Senior Database Engineer

Business Unit:  Technology Operations and Cyber Security – Data Platform Unit
Salary range: £40,800 to £51,000 per annum - DOE
Location: Hybrid – with occasional travel to a UK Virgin Money Hub when required, typically Glasgow or Newcastle.
Contract type: Permanent (full time)

Our Team

The successful candidate will join the Data Platform Unit within Technology Operations and Cyber Security (TOCS) becoming a key member of the team who are responsible for supporting the bank’s database environments residing upon a mixture of on-prem, hybrid and cloud infrastructure.

The expectation is that you will work closely with other staff from TOCS and beyond, including 3rd parties, to ensure the database is estate functions as required alongside collaborating with projects and other teams to ensure that change within the database environments is managed and controlled effectively and safely.

What you’ll be doing…

Support and problem solve on all Production databases as a priority alongside supporting the databases within the Pre-Production environment through proactive identification of risk, swift resolution of live issues and proposal of appropriate fixes/improvements for future

Upgrade, decommission and deliver new databases alongside supporting changes required to existing databases on the estate including but not limited to patching, tuning / optimisation and disaster recovery testing.

Think “outside the box” to improve our processes through process automation, innovation and continuous improvement.

Work with Lead Database Engineers, Infrastructure Designers and Project Managers to ensure solutions meet the organisation’s strategic needs and service being kept safe is in mind at all times.

Collaborate with internal and external parties, escalating where necessary to Lead Database Engineers / Team Leads, to ensure operational issues are resolved within agreed SLAs to ensure we provide excellent customer service.

Improve our processes through process automation, innovation and continuous improvement.

Our work is highly specialised, high profile and fast paced, so you will be expected to self-manage in a professional and proactive manner in conjunction with your Team Lead who will assign you tasks.

Following a period of training the expectation is that the successful candidate would join a 24/7 on-call rota.  Due to the operational nature of the role, there will be times when you may need to work out with your core hours therefore flexibility is key.

To be successful you’ll need….

A strong understanding and experience of database administration (across Oracle and SQL Server) in a Production setting.

An ability to troubleshoot Production issues quickly in an analytical manner alongside making recommendations to resolve issues and/or deliver enhancements.

Experience of undertaking database builds, patching, migrations and upgrades.

Experience of High Availability and Disaster Recovery Methods including setup, troubleshooting and support - Oracle RAC, Oracle Restart, ASM, Oracle Data Guard, flashback technologies and SQL Server Always On High Availability.

Database performance tuning and optimisation skills.

Experience of using Oracle Enterprise Manager.

Oracle / Red Hat Linux, Windows, AIX, and Solaris Operating System experience.

An ability to take ownership for your own development, including taking proactive steps to improve and maintain your skills, knowledge, and behaviours.

To display collaborative behaviours and excellent verbal / written communication skills.

ITIL Service Management awareness (Incident, Change and Problem Management processes).

The self-motivation and desire to keep knowledge current in regards to database technologies including but not limited to Oracle, SQL, Exadata and OCI.

The following would be brilliant...but not essential.

Experience of managing databases (including patching, maintenance, and support of the appliances themselves) within cloud or cloud @ customer environments (Oracle OCI, Oracle Exadata Cloud @ Customer and/or Microsoft Azure) with an awareness of emerging industry trends such as PAAS, DBAS, IAAS.

Experience of working with other database technologies aside from Oracle and SQL Server i.e. Cosmos, PostgreSQL or similar.

Competence in scripting languages such as Bash/PowerShell/Python.

Experience of Dynatrace tooling.

ServiceNow usage

Knowledge of the full software development lifecycle: from business/systems analysis, through requirements gathering and functional specification authoring, to development, testing and delivery.

Red Hot Rewards

Generous holidays - 38.5 days annual leave (including bank holidays and prorated if part-time)​ plus the option to buy more.

Up to five extra paid well-being days per year​. 

20 weeks paid, gender-neutral family leave (52 weeks in total) for expectant parents and those looking to adopt. 

Market-leading pension.

Free private medical cover, income protection and life assurance.

Flexible benefits include Cycle to Work, wellness and health assessments, and critical illness. 

And there's no waiting around, you'll enjoy these benefits from day one.

Feeling insatiably curious about this role? If we’re lucky to receive a lot of interest, we may close the advert early and would hate you to miss out. 

We're all about helping you Live a Life More Virgin, so happy to talk flexible working with you.

Say hello to Virgin Money
We’re making great strides towards achieving our ambition of becoming the UK’s best digital bank.  As a full-service digital bank with a heritage stretching back over 180 years, we`re a workforce to be reckoned with.  We're putting the full power of our experience behind disruptive ideas that reinvent the role a bank plays in people's lives. We're customer obsessed and work tirelessly to create positive experiences for our millions of customers and deliver on our purpose, ‘Making You Happier About Money.’ Our customer centric culture means that we're able to do banking differently and by innovating and working together we can make a real difference. Join us and Live a Life More Virgin that empowers you with choice and flexibility in how you work.

Be yourself at Virgin Money
Our purpose is to make people happier about money, this means seeing and feeling the world as our customers do by creating a workforce that reflects the rich diversity of our customers and communities.  We’re committed to creating an inclusive culture where colleagues feel safe and inspired to contribute, speak up and be heard.  

As a Disability Confident Leader, we're committed to removing any obstacles to inclusion.  If you need any reasonable adjustments or support making your application, contact our Talent Acquisition team

Now the legal bit
Living A Life More Virgin allows our colleagues to be based anywhere in the UK (if the role allows it), but we'll need you to confirm you have the right to work in the UK.

If you're successful in securing a role with us, there are some checks you need to complete before starting. These include credit and criminal record checks and three years' worth of satisfactory references. If the role is part of the Senior Manager Regime and Certification Regime, it requires enhanced pre-employment checks – we'll ask for six years of regulatory references, and once in the role, you'll be subject to periodic employment checks. 

Advert close date is 12th June 2025