Lead Oracle Database Administrator

Lead Oracle DBA

Amber Labs | Permanent

Hybrid (Remote First) with occasional travel to London

Security Clearance: Active UK SC Clearance required/or in process

About Amber Labs

Amber Labs is an established UK technology consultancy helping organisations modernise through cloud, engineering, data, AI and user-centred design. We partner with government departments, enterprise organisations and highly regulated industries to deliver secure, scalable digital services.

We're looking for an experienced Lead Oracle DBA to join our DBA team and support a major UK public sector transformation programme.

This is an opportunity to work on critical systems while helping modernise a complex Oracle estate through AWS, automation and DevOps practices.

The Opportunity

You'll join an established DBA team responsible for a large Oracle estate hosted in AWS, supporting critical applications and services.

The environment includes Oracle E-Business Suite R12, SOA, WebLogic, Portal, IAM, OHS and APEX.

As Lead Oracle DBA, you'll combine strong Oracle database administration skills with a modern engineering mindset. You'll help ensure databases remain stable, secure and performant, while driving automation, improved monitoring and modern deployment practices.

You'll work under the guidance of the Principal DBA, while providing technical leadership, mentoring and support to Senior DBAs.

What You'll Be Doing

Oracle Database Administration

• Lead the administration, maintenance and optimisation of Oracle databases across development, test and production environments.
• Perform installation, patching, upgrades, migrations and configuration

Oracle E-Business Suite

• Provide expert DBA support for Oracle E-Business Suite R12.
• Support EBS upgrades, migrations, patching and technical changes.
• Work with EBS Concurrent Managers and troubleshoot performance and operational issues.
• Support complex legacy ERP environments and their application, database and middleware dependencies.

SQL & Performance Tuning

• Perform advanced Oracle SQL and PL/SQL tuning.
• Analyse execution plans, indexes, hints and Oracle optimiser behaviour.
• Diagnose database bottlenecks and implement performance improvements.
• Support performance optimisation across complex legacy applications.

AWS & Cloud Modernisation

• Support Oracle databases hosted within AWS.
• Work with services including EC2, RDS, S3 and Lambda.
• Support database migrations and cloud modernisation activities.
• Create and utilise AWS CloudFormation templates to automate infrastructure.
• Identify opportunities to improve reliability, scalability and operational efficiency.

DevOps & Automation

Help move the DBA function towards a more modern DevOps and automation-led approach by:

• Automating DBA and operational tasks through scripting and infrastructure-as-code.
• Developing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines.
• Supporting automated database releases and deployments.

Oracle Middleware

• Work with Oracle SOA, WebLogic, Portal, IAM, OHS and APEX.
• Troubleshoot issues across database and middleware layers.
• Support WebLogic clustering and JVM tuning where required.
• Work with application and infrastructure teams to resolve complex technical issues.

Leadership & Delivery

• Provide technical guidance and mentoring to Senior DBAs.
• Lead investigations into complex database and infrastructure issues.
• Contribute to database architecture, automation and modernisation decisions.
• Promote DBA standards, best practice and continuous improvement.
• Work within Agile, multidisciplinary teams, collaborating with developers, testers, infrastructure engineers, architects and delivery teams.
• Identify technical risks and dependencies and communicate solutions clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Skills & Experience

Essential

• Active UK SC Clearance.
• Strong commercial experience as an Oracle DBA / Senior Oracle DBA / Lead Oracle DBA.
• Expert experience with Oracle E-Business Suite R12.
• Strong Oracle experience across 10g, 11g and 12c on Unix/Linux.
• Expert Oracle SQL and performance tuning experience.
• Strong experience with Oracle upgrades, patching, migrations and PL/SQL.
• Strong AWS experience, particularly EC2, RDS, S3 and Lambda.

Desirable

• Previous experience working within UK Government or wider public sector environments.
• Experience with Flyway or similar database version-control tools.
• Experience supporting large-scale legacy technology estates.
• Experience migrating Oracle applications or databases into AWS.
• Experience with Oracle APEX.

The Environment

You'll be joining an experienced DBA team supporting a complex Oracle estate within a major public sector programme.

The environment combines established Oracle technologies with modern AWS and DevOps practices, giving you the opportunity to work across traditional database operations, cloud modernisation and automation.

We're looking for someone who is comfortable working with legacy systems but is passionate about automation, reliability, performance and continuous improvement.

If you're an experienced Oracle EBS DBA with strong AWS and DevOps experience and want to play a leading role in a significant UK public sector transformation programme, we'd love to hear from you.

What We Offer

• 25 days annual leave plus public holidays.
• Private medical insurance with Bupa.
• Remote-first working.
• Personal training budget.
• Perkbox membership.
• Electric Vehicle Scheme after one year.
• Employer pension contributions.
• Regular team socials.
• Referral scheme offering up to £3,000.
• Opportunity to work on significant public sector transformation programmes.

Amber Labs is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive, regardless of background, identity or experience.