Senior Database Administrator

Times Network is seeking an experienced and proactive Senior Database Administrator (DBA) to manage our multi-database environment, encompassing MariaDB, MongoDB, Redis, Kafka, Cassandra, and Elasticsearch . You will be responsible for the stability, performance, security, cost-efficiency , and scalability of our data infrastructure across both development and production environments. (Immediate joiners will be preferred)
Key Responsibilities
Database Operations & Management
Design, implement, and maintain high availability and replication strategies across all databases.
Perform scheduled backups and define robust disaster recovery plans , including node-level recovery and cost-based strategy evaluation.
Manage patching , version upgrades , and migrations with minimal downtime.
Automation & Housekeeping
Automate regular tasks such as backups , log cleanup , index maintenance , and retention policies .
Maintain database hygiene by implementing housekeeping jobs and health checks.
Monitoring, Alerting & Metrics
Set up and maintain comprehensive monitoring and alerting using Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, and other observability tools.
Collect, analyze, and act on logs and performance metrics to preemptively identify issues.
Performance, Tuning & Scaling
Oversee initial database setup , tuning , and scaling strategies , including Cassandra compaction/repair and Kafka rebalancing.
Continuously improve performance through indexing , query optimization , and resource tuning .
Security & Compliance
Implement and manage user access control , encryption in transit and at rest , and audit logging .
Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and maintain audit-readiness documentation .
Schema & Query Optimization
Collaborate with development teams on schema design , versioning strategies , and governance standards .
Provide guidance on query execution plans and performance analysis.
Capacity & Cost Optimization
Forecast storage and compute needs, supporting capacity planning and cost-efficient resource allocation .
Partner with DevOps and engineering to optimize cloud resource usage and database infrastructure costs.
Key Functional Areas
Backup & Disaster Recovery
Monitoring, Alerting & Logging
Automation & Maintenance
Security & Compliance
Schema & Query Optimization
Performance Tuning & Scaling
Capacity & Cost Planning
Patch Management & Upgrades
Required Skills & Experience
6–10 years of hands-on experience as a DBA managing multiple database technologies.
Strong knowledge of:
MariaDB : Query tuning, Galera Cluster, Percona XtraBackup.
MongoDB : Replica sets, sharding, schema design, aggregation framework.
Redis : Sentinel, Cluster setup, persistence (AOF/RDB), memory tuning.
Kafka : Broker setup, topic partitioning, lag monitoring, Kafka Connect.
Cassandra : Data modeling, compaction, repair strategies, nodetool operations.
Elasticsearch : Index lifecycle, query DSL, snapshot & restore, Kibana.
Proficient in Linux administration and scripting (Bash, Python).
Familiarity with Docker and Kubernetes (especially StatefulSets, Helm charts).
Experience with CI/CD , Terraform , Ansible , and infrastructure automation.
Strong understanding of HA architectures , replication models , and distributed systems concepts .
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with cloud providers: Azure preferred, optional AWS or GCP .
Relevant certifications (e.g., MongoDB Certified DBA, Azure Certified Database).
Soft Skills
Analytical mindset with excellent troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills.
Strong communicator, able to work with DevOps , SREs , and software engineers .
Comfortable working in production-critical , on-call , or high-pressure environments.
Interested candidates can share their resumes at

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