DBA  L3 Engineer SQL Server

Job description

Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide. Please visit our website here for more information.

About IB Reference Data Production Services

Sitting with the IB Reference Data function, the Production Services team delivers a global support, maintenance, release and infrastructure service delivery role to users and key systems, with two core business functions;

· Instrument & Pricing; servicing product static, intra-day & end-of-day pricing data sets across the Investment Bank's trading, risk and, middle and back office functions.
· Client & Counterparty; for managing Counterparty, Client and Account Reference Data within Barclays.

Overall purpose of role

Reporting to the infrastructure lead for IB Reference Data Production Services, this role will be based in the Prague office. Close collaboration with the global Reference Data team which has members located in London, Singapore, Prague and New York, whilst engaging and building relationships with other colleagues performing similar functions across the firm will be key contributing factors to the position.

This role will be responsible for providing function aligned L3 Primary DBA SQL Server ownership, covering all aspects of the MS SQL DBA technical role and providing the continued IB Reference Data internal technical input on SQL DBA problems.

IB Reference Data continue to expand our technical footprint, as a result it is anticipated that the successful candidate will be exposed to other technologies that will interface, and become integral parts of our service offering (e.g Radial, Hadoop, etc.).

Key Accountabilities and Skills required:

L3 Support DBA (75%)

· Undertake projects as required, including the following areas: capacity and performance management, monitoring initiatives, infrastructure upgrades, web based tools, documentation, reporting, and automation.
· Act as technical point of contact internally for technical queries across IB Reference Data regarding SQL Server.
· Creation, analysis and presentation of detailed project MI to aid projects and the efficient integration of a formal capacity management model.
· Ownership of production incidents throughout the Incident Management process, including: priority assessment, incident resolution/escalation, problem identification, and root cause analysis.
· Adherence to Barclays standards for change control, database security and database patterns, adhering to bank's governance and control procedures.
· Proactive monitoring, and assessment of environments to effectively administer performance and tuning fixes where required across the estate.
· Participation in Change Management activities, including change review/sign-off, and deployment to production.
· Participation in BCM test activities including Disaster Recovery Tests.
· Provide on-call support where required, occasional weekend work will be part of the role – operated on a rotation basis. Analysis of re-occurring incidents and identify service improvements where possible.
· The DBA role supports several existing applications that use different technologies. The working environment is also moving towards a DevOps culture and practices. Candidates with supporting technical and Agile skills and experience that allow understanding of associated issues, functionality etc will be preferred. For example, DBAs who can use Powershell, UNIX scripting, have some previous experience in development, can use tools such as SCC, Chef etc will probably suit the role better.

Engineering / Development (25%)

· Innovate, architect, design, develop and deliver solutions (be it production, internal tools, processes) that improve the effective use of MS SQL server across the function.
· Deliver, and enhance in the in-house tools, with strong bias toward automation and long-term solutions.
· Develop in self and others deep knowledge and understanding of systems processes, infrastructure/service development process and specialist areas of technology. Be responsible for own learning and development and support others in their development.
· Work closely with the function lead, and colleagues to effectively create a front-to-back view of the estate (software/hardware), with a plan to effectively managing obsolescence in-line with bank standard requirements.

Decision-making and Problem Solving, Risk & Control

· The role will require quick, multi-lateral problem solving skills to tackle the fast and complex nature of the production services & support environment. This will often involve working with multiple teams and across multiple systems to understand the flow and dependencies of data. The role will also test decision making skills in an ITIL framework, with the key responsibility of understanding and guiding the team when Major Incidents occur.
· Risk and Control: All Barclays colleagues have to ensure that all activities and duties are carried out in full compliance with regulatory requirements, Enterprise Wide Risk Management Framework and internal Barclays Policies and Policy Standards.

Your skills and qualifications will include

· Bachelors Degree in Computer Science or related field.
· Expert knowledge of database administration on distributed platforms
· Experience with setup/configuration/support of SQL Server 2008,2008R2,SQL2012, SQL2014
· Familiar with SQL Server profiler and how to diagnose its output
· A strong understanding of SQL Server internals and how the query optimizer works
· A strong understanding of SQL Server plan and familiarity with Operators used by SQL Server's query optimizer
· Experience configuring and all components of the MS SQL Product set (Core DB engine and SSRS, SSAS, SSIS, Replication topologies, Service Broker, Log Shipping, Database Snapshots, Database Mirroring, and experience with AlwaysOn etc.)
· Must have extensive experience as Production support SQL Server Database Administrator - experience in large, high volume and high criticality environments
· Experience working in an ITIL structured support environment.
· Knowledge of Windows & Linux Platforms.
· Knowledge of Autosys is highly advantageous.
· Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
· Ability to understand context and respond to users is more important over the in-depth technology skills.
· Self-sufficient, requires minimal direct supervision, able to mentors/coaches other team members on the team.
· Positive, reliable & enthusiastic team player.
· Experience in work management: planning/prioritizing activities and streams of work.

The Benefits: Our customers deserve the best. The same goes for our employees. That's why at Barclays you'll receive a range of benefits that include a competitive salary and all the tools, technology and support you need to succeed.

Our Culture: Everything we do is shaped by the five values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship. The values inform the foundations of our relationships with customers and clients, but they also shape how we measure and reward the performance of our employees. Simply put, success is not just about what you achieve, but about how you achieve it.

Dynamic working gives everyone at Barclays the opportunity to integrate professional and personal lives, if you have a need for flexibility then please discuss this with the hiring manager.

Barclays is an equal opportunity employer and are opposed to discrimination on any grounds. For more detailed information, please visit our dedicated Diversity and Inclusion site here .