Job Description

The Database Administrator is a member of the Archive/Pipeline Operations Group within the ALMA Department of Computing (ADC). The role is responsible for the administration, availability, performance, security, resilience, and lifecycle management of ALMA's production database platforms, with primary emphasis on the high-availability Oracle environment.

The position installs, configures, patches, tests, tunes, monitors, backs up, recovers, and supports Oracle infrastructure, including Grid Infrastructure, ASM, RAC, GoldenGate, and Oracle Enterprise Manager. The role also supports other relational database technologies used by the Observatory and works closely with system administrators, software engineers, data management teams, ALMA Regional Centers, and technical counterparts in Europe, North America, and East Asia.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Administer and maintain Oracle database environments across development, test, integration, and production platforms.
• Manage the full lifecycle for both Single-Instance and RAC databases — including installation, configuration, patching, migration, upgrade, and support for Oracle Grid Infrastructure, ASM, GoldenGate, and Cloud Control.
• Monitor database availability, capacity, performance, replication, and overall health; identify risks and implement corrective actions.
• Perform database performance analysis and tuning, including SQL and PL/SQL optimization, profiling, indexing, and execution-plan review.
• Administer database security, including users, roles, privileges, authentication, auditing, and compliance with ALMA cybersecurity policies.
• Plan and execute database capacity, lifecycle, and growth activities in coordination with infrastructure and service owners.
• Design, implement, test, and maintain backup, recovery, disaster-recovery, and failover capabilities in coordination with the IT Group.
• Administer and troubleshoot Oracle GoldenGate replication between geographically distributed ALMA sites.
• Review, test, validate, and authorize production schema changes, database releases, and Oracle-related software upgrades.
• Develop and maintain technical documentation, operational procedures, standards, architecture records, and recovery runbooks.
• Evaluate new Oracle capabilities and related technologies, and recommend improvements that increase reliability, security, automation, or operational efficiency.
• Provide Linux and storage administration support related to database platforms and collaborate with system administrators on operating-system, network, and storage issues.
• Coordinate technical support cases with Oracle and other vendors, ensuring timely diagnosis, escalation, resolution, and knowledge capture.
• Participate in incident response, root-cause analysis, problem management, maintenance activities, and service-continuity planning.
• Contribute to automation, monitoring, and observability initiatives using scripting, metrics, dashboards, logging, and alerting tools.
• Provide technical guidance, share knowledge, and support cross-training within the Archive/Pipeline Operations Group.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Work is typically performed in an administrative environment, mainly indoors in Santiago Central Office (SCO) with periodic visits to the Operations Support Facility facilities (OSF) (2900m elevation) and occasional trips to the Array Operations Site (5000m elevation). Physical health compatible with high altitude conditions. A successful High Altitude Medical Exam is a necessary condition of employment.
• Participation in scheduled maintenance, on-call support, and emergency activities outside normal working hours may be required.
• Occasional national and international travel may be required for meetings, training, coordination, or technical activities.
• Work is primarily performed indoors in an office and data-center environment.

Deadline for applications: October 15th, 12 pm, Chile time

Requirements

Minimum requirements (must have):

• University degree in Computer Science, Computing Engineering, Software Engineering,

Information Technology, or a closely related discipline.

• At least 2 years of experience in database administration or related database support activities,

including basic database installation, configuration, monitoring, backup/recovery, troubleshooting,

and performance management, using technologies such as Oracle, Sybase, InfluxDB, or similar.

• Academic coursework, internship experience, or initial professional exposure to database

administration, preferably involving Oracle databases.

• Knowledge of SQL, including the ability to create queries, analyze data, and perform routine

database-related tasks.

• Solid understanding of database performance monitoring, troubleshooting, and performance tuning

concepts.

• Familiarity with relational database concepts, data integrity, backup and recovery principles, and

database availability.

• Knowledge of Unix/Linux environments; exposure to Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Oracle Linux is

highly desirable.

• Competency in Oracle RAC and high-availability database environments is preferred, but not

strictly required.

• Oracle, SQL, Linux, or Red Hat training or entry-level certification is desirable.
• Oracle Database Administrator Certification (12c or newer) is preferred, but not mandatory.
• Strong interest in developing a career in database administration and willingness to undertake

structured on-the-job training.

• Fluent Spanish and advanced English level.

Competencies:

Technical

• Knowledge of Oracle Database 19c or later, including RAC, ASM, Grid Infrastructure, Data Guard and GoldenGate.
• Basic knowledge or exposure to Oracle 26ai new features is a plus.
• Experience with database backup and recovery using Oracle RMAN is highly desirable.
• Experience in high availability, replication, database security, performance tuning, and capacity planning is desirable.
• Experience with scripting and automation, preferably Bash and Python.
• Working knowledge of enterprise backup platforms, storage systems, and database-related operating-system administration.
• Familiarity with monitoring and observability technologies such as Prometheus, InfluxDB, Grafana, Elasticsearch, or equivalent tools is desirable.
• Knowledge of XML, web technologies, markup languages, and integration interfaces is desirable.
• Knowledge of the ALMA data model, scientific archives, or astronomy-related data systems would be an advantage.
• Knowledge of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a plus.
• Knowledge of Docker containers is an advantage.

Non Technical

• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to work effectively during operational incidents.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize competing demands, and maintain high standards of accuracy and reliability.
• Proactive approach to continuous improvement, automation, documentation, and knowledge sharing.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare concise technical reports and explain complex issues to different audiences.
• Strong collaboration and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively in geographically distributed and multicultural teams.
• Commitment to service excellence, cybersecurity, teamwork, and the safe operation of critical Observatory systems.

ALMA Values

An important element in any successful employment relationship is harmony in values between an organization and its people.

The ALMA Values are:

Excellence

Respect and Diversity

Collaboration

Care

Applicants to any ALMA role are asked to reflect on their affinity with these values and advised they may be asked about them if called for an interview.

Este aviso se publica dentro del marco de la Ley N° 21.015, que incentiva la inclusión de personas con discapacidad al mundo laboral.

This notice is published within the framework of Law No. 21.015, which encourages the inclusion of people with disabilities in the world of work.