Lead Database Administrator

Department Description:

“We Power the Magic!” That’s our motto at Disney Experiences (DX). Our team creates world-class immersive digital experiences for the Company’s premier vacation brands including Disney’s Parks & Resorts worldwide, Disney Cruise Line, Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, and Disney Vacation Club. 

We are responsible for the end-to-end digital and physical Guest experience for all technology & digital-led initiatives across the Attractions & Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Resorts & Transportation and Merchandise lines of business as well as other initiatives including My Disney Experience and Hey, Disney! 

Team Description:

This role is part of the Focused Operational Readiness Guidance Engagement (FORGE) team within Disney Experiences Technology, partnering closely with teams across multiple lines of business—including Parks applications, Disney Signature Experiences, and Disney Cruise Line—to support enterprise-wide initiatives. 

What You’ll Do:

The Lead Database Administrator will report to the Manager, Database Operations.

The Lead Database Administrator is responsible for ensuring the performance, integrity, and security of multiple databases. This role leads the planning, design, and development of database architecture—focusing on building scalability, reliability, performance and security of the database platforms in use, while ensuring operational ease of use for the application development teams. 

Responsibilities:

• Designing, installing, configuring, and supporting the database environment. 
• Providing technical leadership and guidance across database operations. 
• Overseeing physical data storage, access, maintenance, and security administration. 
• Overseeing team projects in line with the organization’s objectives. 
• Collaboratively plan and develop database architecture, including structure, documentation, requirements, and protection standards. 
• Assist in the development and implementation of best practices for database access and utilization. 
• Work closely with SRE, application engineering, security, and infrastructure teams to improve 
• the availability and performance of our data systems, reduce operational toil, and guide safe architectural changes as the platform grows. 
• Advocate for standards while pushing for smarter, more effective ways of working. 
• Build and support automation, including using AI, to improve velocity of service delivery and more scalable conformity to standards. 
• Perform operational database administration tasks such as installation, upgrades, patching, backup/recovery, monitoring, capacity planning, and architectural changes in cloud environments. 
• Participate in production operations such as on-call rotation, incident response, monitoring, alerting, and post-incident review processes. 
• Work with the leadership team to build scalability and reliability into all aspects of the organization, including using quality monitoring, documentation, process efficiency and platform capability. 
• Break down strategy into actionable project objectives, ensure timely task completion, and share outcomes and insights across the organization. 

Required Qualifications & Skills: 

• Minimum 7+ years of related work experience 
• Expertise in at least two database technologies (i.e. MS SQL, MySQL, Postgres, Oracle etc.) 
• 5+ years of experience managing production database or distributed data systems across application, database, operating system, storage, and network layers 
• 3+ years of experience in Linux systems engineering (performance tuning, memory management, I/O tuning, configuration, security, and networking) and automating infrastructure or database operations with tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Chef, or Puppet. 
• 2+ years of experience using at least one scripting or programming language such as Python, Bash, Go or similar for automation and operational tooling. 
• Advanced knowledge of Disaster Recovery planning and implementation. 
• Advanced knowledge of modern DB infrastructure, including DBaaS platforms in both public and private clouds, Docker and Kubernetes containers and virtual machines. 
• Knowledge of the software development lifecycle, as well as database design methodologies and principles. 
• Comfortable working in an agile environment. 

Desired Qualifications: 

• Experience building database platform tooling, self-service workflows, and paved paths that enable application teams to use data systems safely and efficiently. 
• Previous responsibility for refining reliability practices for production data systems, such as SLOs, disaster recovery plans, backup validation, and failover testing. 
• Experience with Kafka, Redis, Elasticsearch, or similar data stores and distributed systems. 

Required Education: 

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or related field. 

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PAY TRANSPARENCY

The hiring range for this position in Orlando, FL is $125,000-$167,600. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.

This position is with Walt Disney Attractions Technology LLC, which is part of a business we call Disney Experiences.

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Walt Disney Attractions Technology LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

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