BET Software is one of the most diverse betting software providers in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing ground-breaking software on a global scale while supporting incredibly large transactional volumes in a fast-paced industry. Our multiskilled team is passionate about pushing boundaries to create world-class solutions. We offer a dynamic work environment that supports learning and growth, a place where you can flourish amongst like-minded individuals. Currently, on an exponential growth path, we’re increasing our footprint with the objective of establishing BET Software as a leader in global markets. Interested? There’s a lot we can’t predict in this business, but one thing is certain: you’ll never be bored.
The DBA role has a direct impact on the organisational revenue stream, legal standing and reputation. Actions or inaction on your part is critical to organisational success or failure. Your decision making, problem solving and pro-active attitude, must be enhanced with effective collaboration both with internal and external teams.
Specifically, as a member of BET and administrator of organisational databases, you’ll install, upgrade, administer, monitor, maintain, and secure these systems. You will ensure the overall health of the systems assigned to your control. These databases may be hosted on-premise or in a private or public cloud. You are required to take all reasonable steps to ensure data is secure, readily available, protected from loss or corruption and easily accessible as needed by the business
Job Description:
Communication & Time Management
- Provide adequate day-to-day feedback and information to teams, management and colleagues to ensure that all actions taken are planned, understood and implemented with a maximum positive impact on the operational effectiveness of the systems being supported.
- Ensure negative impacts to the systems being supported are understood, communicated and mitigated as far as possible.
- Effectively communicate with the relevant teams as to status, progress and time to resolution when working on systems.
- Ensure you schedule and prioritise your area/task of focus so that your limited-time provides maximum value.
- Ensure when you are unable to undertake, achieve or complete a task the relevant stakeholders are informed, and you suggest alternative solutions.
- Write database documentation, including data standards, procedures and definitions.
- Document/map out & maintain conceptual design views for the database.
Software Installation and Maintenance
- Collaborate and communicate with the System Administrators/Infrastructure/DevOps to determine the hardware required to effectively support the databases you intend to administer.
- Verify the relevant operating system, underlying support software and database software is correctly installed, and the environment is delivered successfully and functionally – provide feedback as required.
- Collaborate and communicate on the initial installation and configuration of a new system or database, with infra-structure and the development teams involved to ensure the environment is delivered successfully and functionally at the first attempt.
- Research fit-for-purpose and relevant updates and patches and then ensure all the latest appropriate is installed, and the environment is fully functional without negatively affecting uptime
- Perform relevant troubleshooting and problem-solving to ensure the server is always operating at peak efficiency and stability.
- Install, test and validate the deployments and maintenance to ensure peak efficiency and stability.
- Independently and correctly set up and maintain replication and availability groups.
- Maintain appropriate standards in terms of data protection acts, both locally and internationally.
Data Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL)
- Write/Build robust automated solutions to extract large volumes of data from multiple sources/systems into a data warehouse environment/s.
- Check the data is extracted correctly, efficiently, timeously and sets the stage for the success of subsequent processes.
- Ensure data quality and consistency by performing automated data validation, and provide reporting on errors identified for further analysis.
- Correctly convert or transform the data from one format or structure to another where needed.
- Correctly insert data into the final target data warehouse for the purposes of querying and analysis.
- Ensure the data is appropriately cleansed, and delivered in a proper storage format/structure to facilitate the development team being able to develop applications as quickly as possible.
Specialised Data Handling
- Effectively manage very large databases using advanced monitoring and tuning.
- Develop the solutions required to manage unstructured data types where required.
Database Backup and Recovery
- Create backup and recovery plans and procedures based on industry best practices.
- Focus on cost-effective automated solutions which require minimal support and monitoring
- Cater for different types of failures with potentially different solutions, so that the most cost and time-effective solution is implemented where required.
- Take preventative actions to reduce the potential of failure is reduced and the number of actual failures is as near zero as possible.
- Ensure these plans are properly reviewed, approved and communicated so that the necessary steps are followed to execute these plans efficiently and effectively.
- Ensure there is limited key-man reliance on yourself if an event occurs.
Security
- Identify potential weaknesses of the database software and overall system.
- Research, plan and implement best practice strategies to mitigate risk.
- Ensure audit logs/trails are implemented and monitored.
- Define, approve and implement plans to manage a security breach or irregularity.
Authentication
- Establish the needs of users and set up access to the database to ensure appropriate levels of access/security where needed.
- Ensure access to systems is entirely denied where appropriate.
Capacity Planning
- Perform short-term and long-term capacity analysis and planning across all systems.
- Ensure full understanding of the size of the database/s and estimate growth curves.
- Predict and communicate future capacity needs.
- Ensure preventative measures are taken to mitigate any stability and efficiency issues related to capacity in advance and taking cost into consideration.
Performance Monitoring & Database Tuning
- Perform tracking and ongoing monitoring of systems performance ensuring that storage, archiving, backup and recovery processes are functioning effectively.
- Take preventative monitoring steps to ensure systems always have adequate capacity for performance and take steps to prevent future issues.
- Apply your advanced knowledge of indexes, index management and statistics to ensure the system is performing optimally.
- Identify any part of the system which is slowing processing, creating instability or negatively affecting response times and then analyse and communicate with development/IT teams (and management where appropriate).
- Apply agreed on configuration changes that. improve the systems operational efficiency and effectiveness.
- Optimise the physical configuration of the database to improve performance.
- Perform pro-active, preventative and relevant and appropriate system maintenance.
- Identify, recommend and implement cost-effective monitoring tools which enhance monitoring and thereby improving response times to performance-related issues.
- Monitor and optimise aspects such as indexing and query execution where appropriate.
- Where possible collaborate with the development teams to refine the system design to meet current and future system performance and storage requirements.
Trouble Shooting
- Remain on-call for troubleshooting in case of problems.
- Quickly understand and respond to problems when they occur.
- Restore lost data.
- Correct or eliminate an issue to minimise damage to data, financial or reputational.
Other Duties
- Provide constructive and timely feedback for performance development.
- Assist with recruitment by providing appropriate feedback when required.
- Present performance reports and metrics to management.
- Provide training gap analysis feedback to improve the operational effectiveness of the DBA team.
- Perform research and compile required reports and papers.
- Collaborate with other divisions and departments to carry out BET’s goals and objectives.
- Draft reports and correspondence to various third parties or outsources contractors.
- Keep updated on emerging technologies and trends in DBA management.
- Identify training needs and ensure training is developed and provided.
Qualifications/Certifications:
- Required Qualifications/Certifications:
- Engineering or Science Degree
- Microsoft Office – Word, Excel, PowerPoint (Intermediate to Advanced)
- SQL or related certification
- Preferred Certifications:
- Windows/Linux
- C# or Java
- NO SQL or equivalent
- Advantageous Certifications:
- .NET
- Cloud Technology
- Database Design Skills – OLTP/ Data Warehouse
- DataBase Management System/s
- Database Administration / Data warehousing. Data Analytics
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional
Required Experience and Skills:
- Minimum 5 years experience
- Software Installation and Maintenance
- Data Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL)
- Specialised Data Handling
- Database Backup and Recovery
- Security
- Authentication
- Capacity Planning
- Performance Monitoring & Database Tuning
- Trouble Shooting
- Betting/Gambling
Required Attributes and Competencies:
- Good Communication and Time Management Skills
- High Emotional Intelligence
- High Performance
- Strong Business Acumen and Accountability
- Excellent Problem-Solving Skills
- Quality Focused and Results Driven
- Detail Orientated