The Pensions Regulator
Database Administrator, Designer & Engineer

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Role title: Database Administrator, Designer & Engineer
TPR grade & pay group: Grade 8 & Digital
Directorate: Digital, Data & Technology
Salary: £53,573.00 Per Annum
Contract type: Permanent
Location: Brighton: Hybrid (6 days per month in the office)
The Role And Responsibilities
- Design, estimate, implement, plan, and test new database systems as defined by the project portfolio.
- Provide administration, monitoring, backup, recovery, and performance tuning of operational and test database systems.
- Support production systems by triaging incidents, investigating issues, and implementing fixes.
- Maintain a high standard of data solutions through code reviews, knowledge sharing, mentoring, documentation, and process improvement.
- Engage with business users to gather information about defects and change requirements.
- Work with technical colleagues to diagnose problems, design solutions, and evaluate technology choices.
- Collaborate in a multi-skilled Agile team to estimate, plan, deliver, and test prioritised features.
- Design robust database structures and data integration solutions that meet storage, performance, security, and data integrity requirements.
- Support technical standards and best practice across SQL development and database operations.
The role criteria
Essential Criteria
- Broad practical experience of the database development lifecycle, gained through building business database solutions.
- Strong hands-on experience with SQL Server 2017 and above.
- Deep knowledge of T-SQL, relational databases, and SQL Server performance tuning.
- Strong understanding of database design, data modelling, normalisation, denormalization, indexing, partitioning, query optimisation, and concurrency design.
- Experience of administering, monitoring, and supporting SQL Server environments in production and test.
- Good understanding of Microsoft Azure concepts and Azure-based database solutions.
- Experience with ETL and data integration tools and techniques, including SSIS and/or Azure Data Factory.
- Experience investigating and diagnosing technical problems in complex business systems.
- Good understanding of data security principles, including access control and encryption.
- Good understanding of data quality, cleansing, and testing principles.
- Experience working with Agile methods to plan, develop, test, and deliver data solutions.
- Knowledge of capacity planning and data archiving principles.
Desirable Criteria
- Microsoft Azure certification, highly desirable.
- Microsoft SQL Server certification or equivalent demonstrable expertise.
- Experience with Azure SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, Synapse, or related Azure data services.
- Experience supporting high-availability or performance-sensitive SQL environments.
- Experience working in regulated or high-governance environments.
Reasons to use Rodeo
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Why you're a good match
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The team
We provide SQL Database SME consultancy, Database support and backup, best practices, and expert development support for Service teams and the wider TPR audience. We are responsible for supporting and improving the existing SQL database estate for TPR, as well as providing expert advice and development resource for key TPR processes. We enable the Service Teams to develop and deploy more quickly to an agreed standard of database coding practices and translate logical model designs into physical databases.
TPR Offers
- Genuine opportunities for learning and development.
- A values-led, inclusive environment.
- Hybrid working and flexible shift patterns.
- A vibrant workplace with employee networks (Disability, Family, LGBT+, Minority Ethnic, Mental Health, Women’s).
Reward And Benefits
- We offer 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, a hybrid working model, 35 hour working week (full-time), flexible working patterns, and flexitime.
- We also provide competitive parental leave, as well as a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
- Our dedicated benefits portal (Edenred) offers retail, gym, tech and restaurant discounts, and a cycle to work scheme.
Find Out What Benefits a Civil Service Pension Provides.
Our culture
TPR strives to be a high-performing organisation, and we prioritise our people's growth and well-being. We offer various learning, secondment and development opportunities, support flexible working, and foster a diverse and inclusive environment.
Equality, diversity and inclusion is very important to us and we strive to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. Our modern Brighton offices are in Telecom House overlooking Preston Park, they are over two floors of a shared building facility and when designed in 2023 we followed the government’s workplace design guide to ensure accessibility by design was achieved for our section.
We're proud to have a range of networks and opportunities to bring people together with supportive and safe spaces to connect with one another.
About The Pensions Regulator
With a career at TPR, you’ll be joining an organisation with real purpose and who are proud of their diverse range of skills and experience that positively impact on millions of people. Everyone at TPR plays an important role in helping to keep more than £2trn of savings safe.
Our Corporate Strategy outlines a bold and challenging vision of how pensions regulation should continue to evolve to keep pace with a change in the scale and nature of the pensions landscape. We believe diversity and inclusion are vital to good decision-making for positive saver outcomes. We’re committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and dynamic work environment where everyone can thrive; understanding the link between the work we do and its positive impact on society.


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Applications
To avoid disappointment, we would invite you to submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a high volume of applications are received. This is to ensure that we can continue to provide a positive candidate experience, with each application being reviewed and considered. Unfortunately, once a vacancy has closed, we are unable to consider further applications.
Current TPR employees who want to apply for this vacancy should first contact their line manager to discuss their application.
We welcome applications on a part time and job share basis.
Please note that TPR is unable to offer visa sponsorship. All applicants must already hold Right to Work in the UK for the duration of their employment. For more information on Right to Work, please visit Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK.
Selection and interview
If you are shortlisted for interview, we’ll be in contact with you shortly after the closing date. We aim to respond to every application however due to the large volume of applications this is not always possible. If you have not heard from us within 21 days of submitting your application, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we’re committed to the recruitment, employment, retention, and development of people with disabilities, and to improving their employment opportunities. Candidates who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria will be offered an interview. Please note that if we receive a high volume of Disability Confident applicants, we reserve the right to offer an interview to those who best meet the essential criteria.
Diversity and inclusion
TPR is committed to promoting diversity, inclusion and equality in the workplace, creating an environment where everyone is encouraged to be themselves, enabling our people to feel supported, represented and do their best work.
We encourage applicants from all backgrounds and with different identities and experiences to apply for roles with TPR.
Further information
Please visit our website to find out what it is like to work at TPR, our culture, interview process and our commitment to our employees.
If you have any queries about this role, or if you have a disability and wish to request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, please email recruitmentteam@tpr.gov.uk.
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