Senior Database Engineer

b Overview /b p In this Hybrid role, you will be the first dedicated Database Performance Engineer, owning the performance and scaling of Capital on Tap’s SQL Server estate on Azure. You’ll optimize latency-critical paths, build self-serve tooling, and influence architecture decisions to support a fast-growing fintech platform. You’ll work with a small, cross-functional team of DBAs and SREs to ensure reliability, cost efficiency, and resilient data access. This is a hands-on role with high impact on latency, throughput, and uptime. /p b Pay / Benefits /b ul li Private Healthcare including dental and opticians services through Vitality /li li Worldwide travel insurance through Vitality /li li Anniversary Rewards and a fully paid sabbatical /li li Salary Sacrifice Pension Scheme up to 7% match /li li Cycle to Work Scheme /li li 28 days holiday plus bank holidays /li /ul b Responsibilities /b ul li Own query and index performance across the SQL Server estate using execution plans, Query Store, wait statistics, and production telemetry /li li Investigate and implement horizontal scaling (multi-cluster, contained AGs, sharding) to support growth /li li Reduce bottlenecks on latency-sensitive paths (card authorisation, ledger I/O) within p99 budget /li li Own high availability and disaster recovery designs, testing, and runbooks /li li Develop self-serve tooling to identify query regressions and enable teams to diagnose performance /li li Automate/manual tasks with PowerShell, Python, or Terraform and treat DB configuration as code /li li Manage SQL Server cost as a key production metric alongside latency and uptime /li li Collaborate with Product Engineering and data analytics to review designs and uplift data access thinking /li li Advocate new DB technologies (e.g., graph databases, zero-downtime migrations) and demonstrate their use in EF via C# /li /ul b Key requirements /b ul li Experience with ORM performance characteristics (Entity Framework) /li li Extensive production SQL Server experience at scale (on-prem, Managed Instances, or Azure SQL) /li li Deep knowledge of SQL Server internals: optimizer, plan cache, indexing, statistics, locking, tempdb, wait types /li li Proven track record of end-to-end performance improvements /li li Experience scaling relational data beyond tuning capabilities: partitioning, archival, denormalisation, read replicas /li li Proficiency in T-SQL, plus PowerShell or Python, and infrastructure as code /li li Hands-on HA/DR design and incident handling /li li Working knowledge of PostgreSQL and ability to compare pros/cons /li li Ability to translate technical tradeoffs to non-database stakeholders /li /ul ul li Strong communication with cross-functional teams /li li Self-motivated and ownership-driven /li li Data-driven decision making /li li Microsoft SQL Server in production at scale /li li Azure SQL / Managed Instances /li li Query Store and execution plan analysis /li /ul