BI and reporting · Database administrators
Hire Database Administrators from Canada, Latin America, and the US
Hire a database administrator who keeps your critical systems secure, available, and fast as the business grows. We find the right person, or build your entire data team, in Canada, Latin America, or the US, on a contract, permanent, or fractional basis.
Database administrators, screened by database administrators
DevEngine is a Vancouver-based IT recruitment and staffing firm. We recruit database administrators from Canada, Latin America, and the US for contract, permanent, or fractional roles. They manage the databases behind customer-facing applications, finance systems, and reporting, on premises and in the cloud, with a focus on performance, security, and scalability. A senior database administrator screens every candidate before you see one. You manage the day-to-day work. We handle contracts, HR, and admin.
The role
A database administrator keeps the business's data available and secure
A database administrator (DBA) ensures the performance, security, and scalability of a company's data infrastructure. They design, implement, and maintain databases with a focus on high availability and data consistency, enforce encryption and access controls, tune queries for fast retrieval, and run on-premise databases alongside cloud database services.
Typical outputs include backup and disaster recovery strategies, data replication and failover, encryption at rest and in transit, role-based access controls, regular security audits, performance tuning, and cloud migration plans.
The role is often confused with two others, and organizations define all three differently. In general:
Database administrator
- What they work on
- Keeping databases available, secure, and performing in production
- Core question
- Will the database stay up, recover fast, and keep data protected?
- Typical outputs
- Backup and recovery plans, access controls, monitoring, upgrades
- Works most with
- Infrastructure, security, and application teams
- Often brought in when
- Downtime, slow systems, or an audit puts the data at risk
Database developer
- What they work on
- The schemas, queries, and stored procedures applications run on
- Core question
- Is the database designed so the application gets the right data, fast?
- Typical outputs
- Data models, schemas, stored procedures, optimized queries
- Works most with
- Software engineers, architects, and database administrators
- Often brought in when
- A new application or feature needs a database built for it
Data engineer
- What they work on
- The pipelines and platforms that move data between systems
- Core question
- Is the right data arriving, clean and on time, where people need it?
- Typical outputs
- Data pipelines, warehouses, integrations
- Works most with
- Data analysts, data scientists, and platform teams
- Often brought in when
- Data is scattered, late, or unreliable at the source
If the work is designing schemas and writing the queries an application runs on, see Hire Database Developers. If data has to move between systems, see Hire Data Engineers.
When to hire
When you need a database administrator
The need usually shows up as one of these situations:
Downtime costs revenue every hour it lasts.
Order, billing, and customer systems run on databases no one actively manages, so an outage or a failed patch stops revenue, and the recovery plan has never been tested.
An audit is coming, and access isn't documented.
GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS reviews ask who can reach sensitive data and how it is protected, and the team can't show encryption, access controls, or audit evidence.
Systems slow down as the business grows.
Queries that took seconds now take minutes, applications time out at peak hours, and the default fix is buying more cloud capacity instead of tuning what's already there.
A cloud migration or upgrade is on the roadmap.
Moving to Amazon RDS, Azure SQL, or another cloud service, or off an unsupported version, carries data-loss and downtime risk, and no one on the team has done it at this scale.
Need a different role?
If you need someone to design schemas and write the queries an application runs on, hire a database developer. If you need data moved and combined across systems, hire a data engineer. We recruit for both roles.
Our screen
What our senior database administrators look for
Most candidates can run a backup. Fewer have restored one under pressure, kept a production database available through a failure, and explained the risk to leadership. A senior database administrator screens every candidate and asks for specifics: the environment, the incident, what they did, and how long recovery took.
Recovery they have tested
We ask about a real outage or data loss they handled, the backup and replication strategy behind it, and how long recovery took.
Security and compliance in practice
We ask how they enforced encryption and role-based access on sensitive data, and what evidence they produced for a GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS audit.
Performance under real load
We ask about a database they made faster or cheaper to run as the business grew, and how they measured the result.
Fluency with your constraints
A database administrator who has worked with your database platforms, your data volume, or regulated data reasons differently from one who hasn't. We weight that context, not only certifications.
Candidates who have never restored a production backup, can't explain how they secure access, or reach for more hardware before tuning are screened out. Your interviews focus on fit, not filtering.
Where we source
Hire from Canada, Latin America, or the US
One search can cover all three talent pools. Brief the role once, and compare candidates from each market side by side before you decide.
Canada
- Where candidates are based
- Across Canada
- Working hours
- Canadian time zones, Pacific to Atlantic
- Cost
- Canadian market rates. See the Canada salary guide below.
