Senior Database Administrator (MySQL, PostgreSQL) - Takealot

Takealot, South Africa's leading online retailer, is on the hunt for a seasoned Senior Database Administrator to bolster its Engineering & Product team in Cape Town. As a company experiencing hyper-growth and operating in a dynamic market, Takealot is seeking individuals who are not only technically proficient but also possess a creative, hardworking ethos and a strong sense of integrity. This role offers the chance to contribute to the operational excellence of a major e-commerce platform, ensuring its database infrastructure is robust, secure, and performs at peak efficiency.

About the Role

This senior position is central to maintaining and enhancing the integrity, performance, and security of Takealot's critical database systems. You will be instrumental in designing and implementing strategies for operational excellence, which includes establishing rigorous monitoring, comprehensive documentation, and effective metrics. A key aspect of the role involves proactive maintenance and continuous review of existing database systems to guarantee optimal operation. Furthermore, you'll be responsible for ensuring the reliability of backup and disaster recovery systems through regular testing and validation.

The Senior Database Administrator will also play a vital part in the evolution of Takealot's database architecture, managing changes in line with corporate standards and contributing to the design and administration of cloud-based database infrastructure as code. This involves collaborating closely with development, network, and system teams to ensure that all database-related requirements are met, and providing technical solutions to complex business and product challenges.

The day-to-day responsibilities of the Senior Database Administrator are varied and demand a proactive, problem-solving approach. Your key duties will include:

• **Performance Optimisation:** Assisting developers in crafting optimisable SQL queries and troubleshooting slow-performing queries to ensure swift data retrieval.
• **Schema Management:** Providing expert guidance to developers on schema design, executing schema modifications, and handling related administrative tasks.
• **Operational Standards:** Designing and implementing operational excellence through the use of metrics, robust monitoring systems, and thorough documentation.
• **Reliability and Security:** Overseeing the performance, integrity, and security of all corporate databases. This includes designing and executing standards for backups, replication, security protocols, and disaster recovery plans.
• **System Maintenance:** Conducting ongoing maintenance and reviews of existing database systems to ensure they operate at their best.
• **Infrastructure Development:** Contributing to the design and administration of database cloud infrastructure, leveraging Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles.
• **Technical Collaboration:** Participating in functional and technical specification reviews, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to integrate database solutions seamlessly.
• **Problem Resolution:** Promptly identifying and resolving database-related issues as they arise.
• **Reporting and Mentoring:** Reporting on database health, performance metrics, and system improvements to stakeholders. Crucially, you will also provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior DBAs and engage in knowledge-sharing initiatives, fostering a culture of continuous learning within the team.

What They're Looking For

To excel in this role, candidates should possess a strong academic background or equivalent practical experience. A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field is preferred, though 5–7 years of substantial, related experience will also be considered.

Key technical proficiencies include:

• **Relational Databases:** Extensive, proven knowledge and hands-on experience with relational databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, demonstrating successful deployment, management, and operational capabilities.
• **Non-Relational Databases:** Proven expertise with various non-RDBMS systems, including key-value stores, document stores, and columnar databases. Experience with specific technologies like MongoDB, Redis, Kafka, Elasticsearch, or Solr is highly desirable.
• **Auxiliary Systems:** Deep understanding and practical experience with auxiliary systems that support databases. This encompasses networking, operating systems, security principles, scripting (e.g., Python, Bash), configuration management, cloud computing (AWS, Azure, GCP), and general operations.
• **Database Internals:** A thorough grasp of database internals, covering backups, replication strategies, metrics and monitoring, disaster recovery planning, security best practices, database architecture, configuration tuning, query design, analysis, and optimisation techniques.

Beyond technical skills, employers value candidates who can deliver projects independently, contribute effectively to team-based projects, and think innovatively to find optimal solutions. Strong communication and collaboration skills are essential for working with various internal teams and potentially external stakeholders.

In South Africa, a Senior Database Administrator role with these responsibilities and requiring expertise in popular open-source databases like MySQL and PostgreSQL typically commands a competitive salary, reflecting the critical nature of database management for e-commerce and tech companies. Major online retailers, financial institutions, and technology firms are common employers for such specialised roles. Career progression often involves moving into lead DBA positions, database architecture, or specialised roles within cloud infrastructure and data engineering.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field of study, or 5–7 years of related experience
• Proven extensive knowledge and experience with relational databases such as MySQL or PostgreSQL, including successful deployment, management, and operations
• Proven expertise with other database systems such as key-value stores, document stores, columnar databases, etc.
• Proven experience with one or more non-RDBMS systems such as MongoDB, Redis, Kafka, Elasticsearch, or Solr
• Proven expertise in auxiliary systems such as networking, operating systems, and security
• Experience delivering projects independently and/or contributing to open-source projects
• Experience collaborating on projects as part of a team
• Deep knowledge of database internals, backups, replication, metrics and monitoring, disaster recovery, security, database architecture, database configuration, query design, analysis, and optimisation
• Proven knowledge and experience in auxiliary systems that support databases, including development and/or scripting, configuration management, networking, operating systems, data structures, cloud computing, and operations
• Technical Skills: Proficient in database technologies (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle). Strong understanding of database performance tuning, query optimisation, and systems architecture