Team – Group Operations
Working Pattern - Hybrid – 2 days per week in the Vitality Sandton Office. Full time, 37.5 hours per week.
We are happy to discuss flexible working!
Top 3 skills needed for this role:
- Strong SQL plus hands-on tuning of high-volume systems
- Ability to run PostgreSQL reliably in managed services
- Proficiency in Designing and testing HA/replication/backups/PITR to meet RTO/RPO
What this role is all about:
Step into a pivotal role at Vitality Group as a Senior Database Administrator, where you’ll shape the backbone of high-performance, data-driven systems powering millions of interactions. This is an opportunity to work at scale across AWS and GCP, driving innovation in cloud-native database architecture while ensuring resilience, security, and seamless performance. You’ll collaborate with a diverse team of engineers, architects, and analysts, using your deep PostgreSQL expertise to optimise complex, high-volume environments and lead initiatives that directly impact business outcomes.
Key Actions
- Design, implement, and manage PostgreSQL databases across development, testing, and production environments, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards and best practices
- Maintain high availability, performance, and resilience through effective use of replication, backups, disaster recovery, and cloud-native solutions across AWS and GCP
- Lead database performance tuning, identifying and resolving bottlenecks, optimising queries, schema design, and indexing strategies in high-volume environments
- Oversee database deployments, upgrades, and schema changes with minimal disruption, while supporting capacity planning, storage optimisation, and data lifecycle management
- Implement robust monitoring and observability practices, proactively managing database health and driving root cause analysis for production issues
- Enforce data governance, security, and access controls, ensuring compliance with policies and protection of sensitive information
- Collaborate closely with developers, data engineers, and architects to support system design, scalability, and performance improvements
- Provide technical leadership and mentorship, contributing to architectural decisions and supporting operational readiness, including on-call support for critical incidents
What do you need to thrive?
- 9+ years’ experience administering PostgreSQL in both on-premise and cloud environments
- Proven hands-on experience with AWS (RDS/Aurora) and exposure to GCP (Cloud SQL or AlloyDB)
- Strong experience working with large-scale, high-volume, multi-tenant database environments
- Deep understanding of PostgreSQL architecture and database performance tuning
- Advanced SQL skills, including query optimisation
- Proficiency in scripting (e.g., Shell, Python)
- Solid Linux administration experience
- Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills
- Experience working in Agile environments
- Relevant degree or diploma in IT, Computer Science, or a related field
So, what’s in it for you?
- Bonus Schemes – A bonus that regularly rewards you for your performance
- Retirement support – We will match your contributions up to 5% of your salary
- Health & wellbeing – Discovery Medical Health Scheme
- Financial protection - Life assurance, income protection and short and long-term disability insurance
These are just some of the many perks that we offer! To view the extensive range of benefits we offer, please visit our careers page. Fantastic Benefits. Exciting rewards. Great career opportunities!
If you are successful in your application and join us at Vitality, this is our promise to you, we will:
- Help you to be the healthiest you’ve ever been.
- Create an environment that embraces you as you are and enables you to be your best self.
- Give you flexibility on how, where and when you work.
- Help you advance your career by playing you to your strengths.
- Give you a voice to help our business grow and make Vitality a great place to be.
- Give you the space to try, fail and learn.
- Provide a healthy balance of challenge and support.
- Recognise and reward you with a competitive salary and amazing benefits.
- Be there for you when you need us.
- Provide opportunities for you to be a force for good in society.
We commit to all these things because we want you to feel that you belong, and are supported to be happy and healthy.