Cloud & Platform Database Administrator

Who We Are:

At VML, we are a beacon of innovation and growth in an ever-evolving world. Our heritage is built upon a century of combined expertise, where creativity meets technology, and diverse perspectives ignite inspiration. With the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, we have forged a new path as a growth partner that is part creative agency, part consultancy, and part technology powerhouse. 

Our global family now encompasses over 30,000 employees across 150+ offices in 64 markets, each contributing to a culture that values connection, belonging, and the power of differences.  Our expertise spans the entire customer journey, offering deep insights in communications, commerce, consultancy, CRM, CX, data, production, and technology. We deliver end-to-end solutions that result in revolutionary work. 

The opportunity We're seeking a Cloud & Platform DBA/Database Reliability Engineer to operate, optimize and secure both managed and self‑managed databases that power high‑traffic ecommerce sites. You'll work primarily across AWS and GCP, while also supporting a smaller estate of hosted/on‑prem databases.

Your mission: high availability, performance, security/compliance and cost efficiency—especially during peak events.

What you’ll be doing:

Operate managed databases (cloud):

• AWS RDS/Aurora (MySQL/PostgreSQL), Google Cloud SQL, DynamoDB, MongoDB ,DB2 , Oracle.
• Indexing, query plan analysis, schema design for OLTP, connection pool and concurrency tuning.
• Build and support self‑managed databases (hosted/on‑prem/VMs):
• Oracle 19c, IBM DB2 LUW 9.5–11.5, MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MongoDB on Linux/Unix/Windows.
• Installation, patching, upgrades, parameter/kernel tuning, storage layout (e.g., ASM/LVM), backup/restore.

High availability, resilience and DR:

• Cloud: Multi‑AZ, read replicas, Aurora Global Database, cross‑region replication, RDS Proxy; PITR/snapshots; tested RTO/RPO.
• Self‑managed: Oracle Data Guard (and/or RAC exposure), DB2 HADR, MySQL replication/Group Replication/XtraDB Cluster, MongoDB replica sets/sharding; RMAN, XtraBackup, db2 backup utilities.
• Support for prod and nonprod env, which require backup and restore along with obfuscation of the sensitive data.
• skilled for writting sql/plsql code

Automation and change management:

• Terraform/CloudFormation for cloud, Ansible for self‑managed, GitOps workflows.
• CI/CD for database changes (Flyway/Liquibase), standards, drift detection, automated patching and failover.
• Observability and performance engineering:
• CloudWatch/Cloud Monitoring, RDS Performance Insights, pg_stat_statements, MySQL Performance Schema, Oracle AWR/ASH/Statspack/OEM, DB2 MON/Explain, Datadog/New Relic/Prometheus/Grafana.
• Capacity planning, load/soak testing for peak (e.g., BFCM), SLOs for latency/availability/throughput, post‑incident reviews.

Security, compliance and governance:

• IAM least privilege, secrets management (AWS Secrets Manager/HashiCorp Vault), audit logging.
• PCI‑DSS and GDPR controls, data retention/masking, change control and approvals.
• Cost and capacity stewardship:
• Cloud: right‑sizing instances/storage/IOPS, reserved vs on‑demand/serverless choices, DynamoDB capacity modes, cost anomaly detection.
• Self‑managed: capacity forecasting and scaling plans; basic license awareness for enterprise platforms.

Architecture collaboration:

• Schema evolution, query patterns, caching strategies (Redis/Memcached), read/write segregation.
• Guidance on ORM usage and connection pools; patterns for microservices and event‑driven systems (Kafka/Kinesis/Pub/Sub).

Operations and ways of working:

• Partner with development, support and architecture teams; maintain clear runbooks and documentation.
• Participate in a 24/7 on‑call rotation; lead incident response and preventative actions.
• Support and plan migrations between self‑managed and managed services with validation and rollback paths.

What we want from you:

• Hands‑on production experience with managed relational databases in AWS or GCP (RDS/Aurora or Cloud SQL) using MySQL or PostgreSQL.
• Experience administering at least one self‑managed enterprise RDBMS in Linux/Unix environments (Oracle or IBM DB2 LUW), or strong evidence you can ramp quickly.
• Strong performance tuning skills: execution plans, indexing strategy, slow query analysis, concurrency and connection management.
• HA/DR expertise: replication, failover/runbooks, backups and point‑in‑time recovery; setting and meeting RTO/RPO.
• Automation mindset: Terraform/CloudFormation, Ansible, CI/CD for schema changes (Flyway/Liquibase), Git; scripting in Python/Bash.
• Security/compliance fundamentals: IAM, encryption in transit/at rest, auditing; familiarity with PCI‑DSS and GDPR.
• Clear communication and collaboration; ability to coach teams and document best practices.

Desirable Attributes:

• Deep Oracle (RAC, Data Guard), DB2 HADR, or advanced PostgreSQL/MySQL internals.
• MongoDB Atlas and on‑prem MongoDB (Ops Manager/backup, replica sets/sharding).
• Redis/Memcached (ElastiCache/Memorystore), Kafka/Kinesis/Pub/Sub, or Kubernetes‑based app stacks.
• Exposure to analytics platforms (BigQuery/Snowflake) for operational reporting.
• Experience migrating legacy estates to managed services with minimal downtime.
• Location and ways of working Hybrid working with regular time in our Watford office; occasional client site visits.
• Participation in an on‑call/out‑of‑hours rotation with appropriate compensation

What we can offer you:

Alongside the opportunity to work with some of the most exciting brands around the world, we’ll also prioritise your career development and help you grow your skills. We’ll empower you to make a difference, allow you to be yourself, and respect who you are.

Permanent only:
We offer a great benefits package including  training opportunities, medical insurance, Dental insurance, Meal cards, social events, family friendly policies, discounts with hundreds of retailers and much more.

Our personality and behaviours: We believe that we are what we do, not just what we say. Our shared values and behaviours show how to bring the VML Enterprise Solution's culture to life through the actions we all take every day:

• Connect Meaningfully
• Inspire Creatively
• Include Purposefully
• Approach Positively

Our brilliant, talented people are what makes VML Enterprise Solutions what we are. That’s why we look for people who go beyond and always push our thinking to be better than yesterday.

AT VML Enterprise Solutions

Our Enterprise Solutions division houses strategic consultants, creative and technical architects and skilled developers and operators that together help some of the world’s leading organisations to deliver outstanding digital experiences across all major routes to market worldwide: marketplaces, online retailers, D2C, B2B and social platforms. With over 4,200 experts in 55 operational centres across 34 countries, our capabilities span the entire buying journey from customer acquisition, through engagement, to conversion and loyalty, driving multi-channel growth for world-leading brands.

We work with some of the most exciting brands such as The Coca-Cola Company, EY, Bosch, Unilever, Ford, DFS, Mercedes-Benz, Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges, Shell and Tiffany & Co. We’ve built over 500 platforms for brands and retailers and generate in excess of $29bn annually for our clients and work with over 50 strategic partners including Adobe, SAP, Salesforce, HCL, Shopify, Sitecore, BigCommerce, commerce tools and Acquia. Our reputation is based on our people, and we believe we have some of the best in the business.

As our business grows internationally, we’re looking for new people to join us on our journey to inspire and take a key role in shaping some of the best commerce solutions, services, and websites in the world. Working as a team, no problem is insurmountable; we share in our client’s successes and believe that anyone can show creative bravery no matter what their role is in the team.

WPP (VML Enterprise Solutions) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers. 

VML is a WPP Agency. For more information, please visit our website, and follow VML on our social channels via Instagram, LinkedIn, and X. 

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