Deadline Date: Wednesday 11 February 2026
Requirement: Database MySQL Assistant
Location: Brussels, BE
Full Time On-Site: Yes
Time On-Site: 100%
Total Scope of the request (hours): 1500
Required Start Date: 19 March 2026
End Contract Date: 31 December 2026
Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET
Duties & Role:
Operational DBA Duties
- Install, configure, maintain, and upgrade MySQL instances (standalone and/or clustered).
- Perform routine maintenance (schema housekeeping, index maintenance, statistics updates, data retention support).
- Manage users, roles, privileges, and authentication methods according to least-privilege principles.
- Manage storage growth and capacity forecasting (disk usage, table growth trends, partitioning/archiving recommendations).
- Maintain environment consistency across DEV/UAT/PROD where applicable.
Performance & Query Optimization
- Analyze and optimize performance using tools and logs (slow query log, performance_schema, EXPLAIN/EXPLAIN ANALYZE).
- Provide indexing strategy and implement approved indexes/changes.
- Tune MySQL/InnoDB parameters (buffer pool, redo logs, flush behaviour, connection/thread settings, temp tables, etc.).
- Identify and remediate lock contention, deadlocks, replication delays, and inefficient access patterns.
Availability, Replication & Disaster Recovery
- Design and operate backup strategies (logical/physical backups, binlog retention, encryption where required).
- Execute and document restore tests on a defined cadence to validate RPO/RTO objectives.
Security & Compliance
- Apply MySQL hardening standards (secure configs, TLS in transit, encryption at rest if supported, restricted remote access).
- Manage patching and upgrades including risk/impact assessment and change planning.
- Support audit/compliance requirements (access reviews, evidence gathering, logging and retention).
Monitoring, Incident Response & Problem Management
- Implement/maintain monitoring and alerting (e.g., PMM, Prometheus/Grafana, cloud-native monitoring).
- Define alert thresholds and reduce noise (actionable alerts, escalation paths).
- Provide incident triage and resolution within agreed service hours and severity targets.
- Conduct root cause analysis for major incidents and deliver corrective/preventive actions.
- Maintain operational documentation (backup/restore, failover, replication fixes, common performance issues).
Requirements
Skill, Knowledge & Experience:
- The candidate must have a currently active NATO SECRET security clearance
- Strong administration of MySQL (preferably 8.0+).
- Knowledge of SQL optimization, indexing, and query execution plans.
- Expert knowledge on backup/restore (e.g., mysqldump, mysqlpump, Percona XtraBackup or equivalent) and point-in-time recovery.
- Linux fundamentals (system resources, I/O, file systems, network basics) relevant to database performance.
- Security best practices (TLS, privilege management, audit/logging, secure configuration).
- Knowledge on a second database technology like PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server
- Automation/SRE mindset: scripting (Bash/Python/Perl).
- 5+ years hands-on MySQL DBA experience in production environments.
- Demonstrated experience supporting business-critical systems with defined SLAs.
- Proven track record in performance troubleshooting and incident handling.
