SC Cleared SQL Server Architect

Role: SQL Server Architect
Max Pay Rate: £640 pd inside IR35
Clearance Required: SC Clearance

• UK Passport holders only
• Dual nationality not supported

Location: Hybrid - 60% onsite/40% remote (Central London)

Overview: design and validate High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) solutions for SQL Server in AWS, supporting a mission-critical SharePoint environment.

Key Activities

• Define PoV success criteria (RPO/RTO, failover, throughput, recovery) with Infra Architect.
• Build PoV topology: SQL Server Always On AGs on EC2 (multi-AZ); EBS (io1/io2/gp3), FSx (if required)
• Integrate CloudWatch, AWS Backup, Systems Manager, automation (CloudFormation/Terraform/PowerShell).
• Validate SharePoint DB compatibility (content/search/service).
• Produce resilience pattern catalogue incl. TCO, performance, complexity: Always On AG; FCI; SIOS DataKeeper; AWS Elastic DR; AWS DMS

Deliverables

• PoV plan & metrics
• HA/DR pattern catalogue (pros/cons, prerequisites)
• DR testing with SharePoint team
• Performance findings (latency, throughput, failover)
• Final recommendation & next-step design

Core Responsibilities

• Architect SQL Server HA/DR in AWS.
• Design Always On patterns (listener, quorum, witness).
• Evaluate AWS services: EC2, EBS, FSx, Route 53, CloudWatch, Backup, SSM, CloudFormation.
• Ensure network/IAM/security alignment.
• Produce documentation and operational runbooks.

Skills & Experience

Essential

• 10+ years SQL Server (2016+) architecture & ops.
• Always On AG, FCI, replication/log shipping.
• Large-scale SharePoint DB experience.
• Performance tuning (I/O, indexing, concurrency, wait stats).
• Strong Always On networking & DNS failover knowledge.
• Excellent documentation & stakeholder skills.

Desirable

• Azure SQL HA/DR exposure.
• Hands-on AWS SQL deployments.
• Automation (CloudFormation, Terraform, PowerShell DSC).
• Regulated environment experience.

Reasonable Adjustments:

Respect and equality are core values to us. We are proud of the diverse and inclusive community we have built, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and perspectives. Our success is driven by our people, united by the spirit of partnership to deliver the best resourcing solutions for our clients.

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