in pay outside of the provided range.

W2 employees of Eliassen Group who are regularly scheduled to work 30 or more hours per week are eligible for the following benefits: medical (choice of 3 plans), dental, vision, pre-tax accounts, other voluntary benefits including life and disability insurance, 401(k) with match, and sick time if required by law in the worked-in state/locality.

If anyone reaches out to you about an open position connected with Eliassen Group, please ensure that you are working directly with us by confirming the following:

· When you work with Eliassen Group, all email communication will come from an Eliassen.com address, never Gmail, Yahoo, etc.

· Eliassen Group will never ask you for personal information (home address, bank account, or check routing number) until you have worked with someone clearly associated with Eliassen Group.

If you have any indication of fraudulent activity, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io .

About Eliassen Group:

Eliassen Group is a strategic consulting firm that helps organizations reach further and achieve more through our technology, business advisory, and life sciences solutions. For nearly 40 years, we have combined exceptional people, deep domain expertise, and intelligent capabilities to expand our clients' capacity and accelerate meaningful outcomes. We are driven by a purpose to positively impact the lives of our employees, clients, consultants, and the communities we serve.

Eliassen is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team from a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We are an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer and all employment decisions are based on merit, performance, and business needs. Eliassen does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender identity or expression, sexual preference or orientation, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), marital status, creed, religion, physical or mental disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, age, ancestry, national origin, citizenship status, prohibited criminal record inquiries of applicants and employees, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local laws.

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