Senior Backend Engineer - SQL

Skillable is a 100% remote and virtual tech company that’s modernizing the world of training. Come share your professional magic with highly talented, driven and fun colleagues who believe in the power of “skilling.” Experience what a true team focused on doing the right thing feels like! 

Our people and talent are what make us great and fun! We work together to create amazing solutions and experiences for our customers and their clients. We utilize our employees’ personal strengths to help our company grow and ensure our team is living their best, authentic life. We don’t just share our appreciation for our team members once a year with a branded mug—it’s shared on a daily basis. Our remote work environment blends the demands of work and life without the added pressure of commuting or feeling guilty about leaving early to visit the dentist. 

Come work with us and learn what teamwork and integrity blended with an emphasis on well-being and balance can do for your career! 

The Senior Backend Engineer – SQL is responsible for designing, optimizing, and maintaining Azure SQL database environments with a strong emphasis on supporting development teams and modern DevOps practices. This role partners closely with engineering teams and architects to ensure database design, deployment, and performance are fully aligned with application development and agile delivery. 

Responsibilities

• Design and model relational database solutions using SQL technologies (e.g., Azure SQL), including schema design, normalization, and optimization for performance and scalability. 

• Deep involvement with engineering team in the Data Access Layer using EF CodeFirst modeling, mappings, and LINQ queries to ensure the schema and C# domain model are coherent, intentional, optimized, maintain integrity, and follow best practices 

• Establish data unit test patterns and framework for LINQ/query expressions and other data access patterns 

• Plan, script, review, and safely roll out EF migrations (including zero downtime/online migration patterns and rollback plans). 

• Design, develop and debug Data Access Layer application code in C# 

• Analyze and optimize SQL query performance to ensure efficient data retrieval and application responsiveness, applying Entity Framework techniques such as query translation analysis, LINQ optimization, and proper use of eager vs. lazy loading. 

• Optimize performance of application-generated queries on Azure SQL Database through techniques such as index tuning and query plan analysis to ensure fast and efficient transactional operations. 

• Operate as a subject matter expert on data access and ORM integration (i.e Entity Framework), including providing guidance on best practices for database access patterns. 

• Automate database deployment and maintenance tasks using CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and scripting tools (e.g., PowerShell, Azure CLI). 

• Work with DevOps to manage and synchronize database changes across development, QA, staging, and production environments, ensuring consistency and reliability. 

• Oversee and manage Azure cloud-hosted databases (Azure SQL), including configuration, monitoring, performance tuning, and cost optimization. 

• Integrate and maintain monitoring and alerting solutions (e.g., Datadog, Azure Monitor) for proactive database health and performance management. 

• Explore and recommend new technologies, patterns, and methods to accomplish items on the technical and product roadmaps 

• Collaborate with Architects to define, implement, and maintain high availability and disaster recovery (HADR) solutions for Azure cloud and hybrid database environments. 

• Participate in agile ceremonies (sprint planning, code reviews, etc.) to embed database best practices in the SDLC. 

• Participate in on-call rotations and support incident response as needed. 

• Support and promote the company values through positive interactions with both internal and external stakeholders on a regular basis 

• Other strategic business initiati