Sr. Database Administrator

HealthCare Partners, IPA and HealthCare Partners, MSO together comprise our health care delivery system providing enhanced quality care to our members, providers and health plan partners. Active since 1996, HealthCare Partners (HCP) is the largest physician-owned and led IPA in the Northeast, serving the five boroughs and Long Island. Our network includes over 6,000 primary care physicians and specialists delivering services to our 125,000 members enrolled in Commercial, Medicare and Medicaid products. Our MSO employs 200+ skilled professionals dedicated to ensuring members have access to the highest quality of care while efficiently utilizing healthcare resources.

HCP’s vision is to be recognized by members, providers and payers as the organization that delivers unsurpassed excellence in healthcare to the people of New York and their communities. We pride ourselves on selecting the most qualified candidates who reflect HCP’s mission of serving our members by facilitating the delivery of quality care. Interested in joining our successful Garden City Team?

Position Summary: This is a senior, hands-on database engineering role responsible for ensuring the stability, performance, security, and compliance of mission-critical SQL Server platforms within a healthcare environment.
Approximately 80% of the role is dedicated to on-premises SQL Server systems supporting high-volume OLTP workloads containing protected health information (PHI). Key responsibilities include performance tuning, high availability and disaster recovery, system stability, data protection, and advanced query optimization.
The remaining 20% of the role focuses on strategic modernization initiatives, including:

• Offloading reporting and analytics workloads from regulated OLTP environments
• Designing and implementing HIPAA-aligned architectures using Azure SQL, Managed Instance, Microsoft Fabric, and OneLake
• Reducing operational overhead and compliance risk across production database systems

This is neither a junior DBA role nor a cloud-only position. The ideal candidate operates with a high degree of autonomy, serves as a senior escalation point for complex database issues, mentors team members, and acts as a steward of data integrity, security, and regulatory compliance.

Essential Position Functions/Responsibilities:
1. Production Database Ownership (Primary Focus)

• Serve as the senior owner of on-premises SQL Server environments supporting clinical, financial, and operational healthcare systems
• Act as the final escalation point for critical issues including performance degradation, blocking/deadlocks, corruption, availability, data integrity, and security
• Ensure all database platforms meet HIPAA, internal security, audit, and data retention requirements
• Proactively identify systemic operational and compliance risks; design and implement durable, long-term solutions

2. Performance Engineering & Query Optimization

• Diagnose and resolve complex performance challenges, including:
  • Blocking and deadlocking
  • Query plan instability
  • Parallelism and resource contention (CPU, memory, I/O)
  • tempdb bottlenecks
  • Partitioning and large-scale data access patterns
• Partner with application teams to redesign inefficient SQL, indexing strategies, and schemas
• Establish and enforce performance, scalability, and data minimization best practices

3. High Availability, Recovery, Security & Resilience

• Design, implement, and maintain HA/DR solutions (e.g., Always On Availability Groups, Log Shipping, Azure SQL Managed Instance Link)
• Own backup, restore, encryption, and disaster recovery strategies aligned with RTO/RPO and audit expectations
• Continuously validate recoverability and resilience through testing and audit readiness

4. SQL Engineering & Database Development

• Design and deliver secure, scalable database solutions, including:
  • Data modeling and schema design
  • Stored procedures, views, and functions
  • Set-based, performance-optimized SQL development
• Enforce least-privilege access models and secure coding standards
• Contribute to and enforce a disciplined SDLC using Database Projects, Git, and Azure DevOps

5. Analytics Offload & Cloud Enablement (Secondary Focus)

• Identify and prioritize opportunities to offload reporting and analytics workloads from regulated OLTP systems
• Design hybrid data architectures leveraging:
  • Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance
  • Microsoft Fabric (Lakehouse and Warehouse) and OneLake
• Ensure PHI handling, masking, retention, and access controls remain compliant across cloud analytics platforms

6. Mentorship, Standards & Documentation

• Define and maintain database standards, architectural patterns, security baselines, and operational runbooks
• Mentor developers and junior DBAs on SQL performance, secure development, and compliant data handling
• Maintain architecture diagrams, data dictionaries, and audit-ready documentation

Qualification Requirements:
Skills, Knowledge, Abilities

• Deep understanding of SQL Server internals, including memory management, I/O subsystems, tempdb behavior, and parallelism
• Strong knowledge of OLTP system design and performance characteristics at scale
• Familiarity with regulatory frameworks such as HIPAA and their impact on data architecture, retention, and access
• Knowledge of data modeling, schema design, and data lifecycle management

• Understanding of hybrid and cloud data architectures, including:

• Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance
• Microsoft Fabric (Lakehouse, Warehouse) and OneLake
• Awareness of analytics offloading patterns and separation of OLTP vs. analytical workloads
• Operate independently as a senior technical authority with minimal supervision
• Diagnose and resolve complex, cross-system performance and data integrity issues
• Serve as an escalation point and make sound decisions under pressure in production environments
• Translate business and regulatory requirements into scalable, compliant database solutions
• Collaborate effectively with developers, architects, security teams, and leadership
• Mentor team members and establish standards, best practices, and governance
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Training/Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Relevant technical training in SQL Server, performance tuning, or cloud data platforms
• Ongoing education in security, compliance, and healthcare data standards is preferred

Experience:
Required

• 8+ years of hands-on SQL Server experience in production environments
• Demonstrated ownership of mission-critical databases containing sensitive or regulated data
• Extensive experience in performance tuning, query optimization, and database engineering (not solely administrative)
• Experience operating within HIPAA or similarly regulated environments
• Proven ability to work independently and act as a senior escalation point

Strongly Preferred:

• Direct healthcare industry experience
• Experience supporting audits, risk assessments, or compliance reviews
• Experience offloading analytics workloads from OLTP systems
• Hands-on experience with Azure SQL Database / Managed Instance in regulated environments
• Exposure to Microsoft Fabric, OneLake, and Data Factory

Nice to Have:

• Experience with automation using PowerShell or C#
• Familiarity with Power Apps or low-code platforms
• Azure or data platform certifications

Base Compensation: $160,000 - $180,000

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:
HealthCare Partners, MSO is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, or any other protected status under federal, state, or local laws. In compliance with all applicable laws, HealthCare Partners, MSO upholds a strict non-discrimination policy in every location where we operate. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Job Disclaimer:
The above job description outlines the general scope and responsibilities of the position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of duties, skills, or qualifications required. Responsibilities may evolve based on business needs.