Database Engineer Oracle and SQL Server (m/f/d)

Description

The company runs many customer systems outside its cloud platform: standalone Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server instances on virtual machines, hosted in its own datacenter and on IaaS VMs in Azure and OCI.

Applications are deployed on either engine depending on the customer, so the estate is intentionally mixed.

You own this estate day to day, from building new database servers to keeping them patched, backed up and performing well.

The goal is a repeatable, automated standard, so a new customer database becomes a pipeline run instead of a week of manual setup.

You join the platform infrastructure team in the Ghent office. The team runs the foundation for all company products: datacenters, cloud platforms, network security, identity services and infrastructure-as-code.

You will help design, maintain and tune the database platforms for performance, availability and security at scale, and support the growth of the cloud and on-premises environments.

You work independently, taking a request from the initial instance build through to handover into operations.

Responsibilities

• Build Oracle and SQL Server instances on virtual machines end to end: prepare the OS (Linux/RHEL, Windows Server), design storage and filesystems, install, configure, harden and hand over to operations.
• Convert those builds into standard automated templates using Ansible, and Terraform for IaaS VMs, so instances of the same type are always built identically.
• Run planned patching and upgrades: Oracle Release Updates, SQL Server cumulative updates and version upgrades (for example Oracle 19c to 26ai, or older SQL Server releases to 2022 or 2025), each with a tested rollback path.
• Set up backups and recovery with RMAN and SQL Server backups, including retention, off-site and immutable copies, and scheduled restore tests. A backup that has never been restored is not considered proven.
• Design high availability and disaster recovery for standalone setups using Oracle Data Guard, SQL Server Always On availability groups or log shipping, matched to each customer's service level and licence terms.
• Handle daily operations: monitoring in Zabbix, capacity and space management, failed jobs, performance troubleshooting and the database side of hosting incidents.
• Manage security and compliance: access control, patch compliance, TDE encryption and auditing where customers require it, and the evidence financial-sector customers request during audits.
• Track licences by keeping an accurate record of edition, cores and options on every VM, since virtualisation affects Oracle and SQL Server licensing, and flag cost or compliance risks early.
• Migrate databases between the datacenter, IaaS and the company cloud when customers move, using Data Pump, RMAN, SQL Server backup/restore and written cut-over plans.
• Write and maintain runbooks for all of the above and take part in the Database and Performance on-call rota.

Requirements

• Three to 5 years of hands-on production experience as a DBA or database engineer, with working experience in both Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server: strong in one, solid in the other and keen to deepen it.
• Oracle: installation and patching with OPatch and Release Updates, multitenant (CDB/PDB), RMAN, Data Pump, Data Guard, and performance analysis using AWR/ASH and execution plans.
• SQL Server: installation and configuration on Windows Server, recovery models, backup and restore, Always On availability groups, SQL Server Agent, and troubleshooting with Query Store and wait statistics.
• Administrator-level skills in Linux and Windows Server, including storage and filesystem design for databases on virtual machines.
• Scripting in Bash and PowerShell, plus SQL, PL/SQL and T-SQL.
• Ansible experience, or a clear drive to automate repeated work. Terraform is a plus.
• Experience with virtualised infrastructure such as VMware, and/or IaaS VMs in Azure or OCI.
• Methodical and change-managed: you plan, document and announce changes to production databases instead of improvising them.
• Awareness of Oracle and SQL Server licensing on virtualised infrastructure is a strong plus.
• Oracle or Microsoft certifications are welcome, but demonstrated practical experience matters more.
• Fluent English and willingness to take part in an on-call rota.

Conditions

Based in the Ghent office, with a hybrid working model.

Flexible working hours.

Work from a co-working space designed for collaboration and comfort.

Participation in the Database and Performance on-call rota is required.

Benefits

• Competitive salary package with meal vouchers, hospitalisation insurance, group insurance and a car or mobility budget.
• A 6-month onboarding track with a dedicated job coach.
• Regular chances to meet colleagues through informal drinks, team activities and company-wide events.