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Senior Database Engineer Jobs in Butte, MT (NOW HIRING)

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Senior Database Engineer information

See Butte, MT salary details

$78.6K

$122.6K

$169.9K

How much do senior database engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 20, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior database engineer in Butte, MT is $122,618.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $102,900.00 and $139,800.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a senior database engineer?

A Senior Database Engineer is an experienced IT professional responsible for designing, implementing, maintaining, and optimizing database systems within an organization. They ensure databases are secure, reliable, and perform efficiently to meet business needs. Senior Database Engineers often lead projects, mentor junior staff, and collaborate with developers and system administrators to support data-driven applications. Their expertise is crucial for data integrity, scalability, and disaster recovery planning.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a senior database engineer, and why are they important?

A Senior Database Engineer needs advanced knowledge of database architecture, SQL, performance tuning, and a degree in computer science or a related field. Expertise in tools like Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, database clustering, and relevant certifications such as Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate are typical requirements. Strong problem-solving, analytical thinking, and effective communication skills help them excel in managing complex data environments and collaborating with development teams. These capabilities are crucial for ensuring robust, scalable, and secure data solutions that meet organizational needs.

What are some common challenges senior database engineers face when managing large-scale databases, and how are they typically addressed?

Senior Database Engineers often encounter challenges such as ensuring database performance under heavy loads, maintaining data integrity during migrations, and optimizing queries for efficiency. Addressing these issues usually involves proactive monitoring, implementing indexing strategies, and collaborating closely with development teams to design scalable database schemas. Regularly updating skills to keep up with new database technologies and security best practices is also essential for tackling these challenges effectively.

What is the difference between Senior Database Engineer vs Database Administrator?

AspectSenior Database EngineerDatabase Administrator
Primary FocusDesigning, developing, and optimizing database systemsMaintaining, backing up, and securing databases
Skills & CertificationsSQL, database architecture, performance tuning, certifications like Oracle or Microsoft SQL ServerDatabase management, backup/recovery, security, certifications like Oracle DBA or Microsoft Certified Database Administrator
Work EnvironmentDevelopment teams, data engineering projects, system designOperational teams, system maintenance, troubleshooting
Industry UsageUsed across tech, finance, healthcare for database developmentCommon in enterprise IT, government, and large organizations for database upkeep

While both roles work closely with databases, a Senior Database Engineer primarily focuses on designing and optimizing database systems, whereas a Database Administrator handles daily maintenance, security, and backups. The roles complement each other but differ in scope and responsibilities.

What cities near Butte, MT are hiring for Senior Database Engineer jobs?

Cities near Butte, MT with the most Senior Database Engineer job openings:

Senior Database Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Senior Database Engineer job openings in Butte, MT as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 91% Full Time, 5% Part Time, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 88% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $122,618 per year, or $59 per hour.

Senior AI Engineer - IT AI and Data Technology

St. Peter's Health

Helena, MT • On-site

$95K - $129K/yr

Full-time

Posted 13 days ago

Job description


Lead the future of healthcare AI at St. Peter's Health! As our Lead AI Engineer, you'll serve as the principal technical leader responsible for designing, building, and scaling enterprise AI solutions that improve clinical and business operations. You'll partner closely with the Director of AI to establish the organization's AI platform, architecture, engineering standards, and best practices while mentoring a growing engineering team. This hands-on leadership role combines software architecture, cloud-native engineering, MLOps/LLMOps, and applied AI-including generative AI, machine learning, NLP, and intelligent agents-to deliver secure, reliable, and impactful production solutions across the health system. If you're passionate about building enterprise AI from the ground up and driving innovation in healthcare, this is an opportunity to make a lasting impact.
KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE:
Required:
  • Ten or more years of progressive professional experience in software engineering, application architecture, platform engineering, distributed systems, or related technology work, including at least three years of hands-on experience deploying and operating production AI/ML systems.
  • Qualifying production AI experience may include traditional machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, recommender systems, predictive modeling, generative AI, or related applied AI systems.
  • Advanced software engineering and architecture proficiency in Python and strong working proficiency in one or more additional enterprise programming languages such as C#, Java, TypeScript, or Go.
  • Demonstrated experience architecting and operating distributed, cloud-native applications, APIs, data services, containers, automated delivery pipelines, infrastructure automation, and production observability.
  • Deep working knowledge of the production AI/ML lifecycle, including model and service integration, retrieval, agents, evaluation, MLOps or LLMOps, monitoring, reliability, governance, security, and cost optimization.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead architecture decisions, mentor senior engineers, coordinate complex technical workstreams, communicate with executives and stakeholders, and guide production outcomes across teams.

Preferred:
  • Experience in a healthcare provider, payer, health system, life sciences, financial services, or other highly regulated environment.
  • Experience integrating with Epic or another electronic health record, FHIR, HL7, clinical data, medical terminology, or healthcare operational systems.
  • Experience establishing enterprise AI or ML platform architecture on Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, or a comparable large-scale cloud environment.
  • Experience leading MLOps or LLMOps, retrieval-augmented generation, semantic or vector search, agentic systems, model evaluation, and AI application observability at production scale.
  • Strong working knowledge of HIPAA, HITECH, healthcare privacy, information security, data governance, responsible AI, clinical safety, and audit requirements.
  • Experience evaluating vendors, leading build-versus-buy decisions, defining reference architectures, and establishing engineering standards for a growing technical organization.

EDUCATION:
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, or a related field is preferred. Equivalent combinations of education, advanced technical training, certifications, and directly relevant professional experience may be considered.
A master's degree in a related field is preferred. Advanced education may substitute for a portion of the required experience when accompanied by demonstrated enterprise software architecture, production engineering, and AI deployment capability.

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