Database Engineer

Database Engineer
Coimbra
Coimbra, Coimbra District, Portugal

Job Title: Database Engineer

Salary: Competitive + Benefits

Location: Hybrid working, home & BCA Coimbra (monthly visits)

Working Hours: Monday - Friday, 40 hours

Job Status: Permanent

Who we are!

The Constellation Automotive Group is the largest vertically integrated digital car marketplace in Europe, combining the leading digital brands across the segments of Consumer to Business (C2B), Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C). Across our digital platforms we exceed £20billion of Gross Merchandises Value (‘GMV’) on an annual basis. This includes market leading brands such as BCA, We Buy Any Car, cinch, and Marshall.

The Constellation Technology Team provides a
- wide set of Technology Products and Services across the Constellation Automotive Group.

Purpose of the role:

The Database Engineer will be responsible for the design, implementation, and maintenance of
- grade database systems across
- premises and cloud environments. This role demands deep technical expertise in SQL Server administration, high availability, performance tuning, automation, and cloud database technologies to ensure secure, reliable, and optimized data platforms.

Role Accountabilities:

Database Operations & Maintenance

• Install, configure, and patch SQL Server instances (2005–2022) across development, test, and production environments.
• Configure and maintain high availability solutions such as Always On Availability Groups , Failover Clustering , and Database Mirroring .
• Implement and validate backup/recovery procedures and disaster recovery plans .
• Manage database security: user permissions , roles , access controls , and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.

Performance & Optimization

• Perform advanced SQL query tuning and index optimization .
• Use diagnostic tools like Extended Events , Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) , and execution plans for root cause analysis.
• Optimize storage and I/O subsystems for
  - performance workloads.
• Conduct capacity planning and forecasting for future growth.

Incident Management & Support

• Provide 24/7
  - call support for critical database issues.
• Lead incident investigations, implement preventive measures, and perform
  - incident analysis.
• Collaborate with development teams during production issues and manage escalation procedures.

Architecture & Development

• Design scalable and secure database architectures aligned with business requirements.
• Review and approve schema changes, enforce standards for performance , security , and reliability .
• Plan and execute database upgrades , migrations , and consolidations .
• Evaluate and integrate new database technologies and tools.

Automation & Process Improvement

• Develop automation scripts using Power
  Shell and T-SQL for routine tasks.
• Build monitoring and alerting frameworks using tools like SQL Monitor , SQLdm , or custom solutions. Use observability tool.
• Maintain detailed documentation of procedures, runbooks, and configurations.

Knowledge and Experience:

Core Competencies

• SQL Server Administration : Installation, configuration, patching, and troubleshooting.
• T-SQL Development : Stored procedures, triggers, functions, and query optimization.
• Performance Tuning : Extended Events, DMVs, execution plans, and index management.
• High Availability & Disaster Recovery : Always On Availability Groups, Failover Clustering, log shipping.
• Backup & Recovery : Strategies, tools, and disaster recovery planning.
• Security & Compliance : Role-based access control, encryption, auditing.

Additional Skills

• Cloud Platforms : Azure SQL Database, Azure Managed Instances, AWS RDS for SQL Server.
• Monitoring Tools : SQL Monitor, SQLdm, New Relic, or equivalent.
• ETL & Integration : SSIS and data integration workflows.
• Automation : Power
  Shell scripting for database tasks.
• CI/CD for Databases : Version control, automated deployments.
• Capacity Planning : Forecasting and resource optimization.

Environment Scope

• Multiple SQL Server instances across on-prem , Azure SQL , Azure Managed Instances , and AWS RDS .
• Mixed workloads: OLTP , data warehousing , reporting .
• High-availability and
  - critical systems supporting global operations.

Please note that only applications submitted in English will be considered.

Our policy is to employ the best qualified people and provide equal opportunity for the advancement of employees including promotion and training and not to discriminate against any person because of gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion, belief or disability