Principal Database Administrator at MAL Consultancy

JOB SUMMARY

• The Principal Database Administrator will spearhead database and data initiatives, ensuring strategic alignment with business goals. S/he will serve as the primary technical lead for database architecture, performance optimization, and reliability. The Principal Administrator will mentor and coach junior to mid-level Database Administrators s to build a high-performing team of DBAs. S/he will be comfortable working in a hybrid environment with flexibility for remote work and a minimum of 3 days per week of working in the office, and will be available to handle critical incidents or deployments outside normal business hours as well as be ready and willing to participate in on-call rotation for escalated database issues. The Principal Database Administrator will work closely with SRE, Service Operations, Software Engineering, Product & Data Analytics and InfoSec & Compliance teams internally. S/he will also collaboratively work with and maintain good relationships externally with Cloud Service Vendors and Partners, Database Technology Vendors & Partners and Industry and Regulatory Bodies (for FinTech standards and compliance).

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting to the Manager – Platforms Engineering, the Principal Database Administrator’s duties and responsibilities will include;

Strategic Database Leadership

• Define database roadmaps and strategies that support real-time payment services
• Champion best practices for architecture, security, and performance in both on premise and cloud environments
• Evaluate emerging database technologies and tools to guide future data platform decisions.

Database Administration & Engineering

• Oversee design, deployment, and maintenance of mission-critical databases (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, MSSQL, Percona) supporting high-volume and low-latency transaction processing
• Implement and optimize data models to ensure scalability and high availability (HA), including active-active or active-passive failover setups
• Develop and enforce standards for automated backups, monitoring, and performance tuning using scripting (Python, Bash) and modern automation tools.

Performance & Reliability

• Lead capacity planning, index management, and query tuning efforts to maintain optimal system performance (targeting ≥99.99% uptime)
• Oversee replication and disaster recovery (DR) solutions, conducting periodic failover tests to validate recovery point and time
• Collaborate with SRE and Infrastructure teams to ensure proactive monitoring, logging, and alerting of database health metrics
• Achieve all set key performance indicators - Database Availability & Uptime; Performance & Optimization; Team Development; Security & Compliance; Automation & Efficiency; Data Pipeline Reliability.

Team Mentorship & Development

• Serve as the technical mentor for junior and mid-level DBAs, offering coaching, training sessions, and performance feedback
• Drive knowledge sharing of advanced database concepts, including partitioning strategies, sharding, and data pipeline design
• Create and update documentation, run books, and best practices to enhance the team’s operational readiness.

Data Pipeline & Analytics Support

• Work closely with data engineering teams to design efficient ETL/ELT pipelines feeding data lakes, data warehouses, and BI platforms
• Optimize data flows to support real-time analytics and reporting needs, ensuring minimal latency and high data quality
• Provide expertise on modern data stack tools (e.g., streaming frameworks, cloud-based warehouses, containerized data services).

Security & Compliance

• Enforce stringent data security measures aligned with FinTech regulations (PCI-DSS, GDPR), including encryption, masking, and role-based access controls
• Coordinate with InfoSec teams to perform routine security audits, vulnerability scans, and patching for database systems
• Ensure adherence to internal policies and industry standards, advocating for continuous process improvement.

Continuous Improvement & Cost Optimization

• Identify opportunities for automation to reduce manual effort and operational overhead
• Recommend strategies for cost optimization in cloud-based database solutions, evaluating usage patterns and storage options
• Track and report on key database metrics, providing actionable insights for management and stakeholders.

Any other duties as assigned by your Manager.

EDUCATION SKILLS & COMPETENCIES DESIRED

• A Bachelor’s Degree preferably in Computer Sciences, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Information Technology, Software Development or any other relevant and related field
• A master's Degree in a related field is an added advantage
• Relevant industry certifications (AWS Certified Database – Specialty, Google Professional Data Engineer, Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator, etc.) are a plus
• 8 years of hands-on database administration experience with at least 3 years in a leadership role managing junior DBA’s
• Able to align database strategies with organizational goals and anticipate future technology shifts
• Proven track record managing large-scale, high-availability databases in FinTech or high-transaction environments
• Experience working with hybrid or cloud-native architectures (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• In-depth knowledge of RDBMS (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, MSSQL, Percona) and open-source technologies
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) for stateful workloads
• Proficiency in scripting languages (Python, Bash) to automate database management tasks
• Exposure to modern data engineering stacks (e.g., streaming technologies, data lakes, data warehouses)
• Demonstrates a passion for coaching and developing junior talent, with excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to evaluates complex technical issues, propose innovative solutions, and act decisively in high-pressure scenarios
• Ability to works effectively with cross-functional teams, from SRE to InfoSec to executive leadership, while building consensus on database-related strategies
• Ability to thrive in a rapidly evolving FinTech environment, handling competing priorities with agility and resilience.

TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT

If this sounds like you, and if you have the requisite work experience, skills and education mentioned herein, have an end to end appreciation and leadership of Database Administration within the FinTech space, we would like to meet you!