SC Cleared SQL Server Architect

Role: SQL Server Architect
Max Pay Rate: £640 pd inside IR35
Clearance Required: SC Clearance

• UK Passport holders only
• Dual nationality not supported

Location: Hybrid - 60% onsite/40% remote (Central London)

Overview: design and validate High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) solutions for SQL Server in AWS, supporting a mission-critical SharePoint environment.

Key Activities

• Define PoV success criteria (RPO/RTO, failover, throughput, recovery) with Infra Architect.
• Build PoV topology: SQL Server Always On AGs on EC2 (multi-AZ); EBS (io1/io2/gp3), FSx (if required)
• Integrate CloudWatch, AWS Backup, Systems Manager, automation (CloudFormation/Terraform/PowerShell).
• Validate SharePoint DB compatibility (content/search/service).
• Produce resilience pattern catalogue incl. TCO, performance, complexity: Always On AG; FCI; SIOS DataKeeper; AWS Elastic DR; AWS DMS

Deliverables

• PoV plan & metrics
• HA/DR pattern catalogue (pros/cons, prerequisites)
• DR testing with SharePoint team
• Performance findings (latency, throughput, failover)
• Final recommendation & next-step design

Core Responsibilities

• Architect SQL Server HA/DR in AWS.
• Design Always On patterns (listener, quorum, witness).
• Evaluate AWS services: EC2, EBS, FSx, Route 53, CloudWatch, Backup, SSM, CloudFormation.
• Ensure network/IAM/security alignment.
• Produce documentation and operational runbooks.

Skills & Experience

Essential

• 10+ years SQL Server (2016+) architecture & ops.
• Always On AG, FCI, replication/log shipping.
• Large-scale SharePoint DB experience.
• Performance tuning (I/O, indexing, concurrency, wait stats).
• Strong Always On networking & DNS failover knowledge.
• Excellent documentation & stakeholder skills.

Desirable

• Azure SQL HA/DR exposure.
• Hands-on AWS SQL deployments.
• Automation (CloudFormation, Terraform, PowerShell DSC).
• Regulated environment experience.

Reasonable Adjustments:

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