Database Administrator at The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas

Job Description:

Position OverviewAssessment & Technology Solutions (ATS), a unit within the Achievement & Assessment Institute at the University of Kansas, helps public agencies develop high-volume, highly scalable and multi-device-compatible Software as a Service (SaaS) web applications to meet public needs. We are a team of experienced IT professionals with many years of high-volume software product development experience that analyze a client's technology needs and then design, develop, test, host, and provide post-production support for all web applications that we develop.


ATS is seeking a Database Administrator. Day-to-day activities will involve small to very large and complex Postgres work. The Database Administrator is involved in database design, query optimization, authoring stored procedures, database updates, backups, recovery and troubleshooting of issues.


In addition to a competitive salary, KU offers great benefits to employees with up to 176 hours of paid vacation per year, 8 hours of sick leave earned every month, nine paid holidays plus one discretionary day, a retirement program, medical & dental insurance, life and disability insurance, other benefit plan options and State of Kansas discounts offered by various vendors. KU also offers employees educational and professional development opportunities. KU is a great place to work! KU actively encourages applications from members of underrepresented groups.


KU is not able to provide H1-B sponsorship for this position. Job Description75% Operational Support

• Ensure availability and performance of the databases that support online services and business operations (e.g. system monitoring, performance tuning, routine maintenance tasks, etc.)


• Troubleshoot performance, stability and availability issues in a high volume and highly transactional database environment, including creation and review of keys and indexes.


• Work closely with the application development teams to resolve any performance related issues and provide application support.


• Respond to and resolve database access and performance issues.


• Perform database tuning, space management, and instance administration.


• Monitor for deviation in baseline system performance and advise on and execute improvements to slow running queries.


• Review query plans and optimize code as required.


• Measure database performance and troubleshoot complex database issues and I/O bottlenecks.


• Ensure that storage, archiving, backup, and recovery procedures are functioning correctly.


• Develop and maintain efficient programmatic data extracts.


• Run queries to fulfill ad-hoc data requests for customers and internal teams.


• Perform database tuning, performance monitoring, capacity management and automation tasks. Assists in the application of database updates and stand-alone hotfixes to environments, as well as evaluates processes for database management.


• Work closely with IT leaders, software developers, and management.


• Part of on-call rotation to respond to and resolve database issues to ensure production applications are online. This position requires availability outside of standard business hours as part of a rotational on-call schedule

25% Design

• Coordinate with application team on developing logical database design, reporting and provide ongoing support and administration of databases pertaining to enterprise business applications.


• Conduct research and make recommendations on database products, services, protocols, and standards in support of procurement and development efforts.


• Implement and oversee database policies and procedures to ensure the integrity and availability of databases and their accompanying software.


• Assess and develop long-term strategic goals for production databases in conjunction with data owners and department managers.


• Manage backups, restores and recovery models.


• Configure, manage, and recommend High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) options.


• Stay abreast of trends within the industry as they relate to future innovation of our products and development of new products.

Position Requirements

• This position allows for a hybrid work location for well-qualified candidates.


• This position will require attendance at regularly scheduled meetings onsite.

Required Qualifications

1. High school/GED and 5 years related experience OR Associates degree with 3 years related experience OR Bachelors degree with 1 year of related experience OR Masters degree in field related to discipline.


2. 3 years' experience troubleshooting performance, stability and availability issues in a high volume and highly transactional database environment.


3. 3 years' experience designing and building data models and schemas to support application requirements.


4. 3 years' experience creating and maintaining databases, tables, views, stored procedures and other database objects.


5. 2 years' experience performing database tuning, space management, and database administration.


6. 3 years' experience in writing Queries, Functions, Procedures and DDL scripts for relational database systems.


7. 3 years' experience managing PostgreSQL databases, MySQL or Microsoft SQL Server databases


8. 2 years' experience managing RDS databases and Aurora databases in AWS.


9. Excellent organizational, project management abilities, strong analytical and problem-solving skills as demonstrated by application materials.

Preferred Qualifications

1. Exposure to version control tools like Git.


2. Certification in one or more commercial database systems.


3. In-depth knowledge of IT standards, concepts, best practices, and procedures.


4. Experience working with Linux, and Windows environments.


5. Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Additional Candidate InstructionsA complete application consists of:

• Cover Letter


• Resume


• 3 Professional References

Incomplete applications will not be considered.


Review of applications begins April 29 and continues as needed to collect a pool of qualified applicants. For first consideration, please apply by April 29. Contact Information to ApplicantsMark Thompson, mark.thompson@ku.eduAdvertised Salary RangeStarting at $85,000; Commensurate with experienceWork ScheduleMonday-Friday, 8 am-5 pmApplication Review BeginsMonday April 29, 2024Anticipated Start DateMonday May 13, 2024Apply to Job

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