Senior Database Administrator

We’re a close knit team of engineers looking after a lot of infrastructure. We monitor, improve, install and manage the infrastructure that supports over 1500 crew and the delivery of world leading visual effects. We support thousands of servers, petabytes of network storage, a diverse network setup, and have interesting security requirements to meet.

Behind our crew and the films we work on, is the architecture built by the infrastructure team. We’re always on call to keep our systems up and running, ensuring we deliver on time and that our crew have the best experience possible.

To complement the skillset in our team, we’re looking for an enthusiastic team player with experience in data engineering, big data and database administration to introduce new processes and procedures to improve the way we administer and make use of our data.

The Infrastructure team has a wide scope which includes providing support to the development community at Wētā FX - this includes tools and support for version control, build systems, database platform management and developer consulting.

Role responsibilities include:

• Instituting a program of works to upgrade and optimise our core MySQL, PostgreSQL and Elastic clusters
• Best practice database administration: provisioning, monitoring, cloning, replication, backups, upgrades, availability, performance monitoring, trouble shooting, recovery, archiving, tuning, query optimisation, change control
• Developer support, user education, and provision of various development and data-oriented services
• Platform architecture, project-based work, strategy development, technology research
• This is a significant opportunity to own, shape and improve the way Wētā FX manages and uses its data. It would suit candidates with a DBA, analyst programming, SQL report writing or statistics background, or other similar prior experience

Desirable Skills & Experience:

• RDBMS administration: MariaDB, MySQL and PostgreSQL with exposure to large datasets in HA environments
• Familiarity with Elasticsearch, Cassandra, MongoDB, Kafka or similar adjunct data systems
• Familiarity with analytics for database and its infrastructure performance ( database insights )
• Holistic proficiency in database management and performance ( design patterns )
• Proficiency in database patching/upgrade management and the possible impacts to the business
• Infrastructure automation using Puppet, Ansible/AWX (preferred), Terraform or similar orchestration tools
• An eye for detail, with strong problem solving skills
• Excellent relationship management and communication skills

If this sounds like you – please get in touch, we would love to hear from you!

At Wētā FX we celebrate our diversity and believe in creating an environment where all our crew feel welcomed, respected, supported and appreciated. We define ourselves by the quality of our work, and we’re striving to build a workplace experience that’s second to none. Here at Wētā FX we value open minds and encourage our crew to be themselves.

We aim to provide a discrimination-free experience, beginning from the moment you apply for a role with us. If there is anything we can do to make the recruitment process easier, please let us know at recruitment@wetafx.co.nz.

Location: Wellington, New Zealand