Database Team Lead📣 Job Ad

About the Role

HCLTech is seeking a Database Team Lead for a full-time position based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This is a senior technical-leadership role responsible for the design, implementation, operation, and ongoing optimization of the client's enterprise database environment. The incumbent will serve as the subject-matter expert for Oracle Database (banking-core), while also overseeing a broader multi-platform portfolio including MS-SQL, Teradata, DB2, BigData/Hadoop, and the Informatica data-integration layer.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the end-to-end database architecture roadmap, aligning with the client’s digital-banking strategy.
• Champion best-practice designs for high-availability (RAC/Failover), disaster-recovery (Data Guard, Always-On), and scaling (sharding, partitioning).
• Lead the daily DBA team in delivering L1-L3 support, incident resolution, and service-level adherence (RTO/RPO) across Oracle, MS-SQL, Teradata, DB2, and Hadoop platforms.
• Own the Database Run-Book, including backup/recovery, patching, upgrade, capacity planning, and performance-tuning procedures.
• Ensure 100% compliance with the bank’s Information Security Policy (ISA-03-2024), data-privacy (PDPL), and banking regulations (*, Saudi Central Bank C-Bank, Basel II).
• Conduct regular health-checks, identify bottlenecks, and implement SQL/PLSQL optimization, index strategy, and storage-layout tuning.
• Provide technical leadership for Informatica PowerCenter and other ETL tools to ensure robust data pipelines and oversee data-migration projects.
• Enforce least-privilege access, role-based security, and encryption (TDE), coordinating with Information Security and Risk teams for audits and vulnerability assessments.
• Produce regular status dashboards for senior business owners and regulators, serving as the escalation point for critical database incidents.

Team Leadership and Vendor Management

The Database Team Lead will directly manage a team of 5-12 DBAs, including junior, senior, and specialist roles. Responsibilities include setting performance objectives, conducting regular 1-on-1s, and driving certifications such as Oracle OCP, Microsoft MCSE, and Teradata Certified Professional. The role involves building a culture of knowledge sharing through formal training and documentation standards. Additionally, the Lead will liaise with vendors including Oracle, Microsoft, Teradata, IBM, and cloud-service providers for support, licensing, and Proof-of-Concepts, and participate in cross-functional project steering committees to deliver database-related work-streams on time and within budget. Continuous improvement is fostered by leading Root-Cause Analysis for major incidents and promoting automation for routine tasks.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• 5-10 years of experience in database management and leadership roles.
• Strong hands-on expertise and a proven track record of leading DBA teams.
• Deep understanding of banking-specific data-governance, security, and regulatory requirements.
• Proficiency in Oracle Database (banking-core) and experience with multi-platform environments (MS-SQL, Teradata, DB2, BigData/Hadoop).
• Experience with data-integration layers, particularly Informatica PowerCenter.

Preferred Technical Skills

• BigData/Hadoop ecosystem (HDFS, Hive, Spark, Impala) for integrating high-volume transactional data into analytics pipelines.
• Cloud Platforms (OCI, Azure, AWS) to support migration, hybrid-cloud strategies, and cost-optimization.
• Data Governance tools (Collibra, Alation) to align with data-quality and lineage requirements.
• CI/CD for DB (Liquibase, Flyway, DB-Change-Automation) to accelerate release cycles while maintaining compliance.
• Linux/Unix System Administration, critical for managing Oracle and other database instances on Red Hat/SUSE.

Performance Metrics and Working Conditions

Performance will be measured against key indicators including database availability (≥ ** for core Oracle systems), Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR) for critical incidents (≤ 30 minutes first-level, ≤ 2 hours full resolution), 100% successful backup/recovery restore tests, capacity forecast accuracy (± 5% variance), team development (≥ 80% DBAs maintain current certifications, at least one internal training per quarter), and zero critical audit findings related to database security or controls.

The role operates within a 24x7 support model; the Lead will establish an on-call rotation for the DBA team and act as the escalation point for Tier-2/Tier-3 incidents. Travel is minimal, involving occasional visits to data centers in Riyadh or Jeddah, or vendor sites for major upgrades. This is an office-based position with standard workstation requirements, and occasional remote work is permissible per bank policy.