Sr. Database Engineer- Cloud

Want to be a bswifter?

At bswift we’ve been transforming benefits administration since 1996, making it simpler, smarter, and more human. Our state-of-the-art, cloud-based technology and services empower employees to understand, manage, and love their benefits. From downtown Chicago, and remotely across the country, we serve thousands of companies and millions of people nationwide, reducing administrative burdens and freeing HR teams to focus on creating thriving, people-first workplaces.

We’re looking for motivated and goal-driven individuals who share our passion for delivering excellence and creating solutions that make a difference. The reward is a fun, flexible and creative environment with ample opportunity for professional and personal growth. If you love the bswift values of pursue excellence, embrace accountability, deliver superior service, and be a great place to work, we want to hear from you!

ABOUT US

bswift is a leading benefits administration technology company delivering modern, cloud-based solutions to employers and health plans across the United States. Our platform supports millions of employees through some of the most complex benefits transactions in the industry. We are evolving our database function into a true engineering organization—and this role is part of that transformation.

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Database Engineer (Cloud DBA) to join our Database Engineering team. This is a hands-on, high-impact role designed for a database professional who thrives on deep SQL Server expertise, automation, operational excellence, and cloud modernization. You will partner closely with Engineering, DevOps, Analytics, and Infrastructure teams to improve reliability, eliminate operational toil, and build scalable database platform capabilities that support our growing business.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

The Senior Database Engineer (Cloud DBA) is responsible for the design, administration, optimization, automation, and reliability of enterprise database environments supporting mission-critical business applications. This role will lead initiatives to improve database performance, availability, security, and operational efficiency while helping transform traditional DBA practices into modern database engineering capabilities.

The ideal candidate combines deep SQL Server expertise with a strong engineering mindset, leveraging automation, Infrastructure as Code, cloud technologies, and DevOps principles to build repeatable and scalable database solutions.

WHAT YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR (Essential Functions)

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

SQL Server & Cloud Operations

Administer, optimize, and support SQL Server 2019+ environments hosted on AWS EC2.

Design, implement, and maintain high availability and disaster recovery solutions, including Always On Availability Groups, clustering, replication, and failover testing.

Perform and continuously improve operational processes including backups, restores, database refreshes, index maintenance, patching, and capacity planning.

Monitor database performance and troubleshoot issues using execution plans, query analysis, Extended Events, SQL Profiler, and enterprise monitoring tools.

Participate in production support and on-call rotations while driving long-term improvements that reduce incident frequency and operational risk.

Automation & Process Improvement

Identify, prioritize, and eliminate manual database administration tasks through automation and standardization.

Develop reusable automation solutions using PowerShell, T-SQL, SQL Agent, Terraform, CloudFormation, and other engineering tools.

Standardize platform management practices across environments to improve consistency, reliability, and scalability.

Promote database platforms as repeatable services rather than individually managed systems.

DevOps & Engineering Integration

Partner with application, platform, and DevOps teams to integrate database deployments into CI/CD pipelines.

Support version-controlled database development and deployment practices.

Contribute to schema versioning, release automation, and database change management initiatives.

Advocate for database best practices within application architecture and development workflows.

Support low-downtime or zero-downtime deployment strategies to improve release quality and stability.

Team Enablement & Collaboration

Mentor team members in automation, cloud technologies, operational excellence, and engineering best practices.

Contribute to the evolution of the database team from reactive operational support to proactive platform engineering.

Create and maintain documentation, standards, playbooks, and operational runbooks.

Collaborate with global database engineering resources, including India-based team members, to maintain consistent standards and operational practices.

Cloud & Platform Modernization

Support AWS database services including RDS, Aurora, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and DynamoDB as business needs evolve.

Participate in cloud migration, modernization, and platform transformation initiatives.

Evaluate and implement new database and platform technologies that improve scalability, performance, and operational efficiency.

Reliability, Security & Cost Optimization

Improve platform reliability through monitoring, alerting, performance baselining, and capacity planning.

Support service reliability initiatives, including SLIs, SLOs, incident reduction, and operational improvements.

Implement and maintain secure database practices including encryption, auditing, role-based access controls, and compliance requirements.

Optimize infrastructure utilization and storage costs through rightsizing, lifecycle management, and performance tuning.

WHAT YOU NEED TO SUCCEED (Required Education and Experience)

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

8+ years of hands-on SQL Server administration experience within enterprise production environments.

Deep expertise with SQL Server performance tuning, monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimization.

Extensive experience designing and supporting high availability and disaster recovery solutions, including Always On Availability Groups, clustering, replication, and disaster recovery testing.

Demonstrated success automating operational processes through scripting and Infrastructure as Code practices.

Experience supporting SQL Server environments running on AWS infrastructure, particularly EC2-hosted deployments.

Experience supporting highly available, business-critical systems with demanding SLA requirements.

Skills & Abilities

Advanced SQL Server administration and performance tuning expertise.

Strong scripting and automation skills using PowerShell and T-SQL.

Experience with Terraform, CloudFormation, or other Infrastructure as Code tools.

Working knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, deployment automation, version control systems, and DevOps practices.

Experience with observability and monitoring tools including Idera, Redgate, CloudWatch, AppDynamics, Performance Insights, Extended Events, and SQL Profiler.

Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving capabilities.

Excellent interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills.

Ability to effectively prioritize work and manage multiple competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

NICE TO HAVE (Preferred Education and Experience)

Experience implementing database CI/CD and schema versioning solutions such as Flyway, Liquibase, or SSDT.

Advanced experience with Infrastructure as Code frameworks, including Terraform and CloudFormation.

Experience supporting PostgreSQL, MySQL, Aurora, or DynamoDB environments.

Familiarity with AWS services including Glue, Lambda, OpenSearch, and Bedrock.

Knowledge of ente