Database Administrator at Unified Payments Services Limited

Unified Payment Services Limited is a group of companies with services including Banking, Payment Scheme, Financial Technology, Digital Commerce, Value Added Service, Payment Solutions, Software Solutions, etc. Unified Payments is a principal member or licensed acquirer of American Express, Mastercard, Visa and UnionPay; and has been instrumental in building the infrastructure that supports Nigeria’s modern payments ecosystem.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Database Administrator

Location: Lagos
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Objectives

• The Analyst Database Administrator is responsible for the administration, maintenance, performance, security, and availability of the organization's database infrastructure.
• The role ensures that databases supporting critical business applications operate efficiently, securely, and with minimal downtime.
• The incumbent will provide technical leadership, implement database best practices, support disaster recovery initiatives, and mentor junior database administrators.

Duties & Key Responsibilities
Database Administration:

• Install, configure, upgrade, and maintain database management systems.
• Administer and support production, test, staging, and development database environments.
• Monitor database health, capacity, and performance.
• Ensure database availability and reliability across all environments.
• Implement database standards, policies, and procedures.

Performance Monitoring And Optimization:

• Monitor database performance and proactively identify bottlenecks.
• Optimize queries, indexes, stored procedures, and database structures.
• Perform database tuning to improve application performance.
• Analyze system resource utilization and recommend improvements.
• Generate database health and performance reports.
• Track database growth and capacity trends.
• Provide recommendations for infrastructure improvements.
• Maintain comprehensive operational and technical documentation.

Backup, Recovery, and Business Continuity:

• Design and manage robust database backup strategies.
• Perform regular backup validation and restoration testing.
• Develop and maintain disaster recovery (DR) procedures.
• Participate actively in business continuity and disaster recovery exercises.

Security And Compliance:

• Implement database security controls and access management protocols.
• Manage database users, roles, and privileges.
• Conduct regular security reviews and vulnerability assessments.
• Ensure compliance with organizational policies, regulatory requirements, and audit standards.

High Availability and Replication:

• Configure and maintain database replication technologies.
• Implement high - availability (HA) solutions and failover mechanisms.
• Support database clustering and load balancing where applicable.
• Monitor and maintain end - to - end database resiliency.

Incident and Problem Management:

• Investigate and resolve database - related incidents.
• Perform root cause analysis (RCA) for recurring issues.
• Provide second and third - level technical support.
• Participate in major incident resolution activities.

Knowledge Transfer:

• Provide guidance and mentorship to junior team members.
• Participate in technical reviews and project planning sessions.
• Contribute to database architecture discussions.
• Support knowledge - sharing initiatives within the IT team.

Key Performance Indicators

• Uptime: Maintain greater than or equal to 99.9% database uptime and availability across all production environments.
• Backups & Recovery: Achieve 100% successful completion of scheduled database backups and ensure recovery meets agreed RTO / RPO targets.
• Query Performance: Maintain an average query response time of less than 2 seconds for critical business applications.
• Incident Resolution: Resolve at least 90% of database incidents within agreed SLAs.
• Security & Compliance: Ensure 100% compliance with database security standards, role - based access controls (RBAC), and audit requirements.
• Patch Management: Apply 100% of critical database patches and security updates within the approved policy timeframe.
• Capacity Thresholds: Maintain CPU, memory, and storage utilization below 80% thresholds through proactive monitoring and capacity planning.
• Asset Management: Maintain an accurate, up - to - date inventory of all database instances, configurations, licenses, and related assets.
• DR Testing: Successfully execute and validate scheduled disaster recovery and database restoration tests in accordance with organizational policies.
• Project Delivery: Deliver database - related projects, enhancements, and change requests within approved scopes, timelines, and quality standards.
• Documentation: Ensure 100% accuracy and currency of database documentation, including architecture diagrams, procedures, and operational runbooks.
• Reporting: Provide monthly database health, performance, capacity, and security reports to management and relevant stakeholders within agreed timelines.

Job Requirements
Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field.

Professional Certifications (Preferred):

• Microsoft SQL Server Certifications.
• Oracle Certified Professional (OCP).
• PostgreSQL Certification.
• MySQL Database Administrator Certification.

Key Competency Requirements:
Experience:

• 3 – 6 years of hands - on database administration experience.
• Proven experience managing mission - critical, enterprise database environments.
• Demonstrated experience with database backup, recovery, replication, and high - availability solutions across MSSQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.
• Experience supporting enterprise applications and large - scale databases.
• Prior experience in financial services, banking, or heavily regulated industries is a distinct advantage.

Technical Skills:
Database Platforms:

• Microsoft SQL Server.
• Oracle Database.
• PostgreSQL.
• MySQL.

Operating Systems:

• Linux (Red Hat, Ubuntu, CentOS).
• Windows Server.

Monitoring & Management Tools:

• SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
• Oracle Enterprise Manager.
• SolarWinds.
• Redgate Tools.
• Native Database Monitoring Solutions.

Behavioural Competencies:

• Results - oriented.
• Demonstrates high integrity.
• Proactive and self - motivated.
• Decisive problem solver.
• Highly analytical.
• Creative and innovative.

Core Attributes:

• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills.
• Excellent problem - solving abilities.
• Meticulous attention to detail and accuracy.
• Effective communication and stakeholder management skills.

Application Closing Date
31st July, 2026.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV to: recruitment@up-ng.com using "Database Administrator" as the subject of the mail.