Database Administrator (short term contract)

Database Administrator (contract) 

Who We Are and What We Do  

At SilverRail, we're on a mission to reshape the way the world travels, and we're inviting you to be part of this journey. Rail is becoming the go-to choice for short and medium-haul travel worldwide, and we're here to help make it happen. 

In the face of the ongoing climate crisis, our vision is crystal clear. We are transforming the online customer experience for rail travel, making it easier than ever for customers to find, buy and use rail. Our cutting-edge technology is the backbone of rail and travel agencies worldwide, making it effortless for travellers to choose the eco-friendly option and reduce their carbon footprint.  

We have more than 15 years of trailblazing success behind us, and our teams are spread across the globe, with bases in London, Boston, Brisbane, and Stockholm. We thrive on the philosophy of 'fail-fast-fail-early,' which drives us to find ingenious solutions to complex challenges. 

Join us, and help shape the future of travel! 

The Role  
 

We're looking for a MySQL Database Administrator to join our Engineering team on an initial three-month contract to take ownership of the database infrastructure that underpins SilverRail's rail distribution platforms. These systems process high volumes of search, booking and ticketing transactions for rail operators, retailers and travellers across the UK, Europe, North America and Australia/APAC, so reliability, performance and data integrity are critical to everything we do. 

The role sits within the Platform Engineering function and works closely with engineering, infrastructure and platform teams to design, tune and safeguard the databases behind our products over the course of the contract. You'll report to the Engineering Manager (Database & Infrastructure). 

We're looking for an experienced contractor with a solid grounding in MySQL database administration who can get up to speed quickly and work autonomously on schema design, query and database optimisation, and cloud-hosted database infrastructure from day one. We are looking for someone who has supported systems with high transaction volumes and strict availability requirements, such as travel, e-commerce or financial services. 

Key Responsibilities  

Database Administration & Design 

• Design, implement and maintain MySQL database schemas that support scalable, reliable and high-performance applications. 

• Own the day-to-day administration of production MySQL databases, including monitoring, capacity planning and health checks. 

• Plan and execute schema changes and migrations with minimal disruption to live services. 

Performance & Optimisation 

• Optimise SQL queries, indexes and schema design to improve performance and reduce latency across high-traffic systems. 

• Use SQL analytics to investigate performance bottlenecks and inform optimisation and capacity decisions. 

• Design and maintain read/write splitting strategies to balance load across primary and replica databases. 

Cloud Infrastructure 

• Manage and maintain AWS RDS instances, including provisioning, configuration, patching, backups and scaling. 

• Support high-availability architecture and disaster recovery planning for database infrastructure. 

• Monitor database costs and performance on AWS, recommending improvements where appropriate. 

 
Collaboration & Support 

• Work with engineering teams to review schema and query designs before release, providing guidance on best practice. 

• Support incident response and root-cause analysis for database-related issues. 

• Document database standards, processes and runbooks to hand over to the wider engineering team at the end of the contract. 

Required Competence and Skills 

 
Essential 

• 5+ years' experience as a MySQL Database Administrator, or in a role with substantial MySQL responsibility. 

• Proven proficiency in database schema design and data modelling. 

• Strong track record of database optimisation, including indexing, query tuning and performance monitoring. 

• Advanced SQL skills, with experience using SQL for analytics, reporting and troubleshooting. 

• Practical experience implementing and managing read/write splitting (read replicas) in a production environment. 

• Hands-on experience with AWS RDS, including provisioning, monitoring, backups and scaling. 

• Able to work independently and deliver quickly with minimal ramp-up time, given the fixed-term nature of the engagement. 

 
Desirable 

• Experience with other AWS database or infrastructure services (e.g. Aurora, CloudWatch, IAM). 

• Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code or database automation tooling (e.g. Terraform). 

• Experience supporting high-transaction-volume, high-availability systems (e.g. travel, e-commerce or financial services). 

• Awareness of data security and compliance considerations relevant to database systems (e.g. GDPR, PCI-DSS). 

• Previous experience delivering short-term, project-based contract engagements. 

Why us?  

This is a unique opportunity to work for a tech company that is helping the environment by revolutionising the way we travel.  

Our values are simple: Do Good by working for a better tomorrow; Think Big Act Smart by being curious, adaptable and data-driven; and remember that through collaboration we will always be Stronger Together.  

*We are a neurodiverse employer and are working hard to improve our recruitment processes, so if there is any way that we can make the recruitment experience better for you then please let us know in your application - all information will be treated as strictly confidential*