SQL Database Specialist in London

Location: London, Central, GB; Southampton, Central, GB; Cardiff, Central, GB; Immingham, Central, GB; Hull, Central, GB

Company: ABP

We’re the UK's largest ports operator with a network of 19 ports around Britain. We handle around one quarter of the UK's seaborne trade and contribute £7.5 billion to our economy every year. It’s a story we’re proud of but it doesn’t end there. We’re transforming our business and embracing the future. We offer a vast range of roles spanning the UK, all rooted in a culture that welcomes diversity, fosters talent, encourages internal movement and progression, and places safety as our number one priority.

Following a recent restructure we're looking to recruit an experienced SQL Administrator to join in a newly created role. You'll be responsible for the design, implementation, administration, and optimisation of ABP's Microsoft SQL Server databases & environments that support our marine platforms. You should have deep technical expertise in SQL Server technologies combined with business acumen to ensure data infrastructure is accessible, performant, reliable, and secure.

Why should you work for ABP?

• Have the chance to make a difference in a business critical to UK trade.
• Work within an exciting, driven, growing business.
• You can thrive in an inclusive environment where every individual can be themselves and feel respected.
• Receive competitive salary and benefits package.
• Get support for training, personal development and further education.
• Benefit from support and engagement through dedicated management and leadership.

Accountabilities:

• Availability & Reliability: Operate and continuously improve production and non-production Microsoft SQL Server database environments to agreed SLAs/SLIs (e.g., 99.9%+ availability). Implement and maintain High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) solutions using SQL Server Always On Availability Groups, Failover Cluster Instances (FCI), and database mirroring. Own incident response, root cause analysis, and problem management for SQL Server and Mainsaver CMMS database-related issues; maintain runbooks and on-call readiness.
• Backup, Recovery & DR Readiness: Define and operate SQL Server backup strategies (full, differential, transaction log), implementing encryption, retention policies, and legal hold requirements. Perform restore tests and DR failover drills to evidence compliance with RTO/RPO targets; document recovery procedures specific to mission‑critical systems including Mainsaver CMMS.
• Performance Engineering: Proactively monitor and tune SQL Server databases: indexing strategies, statistics maintenance, query plan analysis, I/O optimisation, memory configuration, tempdb configuration, and connection pooling. Utilise SQL Server Performance Monitor, Dynamic Management Views (DMVs), Extended Events, and Query Store to diagnose and resolve performance bottlenecks. Partner with developers and Mainsaver CMMS administrators to review T‑SQL queries, stored procedures, and application integration patterns; promote performance‑safe database design.
• Security, Privacy & Compliance: Implement least‑privilege access control, role‑based security models, and SQL Server authentication/authorisation mechanisms. Configure Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), Always Encrypted, TLS connections, and integrate with key management solutions (Azure Key Vault, on‑premises HSM). Configure SQL Server Audit and auditing policies; support GDPR and internal policy compliance including logging, retention, dynamic data masking, and row‑level security.

Skills & Experience:

• Hands‑on DBA experience with the capacity to take ownership of database management.
• Expertise in Microsoft SQL Server including Installation, configuration, backup/restore, HA/DR, performance tuning, security, replication.
• Performance Engineering: Execution plan analysis, indexing strategies, statistics maintenance, wait events/DMVs (SQL Server).
• Communication & Stakeholder Management: Ability to translate complex technical matters into business impact; clear documentation; calm incident leadership.
• Mainsaver CMMS Experience: Demonstrable experience administering SQL Server databases that support Mainsaver CMMS or similar EAM/CMMS platforms (e.g., IBM Maximo, Infor EAM).
• Relevant degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Microsoft SQL Certification.

We offer a competitive salary, contributory pension from day one (Starting at 3% employee contribution with 5% company match), private healthcare and dental, access to our Employee Assistance Program, 26 days annual leave (plus bank holidays – plus the option to purchase additional days), wide range of discounts and cash back with high street and online retailers. We offer an inclusive work environment with an in-house training academy which offers ongoing opportunities to develop your skills.

The role can be based from any of our major port locations with Cardiff, London or Southampton as ideal locations as the preferred location, but we will consider others based on experience. We offer hybrid working arrangements with a 3 day in the office, 2 from home expectation as standard.

Want to see what it’s like to work for the UK’s largest port operator? Our virtual work experience programme gives you an inside look at trade, sustainability, safety, and careers in one of the UK’s most vital industries.

Additional Information: When joining ABP you will find an environment that is both welcoming and challenging. We reward our employees well and offer a generous remuneration package, employer pension, private health insurance and a range of other benefits.

Please note that ABP undertake random screening for substance abuse and operate a zero-tolerance policy. A medical will be required before starting this position also.

We are an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their background, which helps us to provide a diverse and inclusive working environment.