Senior Database Engineer

Senior Database Engineer

Posted Today by 1763792617

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Negotiable
Outside
Remote
USA
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Automation Azure Monitor Budgeting Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery Data Architecture Database Architecture Database Systems Data Integrity Data Quality Data Transformation Data Transport Utility DevOps File Servers Indexing JSON Liquibase Management Microservices Microsoft Azure Microsoft SQL Servers Performance Engineering Probability And Statistics Referential Integrity Scalability SQL (Programming Language) Statistics Verification And Validation Workflows

Summary: The Senior Database Engineer role at Lightning Minds involves leading the design, optimization, and performance engineering of database systems for a data-intensive healthcare application. The position requires extensive expertise in SQL Server, Azure SQL, and EAV schema design, focusing on scalability, cost optimization, and data integrity. The engineer will be responsible for ensuring high performance and reliability in regulated healthcare environments. This role offers a remote or hybrid working arrangement with a focus on collaboration with engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Lead the design and evolution of SQL Server / Azure SQL database schemas for a complex healthcare system.
  • Architect and optimize EAV structures, hybrid relational + EAV schemas, and JSON-based flexible schemas.
  • Perform deep-dive analysis and tuning for SQL queries, stored procedures, functions, and triggers.
  • Design for optimal performance and scale in Azure SQL, focusing on DTU vs vCore decisions and partitioning strategies.
  • Develop and maintain data quality validation frameworks and implement robust standards for referential integrity.
  • Build database automation workflows for schema deployment, migrations, and data movement.
  • Implement and optimize monitoring using Azure Monitor, SQL Insights, and Log Analytics.
  • Lead root-cause analysis for critical production issues.

Key Skills:

  • 7-10+ years of hands-on SQL Server / Azure SQL engineering experience.
  • Expertise in EAV schema design and optimization, hybrid relational EAV architectures, and JSON schema support in SQL Server.
  • Deep understanding of query optimizer behavior, execution plans, and indexing strategies.
  • Experience with Azure SQL, including compute tiers, elastic pools, and scaling strategies.
  • Proven track record of tuning large, complex, query-heavy production systems.
  • Experience with CI/CD for SQL and Infrastructure-as-Code for database resources.
  • Excellent analytical, problem-solving, communication, and documentation skills.
  • Ability to collaborate with backend engineers, QA, DevOps, and architects.

Salary (Rate): undetermined

City: undetermined

Country: USA

Working Arrangements: remote

IR35 Status: outside IR35

Seniority Level: undetermined

Industry: IT

Detailed Description From Employer:
Hi,

Hope you are doing well!

Greeting from Lightning Minds

This is Rakesh with Lightning Minds. We Lightning Minds is a global staff augmentation firm providing a wide-range of talent on-demand and total workforce solutions. We have an immediate opening for the below position with one of our premium clients.

Senior Database Engineer (SQL Server /
Azure SQL / EAV Optimization)
Location: Remote or Hybrid
Department: Engineering Platform & Data
Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced Senior Database Engineer to lead the design, optimization, and
performance engineering of our database systems supporting a large, data-intensive healthcare
application.
This role requires deep expertise in:
SQL Server & Azure SQL
EAV (Entity Attribute Value) schemas and hybrid relational/EAV models
JSON-based schema design
Query optimization, indexing, and performance tuning
Scalability and cost optimization in the cloud
You will be responsible for ensuring our data architecture supports flexibility, scalability, and
high performance while maintaining the integrity and reliability required in cancer registry
workflows and regulated healthcare environments.
Key Responsibilities
Database Design & Architecture
Lead the design and evolution of SQL Server / Azure SQL database schemas for a
complex, high-volume healthcare system.
Architect and optimize:
oEAV (Entity Attribute Value) structures
oHybrid relational + EAV schemas
oJSON-based flexible schemas
Ensure schema designs balance flexibility, query performance, storage efficiency, and
cost.
Develop versioned, scalable database architectures aligned with application and platform
modernization initiatives.
Performance Optimization & Query Tuning
Perform deep-dive analysis and tuning for:
oSQL queries

oStored procedures
oFunctions
oTriggers
oIndexing strategies
Diagnose and resolve performance bottlenecks using:
oQuery Store
oExecution plans
oProfiling tools
oIndex and statistics analysis
Implement best practices for:
oIndexing
oPartitioning
oCaching
oTable design
oQuery optimization
Scalability & Cost Optimization
Design for optimal performance and scale in Azure SQL, focusing on:
oDTU vs vCore decisions
oElastic pools
oPartitioning and sharding strategies
oOffloading heavy queries
Recommend and implement strategies to reduce:
oRead/write latency
oStorage costs
oCompute consumption
oOver-indexing and unnecessary I/O
Work closely with engineering leadership to align database architecture with business
SLAs and budget constraints.
Data Quality, Integrity & Reliability
Develop and maintain data quality validation frameworks.
Implement robust standards for:
oReferential integrity
oConstraints and rules
oAuditing and logging
oBackup/restore and high-availability configurations
Support migration and data transformation activities (e.g., Metriq RI migrations).
DevOps, Automation & CI/CD Integration
Build database automation workflows for:
oSchema deployment
oMigrations
oData movement
oRollback strategies
Use tools such as:
oAzure DevOps
oGitHub Actions
oSQLCMD
oDACPAC/BACPAC
oFlyway or Liquibase (nice-to-have)
Ensure database changes are versioned, tested, and deployed reliably.
Monitoring, Observability & Troubleshooting
Implement and optimize monitoring using:
oAzure Monitor
oSQL Insights
oLog Analytics
oDMVs
Build alerts and dashboards for:
oQuery latency
oDeadlocks
oBlocking
oResource utilization
oCapacity forecasting
Lead root-cause analysis for critical production issues.
Required Skills & Qualifications
Core Database Skills
7 10+ years of hands-on SQL Server / Azure SQL engineering experience.
Expertise in:
oEAV schema design and optimization
oHybrid relational EAV architectures
oJSON schema support in SQL Server
Deep understanding of:
oQuery optimizer behavior
oExecution plans
oIndexing strategies
oNormalization/denormalization
oTable partitioning
Azure Database Expertise
Experience with Azure SQL:
oCompute tiers
oElastic pools
oGeo-replication
oScaling strategies
oMonitoring and diagnostics
Understanding of cost models and optimization levers.
Performance & Optimization
Proven track record of tuning large, complex, query-heavy production systems.
Strong experience resolving:
oSlow queries
oBlocking/deadlocks
oMemory pressure
oI/O bottlenecks
oConcurrency issues
DevOps & Automation
Experience with:
oCI/CD for SQL
oInfrastructure-as-Code for database resources
oDeployment pipelines in Azure DevOps
Familiarity with source-controlled schema management.
Soft Skills
Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
Strong communication and documentation skills.
Ability to collaborate with backend engineers, QA, DevOps, and architects.
Ability to operate in fast-paced, mission-critical environments.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in healthcare, oncology, cancer registry, or regulated systems.
Background in modernizing legacy databases into scalable architectures.
Knowledge of:
oAzure Data Factory
oAzure Service Bus
oEvent-driven data pipelines
Familiarity with microservices patterns and database-per-service design.
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