Database Administrator / Architect

Job Title - Database Administrator / Architect — Mission-Critical Federal Environment Location – Onsite - Woodlawn, MD (On-site, 5 days/week) Job Type – Full Time Type of Contract - (W-2) Standard Benefits are available for this position Clearance - Ability to obtain and maintain Public Trust About the Role Join a high-impact federal program supporting one of the nation's largest and most data-intensive public service environments. This role focuses on architecting, securing, optimizing, and maintaining enterprise PostgreSQL databases that power nationwide operations. You'll work in a stable, long-term environment where data integrity, availability, and performance are essential to serving millions of Americans. Key Responsibilities

• Manage, maintain, secure, monitor, and optimize PostgreSQL databases for high availability and peak performance.
• Conduct ongoing database health checks, monitoring, and performance tuning.
• Oversee backup, recovery, installation, configuration, and patching of database servers.
• Write and optimize complex SQL queries for analysis, transformation, and reporting.
• Architect scalable, secure, and high-performance database solutions.
• Integrate PostgreSQL environments with AWS services including Lambda, S3, EC2, and Glue.
• Apply AWS security best practices (IAM, encryption, VPC, security groups) and federal compliance standards.
• Design and implement backup, disaster recovery, high availability, and failover strategies (Multi-AZ, read replicas).
• Ensure adherence to federal security, privacy, and data-management policies.
• Provide technical guidance to junior and mid-level developers.
• Perform additional duties as assigned. Required Experience & Qualifications
• 15+ years as a Database Administrator/Architect.
• Bachelor's + 15 years, or 20+ years of experience in lieu of a degree.
• Skilled in PostgreSQL database management, data modeling, normalization, and schema design.
• Advanced SQL experience for complex analysis, transformation, and reporting.
• Strong background in database architecture, configuration, installation, backup, and recovery.
• Experience with AWS RDS PostgreSQL or other cloud-based PostgreSQL platforms.- Strong logical and physical data modeling experience.
• Experience with server patching and Splunk.
• Ability to work on-site in Woodlawn, MD, Monday–Friday.
• Ability to obtain and maintain Public Trust clearance. AWS Experience
• Proven ability to architect scalable, high-performance, secure database solutions.
• Expertise in query optimization, indexing, caching, and performance tuning using AWS tools.
• Experience integrating PostgreSQL with AWS services (Lambda, S3, EC2, Glue).
• Skilled in securing AWS environments, managing IAM roles, implementing encryption, and monitoring via CloudWatch/CloudTrail. Desired Skills — How to Stand Out
• Experience leading requirements gathering, solution design, and implementation at a senior/architect level.
• Scripting experience in Linux for ETL automation and data migration.
• Familiarity with automated testing, TDD, CI/CD, and performance analysis.
• Ability to contribute to architectural roadmaps and tactical planning.
• Detail-oriented with a track record of consistent, error-free execution.
• Prior experience supporting federal or public-sector programs.
• Strong communication skills for cross-functional collaboration with analysts, data scientists, and business stakeholders.
• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, non-technical language.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.