Senior Database Administrator

Job Description

At Aberdeen our ambition is to be the UKs leading Wealth & Investments group.

Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industrys best talent.

Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients customers colleagues shareholders and society.

We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service supported by leading technology and talent.

Aberdeen comprises three businesses interactive investor (ii) Investments and Adviser each of which focuses on meeting and adapting to our clients evolving needs:

• interactive investor the UKs second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform enables individuals in the UK to plan save and invest in the way that works for them.

• Our Adviser business provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers enabling them to create value for their customers.

• Our Investments business is a specialist asset manager that focuses on areas where we have both strength and scale to capitalise on the key themes shaping the market through either public markets or alternative asset classes.

Key Responsibilities

Database Administration & Operations

• Administer configure and maintain Microsoft SQL Server () and Azure SQL databases across production testing and development environments.

• Manage and optimize Azure SQL offerings including Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance SQL on Azure VMs and related services (Elastic Pools Hyperscale Failover Groups).

• Perform installation patching upgrades instance configuration and monitoring of SQL Server environments.

• Implement and manage high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) solutions:

  • Always On Availability Groups

  • Failover Clustering

  • Log Shipping / Replication

  • Azure Georeplication

  • Backups & Recovery using native SQL tools and Azure Backup

Performance & Optimization

• Conduct performance tuning and query optimization using SQL Server DMVs Query Store Extended Events Azure Monitor Performance Insights and other profiling tools.

• Optimize indexes statistics filegroups and storage configurations.

• Analyse workloads and recommend improvements for costefficient Azure resource utilization.

Security & Compliance

• Implement and enforce database security best practices: encryption (TDE) auditing rowlevel security rolebased access control firewall rules and Azure Active Directory integration.

• Support compliance and governance standards such as GDPR ISO SOC and internal audit policies.

Automation & DevOps

• Automate routine DBA tasks using PowerShell TSQL Azure CLI erraform.

• Support CI/CD pipelines and automated database deployments via tools such as Azure DevOps GitHub Actions or Redgate.

• Build proactive monitoring alerting and capacity planning dashboards.

Design & Architecture

• Provide expert guidance on database schema design data modelling and storage architecture.

• Lead cloud migration projects from onprem SQL Server to Azure SQL platforms.

• Evaluate new technologies contribute to enterprise data strategy and drive platform modernisation.

Collaboration & Leadership

• Work closely with development teams data engineers infrastructure teams and application owners to deliver resilient database solutions.

• Act as a mentor to junior DBAs and engineers.

• Participate in incident response leading rootcause analysis for databaserelated issues.

Skills & Experience Requirements

Technical Skills

• 7 years hands-on experience administering SQL Server databases in enterprise environments.

• Deep expertise in:

  • SQL Server Engine internals

  • TSQL programming

  • High availability & disaster recovery solutions

  • Performance tuning & query optimization

  • Security and data protection

• Experience with cloud infrastructure concepts (networking storage identity).

• Strong proficiency with automation (PowerShell Azure CLI DevOps pipelines).

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Knowledge of Azure Data Factory Azure Monitor Azure Storage and Log Analytics.

• Familiarity with ETL/ELT patterns and integration tools.

Education & Certifications

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science Information Systems Engineering or equivalent experience.

• Certifications such as:

  • Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate

  • Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

  • MCSE (Data Platform or Data Management & Analytics)

Personal Attributes

• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills.

• Excellent communication and documentation abilities.

• Ability to work independently and take ownership of complex problems.

• Continuous improvement mindset and passion for staying current with emerging database technologies.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our benefits

Theres more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn get involved and be supported.

When you join us your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days annual leave a 16% employer pension contribution a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable) private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits including gym discounts season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefitshere.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas our vectors of growth focused on our clients changing needs. You can find out more about what we dohere.

Were committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds experience cognitive and neurodiversity age gender gender identity sexual orientation disability religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.