Database Administrator (DBA): Sponsorship Available

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

Job Summary

The DBA is a key member of the Digital Data & Technology (DDaT)Operations team, adding value for our patients through improving and developing information services across the Trust and wider health and care system. As the DBA you will be responsible for providing operational database services to the organisation predominantly in SQL Server.Tasks will include owning, tracking and resolving database related incidents and requests, fulfilling requests and resolving incidents within agreed timescales, reviewing service-related reports on a daily basis to ensure service-related issues are identified and resolved within established timescales. You will respond to database related alerts and escalations and work with other infrastructure engineers to come up with strategic solutions to recurring problems.Key to this role is establishing and maintaining communication with the Trust’s service users and wider colleagues and customers to keep them updated with status of their requests or raised issues.The role holder will proactively escalate any issues that cannot be resolved within the established timeframes adhering to service level agreements to the infrastructure manager.

 

Main duties of the job

1. Knowledge and Expertise

Regular monitoring and custom daily checks

Database Development: Design and implement database solutions

Act as the Trust’s subject matter expert for SQL Server

2. Financial Management

Track the costs associated with database storage, hardware, and licensing

Identify cost-saving opportunities

Contribute to the financial planning of the IT department

3. Communication and Relationships

Cross-Departmental Collaboration

Serve as the key point of contact for any database-related inquiries

4. Planning and Organisation

Capacity and Performance Planning

Develop and implement strategies to ensure databases can accommodate growing data volumes and increased system usage.

Disaster Recovery Planning: Develop and regularly test disaster recovery (DR) plans for the SQL Server environment

5. Analytical and Judgement Skills

Perform root cause analysis on performance bottlenecks and system failures

Risk Assessment: Identify potential risks to the SQL Server estate

6. Continuous Improvement and Service Development

Process Automation: Continuously evaluate and improve database management processes

Propose and implement automated solutions for tasks such as backups, monitoring, and performance tuning.

7. Policy and Compliance

Policy Adherence: Ensure all database management activities comply with NHS standards, data protection regulations, and Trust policies.

Audit and Documentation: Maintain comprehensive records of all database configurations

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to degree level or equivalent relevant experience.
  • Attended recognised professional training courses (e.g. SQL) or equivalent experience
  • ITIL Certification

Desirable

  • Degree in relevant field; computer science, data management MSCE MCSA

Experience

Essential

  • Database Administration: Extensive experience managing large, complex SQL Server environments, including installation, configuration, performance tuning, and disaster recovery.
  • Healthcare IT: Experience working within the NHS or another healthcare setting, with a deep understanding of clinical systems and data governance requirements.
  • Significant experience of database performance tuning, optimisation and indexing Demonstrable experience in reviewing database solutions and making recommendations

Desirable

  • Cloud based SQL services
  • Experience of working with business intelligence departments on data warehousing

Skills

Essential

  • Excellent knowledge of Windows Server technologies Specialist knowledge of, and highly proficient in: Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2016/2019 Data warehouses Data integration, Data migration
  • Ability to communicate complex (potentially contentious or sensitive) analytical issues to data literate persons or groups at various levels.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Closing Date: 19 February 2026

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.