Database Associate Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

We are seeking an experienced Senior Database Engineer to lead the design, optimization, security, and lifecycle management of enterprise-grade database systems across an AI-enabled software environment, with a focus on SAP HANA-based platforms. This role requires deep technical expertise, strong architectural judgment, and the ability to collaborate across engineering, analytics, and product teams.

The Senior Database Engineer will design scalable, resilient, and high-performing databases; guide modernization into cloud-native data ecosystems; mentor junior engineers; and ensure that database systems fully support application, analytics, and AI/ML workloads, including those supporting enterprise SAP landscapes (e.g., S/4HANA, BW/4HANA).

• Architect and implement advanced database solutions across relational, NoSQL, cloud-native, and SAP HANA database platforms to support mission-critical systems.
• Design and optimize schemas, indexing strategies, partitioning logic, and physical data models that meet performance, storage, and scalability requirements, including in-memory and columnar database approaches.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex performance issues by analyzing execution plans, locking behavior, I/O bottlenecks, memory utilization, and query performance degradation.
• Lead cloud migration or modernization efforts involving RDS/Aurora, Azure SQL/MI, Google Cloud SQL, DynamoDB, Cosmos DB, Bigtable, or other managed database services.
• Implement high-availability, replication, failover, and disaster recovery architectures aligned to business continuity and federal compliance requirements.
• Oversee database security posture, including encryption, auditing, role-based access control, privileged access workflows, and Zero Trust alignment.
• Collaborate with Data Engineers, MLOps/LLMOps Engineers, AI Developers, and application teams to ensure optimized data access patterns, pipeline efficiency, and downstream system performance.
• Develop and maintain automation for provisioning, schema migration, patching, backup schedules, and environment consistency using DevOps/IaC tools.
• Conduct root-cause analysis of critical incidents and lead long-term remediation and stability improvements.
• Participate in enterprise data modeling efforts, including logical and physical modeling, conceptual domain design, metadata strategy, and semantic layer alignment.
• Evaluate emerging database technologies, indexing strategies, caching layers, and data platforms, advising leadership on modernization and adoption strategies.
• Mentor mid-level and Associate Database Engineers, providing code reviews, architectural coaching, and professional development support.
• Document architecture decisions, operational runbooks, maintenance strategies, and best practices for internal and client teams.
• Represent database engineering expertise in client meetings, technical discussions, design reviews, and proposal development.
• Contribute to the growth of our AI & Data Exploitation Practice.

• Ability to hold a position of public trust with the U.S. government. 
• Bachelor's degree and 8+ years of experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on database engineering experience in enterprise or complex system environments. 
• Hands-on experience working with SAP HANA database environments supporting enterprise SAP systems (e.g., S/4HANA, BW/4HANA).
• Expert-level proficiency in at least one major RDBMS (e.g., PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL) and strong familiarity with NoSQL systems (e.g., MongoDB, DynamoDB, Cassandra, Cosmos DB). 
• Strong SQL expertise, including performance tuning, index optimization, query plan analysis, and transaction management, with experience developing and optimizing queries in SAP HANA environments (e.g., SQLScript).
• Experience architecting and maintaining databases in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP), including managed and serverless database offerings. 
• Strong understanding of replication, high-availability architectures, clustering, sharding, and disaster recovery/continuity strategies.
• Experience integrating databases with data pipelines, streaming platforms, and microservices architectures. 
• Strong scripting skills (Python, Bash, PowerShell) and familiarity with DevOps/IaC automation tools (Terraform, CloudFormation, Ansible, Liquibase, Flyway). 
• Understanding of data security practices including encryption, auditing, access patterns, and compliance frameworks. 
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to serve as a technical escalation point for complex database issues. 
• Strong communication and documentation skills with the ability to influence teams and advise technical and non-technical stakeholders. 
• Preferred certifications: 
  • AWS Database Specialty 
  • Azure Database Administrator Associate (DP-300) 
  • Google Professional Data Engineer 
  • Oracle OCP or Microsoft SQL Server Expert 
  • SAP HANA certification (e.g., SAP Certified Technology Associate - SAP HANA)
  • Security+ or cloud security certifications (for compliance-focused roles) 
• Databricks experience is a plus. 

Steampunk relies on several factors to determine salary, including but not limited to geographic location, contractual requirements, education, knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience. The projected compensation range for this position is $130,000 to $160,000.  The estimate displayed represents a typical annual salary range for this position. Annual salary is just one aspect of Steampunk's total compensation package for employees. Learn more about additional Steampunk benefits here. 

Identity Statement

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Steampunk is a Change Agent in the Federal contracting industry, bringing new thinking to clients in the Homeland, Federal Civilian, Health and DoD sectors.  Through our Human-Centered delivery methodology, we are fundamentally changing the expectations our Federal clients have for true shared accountability in solving their toughest mission challenges.  As an employee owned company, we focus on investing in our employees to enable them to do the greatest work of their careers - and rewarding them for outstanding contributions to our growth. If you want to learn more about our story, visit http://www.steampunk.com.