Senior Cloud DBA – AWS at Bswift

Want to be a bswifter? At bswift we’ve been transforming benefits administration since 1996, making it simpler, smarter, and more human. Our state-of-the-art, cloud-based technology and services empower employees to understand, manage, and love their benefits. From downtown Chicago, and remotely across the country, we serve thousands of companies and millions of people nationwide, reducing administrative burdens and freeing HR teams to focus on creating thriving, people-first workplaces. We’re looking for motivated and goal-driven individuals who share our passion for delivering excellence and creating solutions that make a difference. The reward is a fun, flexible and creative environment with ample opportunity for professional and personal growth. If you love the bswift values of pursue excellence, embrace accountability, deliver superior service, and be a great place to work, we want to hear from you! ABOUT US: bswift is a leading benefits administration company that specializes in providing tailored solutions for our clients. Our mission is to simplify the complex world of employee benefits and deliver exceptional service to our clients. We are looking for a talented and experienced individual to join our team as a Senior Database Administrator (Senior DBA). WHAT YOU’LL DO: The Senior Database Administrator will support, elevate, and modernize bswift’s data platforms. This role blends deep Microsoft SQL Server expertise with cloud‑native architecture, automation, and engineering practices on AWS. You will own the reliability, performance, security, and evolution of our database ecosystem while driving modernization initiatives toward scalable, automated, cloud‑native architectures. This is a hands‑on, high‑impact role partnering closely with Engineering, DevOps, Analytics, and Security teams to deliver resilient and cost‑efficient data solutions. WHAT YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR (Essential Functions): Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions. Cloud & Platform Architecture and Strategy • Design, implement, and operate scalable cloud‑native data platforms on AWS, including RDS SQL Server, MySQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, and OpenSearch. • Automate infrastructure and database operations using Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation) and scripting (PowerShell, SQL Agent) to reduce manual processes and improve reliability. Database Administration & Operations • Own day‑to‑day administration of SQL Server 2019+ environments, ensuring performance, availability, scalability, and security. • Architect and maintain high availability and disaster recovery solutions, including multi‑AZ designs, replication, automated backups, point‑in‑time recovery, and failover testing. • Perform core DBA activities including backups, environment refreshes, data de‑identification, disaster recovery readiness, index maintenance, and statistics management. • Proactively tune and optimize database performance through query analysis, indexing strategies, execution plan review, and monitoring. • Participate in on‑call rotation via PagerDuty and respond to production database alerts and incidents. Modernization & Data Engineering Enablement • Provide database expertise to support cloud‑native data pipelines, ensuring efficient SQL performance, sound schema design, and high data quality. • Modernize and optimize database platforms by implementing ELT/ETL workflows and scalable ingestion strategies. • Define and enforce standards for observability, security, and compliance, including encryption, RBAC, auditing, data masking, monitoring, and alerting. Reliability, Security & Cost Optimization • Ensure platform reliability through proactive monitoring, alerting, capacity planning, and performance baselining. • Optimize cloud costs through lifecycle management, storage tiering, archival strategies, and rightsizing database resources. • Partner with Security, DevOps, and Engineering teams to implement least‑privilege access and secure data handling practices. Technical Leadership • Act as a technical leader and trusted advisor on database and data platform decisions. • Document architecture, standards, and best practices; mentor teams and review implementations. • Own database platforms end‑to‑end, from design and implementation through operations and continuous improvement. WHAT YOU NEED TO SUCCEED (Required Education and Experience): • Minimum of 8 years of senior‑level experience administering Microsoft SQL Server in enterprise environments. • Proven experience with Always On, clustering, replication, and high availability/disaster recovery architectures. • Hands‑on experience with AWS database services, including RDS MySQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, and DynamoDB. • Proficiency with observability and performance tools such as Idera, Redgate, CloudWatch, AppDynamics, Performance Insights, SQL Profiler, and Extended Events. • Experience participating in on‑call rotations and managing critical production incidents. • Demonstrated experience supporting highly available data platforms with strong SLAs and uptime requirements. • Experience with ELT/ETL pipelines, CDC patterns, and analytics‑focused data architectures. • Hands‑on experience with automation and Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform, CloudFormation, PowerShell). • Experience leading or supporting cloud migrations and modernization of legacy database platforms. • Strong collaboration skills and ability to work effectively in fast‑moving, distributed team environments. NICE TO HAVE (Preferred Education and Experience): • Familiarity with NoSQL databases, caching technologies, or event‑driven architectures. • Experience with AWS services such as Bedrock, OpenSearch, Glue, and Lambda. • Experience working in regulated industries such as healthcare, insurance, or financial services. OTHER DUTIES: Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. Why Join bswift? At bswift, we empower our employees to make a meaningful impact, innovate, and grow. Joining our team means stepping into a collaborative and dynamic environment that values creativity, initiative, and a passion for client success. We are dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace that celebrates diversity and values each team member’s unique contributions. Benefits of Working at bswift: • Comprehensive Health Benefits: Access to health, dental, and vision plans to support your wellness and that of your family. • Competitive Compensation: A compensation package that recognizes your skills, experience, and contributions, including performance-based incentives for most roles. • Remote first, Office friendly environment! No time to commute? No problem! • Retirement Savings Plans: Options to help you plan for a secure financial future with employer-sponsored retirement savings programs. • Professional Development: Opportunities for career growth, including training and access to resources to support your career progression. • Supportive Culture: A work environment that encourages collaboration, open communication, and creative problem-solving, where your voice and ideas are valued. • Employee Wellbeing Initiatives: Programs focused on mental health, financial planning, and wellness resources to help you thrive inside and outside of work. Make an Impact: At bswift, your work directly contributes to transforming how organizations approach benefits administration and client engagement. Join us to be part of an organization that is making a meaningful difference in the lives of our clients and their employees. Specific benefit offerings vary by position and may be subject to change. Standard working hours are 8am-5pm Central Time, unless otherwise stated in the Job Description. In the spirit of pay transparency, we are excited to share the base salary range for this position is $140,000-$150,000, exclusive of fringe benefits or potential bonuses. If you are hired at bswift, your final base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as geographic location, skills, education, and/or experience. In addition to those factors – we believe in the importance of pay equity and consider internal equity of our current team members as a part of any final offer. Please keep in mind that the range mentioned above is the full base salary range for the role. Hiring at the maximum of the range would not be typical in order to allow for future & continued salary growth. We also offer a generous compensation and benefits package! At bswift, our mission is clear: Become the preeminent benefits administrator through exceptional people, innovative technology, and delighted customers. And our values are at the heart of everything we do to accomplish that mission. We Pursue Excellence, Embrace Accountability, Deliver Superior Service, and strive to Be A Great Place To Work. We take pride in having an engaged, collaborative team that goes the extra mile to get the job done right. bswift has been regularly named one of Chicago’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For®, as well as one of the Nation’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® year after year. We offer a fun, flexible, and creative environment where you can grow both professionally and personally. If you have what it takes to join our award-winning culture, we’d love to hear from you!