- Fits when
- The role needs knowledge of the North American market, regular in-person time in Canada, or a Canadian base
Latin America
- Where candidates are based
- Across Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Costa Rica
- Working hours
- Within 2 hours of US Eastern time, year-round. Up to 4 hours ahead of Pacific time.
- Cost
- Typically 35–40% below comparable North American cost. See the Latin America salary guide below.
- Fits when
- You want a wider candidate pool or more seniority for the budget, or the database administrator will work with a nearshore team
United States
- Where candidates are based
- Across the United States
- Working hours
- US time zones, Pacific to Eastern
- Cost
- US market rates.
- Fits when
- The role needs knowledge of the US market, regular in-person time at a US site, or a US base
Not sure which market fits? Tell us about the role, and we'll scope it in each market and show you candidates and cost side by side.
Technology salaries in Canada and Latin America
Benchmark salaries by role and seniority before you set a budget.
Engagement models
Contract, permanent, or fractional
Contract
- Who employs the database administrator
- DevEngine
- Time commitment
- Full-time, for a defined period
- Fits when
- A cloud migration, a version upgrade, or a disaster recovery and security project with a defined end
- Placement protection
- Two-week guarantee
Permanent
- Who employs the database administrator
- You
- Time commitment
- Full-time, ongoing
- Fits when
- Your production databases need a standing owner
- Placement protection
- 180-day prorated guarantee from the start date: full refund in the first 30 days, then partial refunds on a sliding scale
Fractional
- Who employs the database administrator
- DevEngine
- Time commitment
- Part-time, hourly or monthly
- Fits when
- A health check, an audit readiness review, or on-call coverage, without a full-time seat
- Placement protection
- Tailored to the scope of work
Each model works a little differently depending on whether you hire in Canada, Latin America, or the US. Compare the options by market to find the engagement that fits your team.
Explore services by marketHow it works
How a database administrator search runs
You brief us on the scope and goals of the project, your current database platforms and hosting, and the systems that depend on them.
We source for your role in Canada, Latin America, or the US, not from a bench.
A senior database administrator screens each candidate. Someone who does the same work, not a recruiter matching keywords.
You choose who to interview and who to hire.
You direct the work. On contract and fractional engagements, DevEngine holds the contract and handles payroll and compliance. On a permanent hire, the database administrator joins your payroll.
If the placement isn't working, we replace the candidate: within two weeks on contract, or under the 180-day prorated guarantee on a permanent hire.
FAQ
Database administrator hiring questions
How much does it cost to hire a database administrator?
Cost depends on four things: seniority, database platforms and specialization (for example, cloud, high availability, or security), the market you hire from, and the engagement model. Hiring in Latin America typically costs 35–40% less than comparable North American hires. For salary benchmarks across technology roles, download the Canada Salary Guide or the Latin America Salary Guide. DevEngine quotes against your actual brief on the first call.
Which skills and certifications do database administrators bring?
Most manage relational databases such as SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, and PostgreSQL alongside cloud services such as Amazon RDS, Azure SQL Database, and Google Cloud Spanner, across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Many automate infrastructure with Ansible or Terraform and use dedicated tools for performance monitoring. Common certifications include the Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate and the Oracle Certified Professional (OCP). Skills and certifications show familiarity, but not whether someone can recover a production database under pressure. That's what the senior database administrator screen tests.
Can a database administrator help us meet GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS requirements?
Yes, on the technical side. A database administrator puts the controls in place: encryption at rest and in transit, role-based access control, regular audits, and tested backup and recovery. Your legal and compliance teams still interpret each standard. We match candidates who have supported audits in regulated industries.
Can I hire a fractional database administrator?
Yes. A fractional database administrator works part-time, on an hourly or monthly cadence, inside your team and tools. Companies often use one for a health check, audit readiness, a cloud migration, or on-call and maintenance coverage. DevEngine places fractional database administrators from Canada, Latin America, and the US.
Do we need a database administrator if we use a managed cloud database?
Usually, for a smaller share of the work. Services such as Amazon RDS and Azure SQL Database handle patching, hardware, and automated backups. They don't design your access controls, tune your queries, test your recovery plan, or produce audit evidence. That remaining work often fits a fractional database administrator.
Can a database administrator work with a DevEngine Engineering POD?
Yes. A database administrator can sit inside an Engineering POD or work alongside one. You choose the POD's composition and direct the work. The database administrator keeps the databases secure and performing, and the engineers build the product on top of them on your sprint cadence, in your tools.
What's your interest?
Choose the path that aligns with how you want to build and scale your team.
Tell us what your databases have to support.
We'll tell you which market and model fit, and how long the search should take.
Not ready to talk yet? Compare technology salaries in the Canada Salary Guide or the Latin America Salary Guide.
