Key responsibilities: engineering & design architect, build, and deploy azure sql (paas/iaas) solutions based on business and application requirements. Evaluate and recommend best-fit database services (azure sql db, managed instance, hyperscale, etc.). Lead database build automation using tools like terraform, or azure devops pipelines. Operational excellence own high-availability (ha), disaster recovery (dr), backup, and performance tuning strategies. Proactively monitor database health, storage, and performance using azure monitor, log analytics, or custom dashboards. Conduct root cause analysis for database issues and implement permanent fixes. Planning & governance collaborate with application and infrastructure teams during planning, development, and release cycles. Participate in capacity planning, licensing optimization, and cost governance. Define and enforce database security, compliance, and encryption policies. Strategic contributions drive discussions with architects and senior stakeholders to shape long-term database strategies. Develop and present technical recommendations, best practices, and improvement plans. Act as a technical mentor to junior dbas and engineers. required skills & experience: 10+ years of experience as a sql server dba, with at least4+ years in azure sql. Proven hands-on experience with azure sql database, managed instance, and sql server on azure vms. Strong knowledge of t-sql, query tuning, index strategies, and execution plans. Experience with infrastructure-as-code (iac) for database deployments powershell/terraform/ansible ( any one of them) - secondary(hands on) deep understanding of azure networking, identity (aad), monitoring, and cost management as it relates to databases. Expertise in ha/dr designs including geo-replication, failover groups, and alwayson ags. Familiarity with devops practices and automation (azure devops, github actions, powershell, etc.). preferred qualifications: microsoft azure certifications (dp-300, az-104, or az-305). Experience with hybrid cloud/on-prem database environments. Worked with automation tools like terraform, ansible to build azure devops pipelines familiarity with postgresql, cosmos db, or other cloud-native data stores is a plus. Experience participating in architecture review boards and preparing engineering proposals.