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Job Purpose

We are seeking an experienced SQL Server Performance & Data Warehouse Consultant to join the Data Platform team on an initial three-month contract to lead a comprehensive performance, capacity and storage optimisation programme for a large-scale, on-premises Microsoft SQL Server estate, the main focus will be an 80 TB SQL Server 2022 Data Warehouse platform.

Working closely with the Data Engineering team, the successful consultant will undertake a comprehensive technical assessment of the existing platforms, identify performance, storage and capacity constraints, determine their root causes, and implement agreed improvements that deliver measurable gains in performance, scalability, operational resilience and long-term maintainability.

The successful consultant will be expected to investigate performance holistically across the entire technology stack, recognising that enterprise database performance challenges frequently originate outside of the SQL Server engine. This includes the operating system, virtualisation platform, compute, storage, SAN, networking and associated infrastructure, requiring the ability to identify and resolve bottlenecks wherever they exist.

The engagement will conclude with a prioritised remediation roadmap, comprehensive technical documentation and knowledge transfer to enable the Data Engineering team to confidently support and evolve the SQL Server estate.

Background & Problem Statement

The Microsoft SQL Server estate supports several business-critical platforms, including an 80 TB SQL Server 2022 Data Warehouse. Continued growth in data volumes and workload complexity has introduced performance, storage and capacity challenges that now require specialist investigation and remediation.

Current challenges include

Database and transaction log files that are inefficiently sized and configured
Limited available storage capacity constraining maintenance operations and future growth
Database shrink operations causing fragmentation, blocking and unnecessary performance overhead
Inefficient indexing strategies and statistics maintenance affecting query performance
Increasing maintenance windows and operational overhead as the platform continues to grow
Opportunities to better leverage SQL Server 2022 performance capabilities and modern data warehouse optimisation techniques
Potential infrastructure constraints within the compute, storage and network layers impacting overall database performance

Job Duties

Review database architecture, storage configuration, filegroup design and maintenance strategies

Analyse workload characteristics to identify performance, storage and capacity constraints

Develop and implement sustainable strategies for database growth, storage optimisation and capacity management

Optimise query performance through execution plan analysis, indexing strategies, statistics management and workload tuning

Diagnose complex SQL Server performance issues including parameter sensitivity, cardinality estimation, blocking, deadlocking, concurrency, memory grants, TempDB contention, parallelism and execution plan instability

Assess opportunities to leverage SQL Server 2022 capabilities including Query Store, Intelligent Query Processing, Query Store Hints, Parameter Sensitive Plan optimisation, partitioning, compression and columnstore indexing where appropriate

Produce a prioritised remediation roadmap balancing technical benefit, operational risk and long-term maintainability

Produce comprehensive technical documentation, operational recommendations and knowledge transfer for the Data Engineering team.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential

Extensive experience administering and optimising large-scale (multi-terabyte) Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise environments across multiple SQL Server versions
Expert understanding of SQL Server storage engine internals, including database and transaction log architecture, allocation structures, filegroups, autogrowth behaviour, recovery and storage optimisation
Deep understanding of SQL Server query optimisation, including execution plan analysis, Query Optimiser behaviour, cardinality estimation, parameter sensitivity, indexing strategies and statistics management
Extensive experience diagnosing complex production performance issues using native SQL Server diagnostic capabilities, including Query Store, Dynamic Management Views (DMVs), Extended Events, wait statistics and performance baselining
Strong understanding of SQL Server workload optimisation, including concurrency, blocking, deadlocking, isolation levels, memory grants, TempDB optimisation and parallelism
Demonstrable experience leveraging SQL Server 2022 capabilities, including Intelligent Query Processing, Query Store enhancements and modern data warehouse optimisation techniques to improve performance, scalability and operational efficiency
Strong understanding of enterprise data warehouse architectures and optimisation techniques, including partitioning, compression, columnstore indexing, data lifecycle management and large-scale analytical workloads.
Proven ability to deliver complex technical remediation programmes within enterprise SQL Server environments, balancing technical improvements against operational risk
Excellent analytical, communication and documentation skills, with the ability to work independently and deliver effective knowledge transfer

Desirables

Experience optimising ETL workloads and enterprise reporting platforms
Experience working within Data Platform, Business Intelligence or Analytics engineering teams.
Experience delivering consultancy or specialist technical engagements.

Expected Deliverables

By the conclusion of the engagement, the successful consultant will have delivered:

A comprehensive technical assessment of the SQL Server estate.
A prioritised performance, capacity and storage remediation roadmap.
Implemented improvements across agreed performance and optimisation workstreams with recommendations for sustainable maintenance, capacity planning and future platform growth.
Comprehensive technical documentation covering findings, recommendations and implemented improvements and knowledge transfer sessions enabling the Data Engineering team to confidently support and continue the optimisation of the SQL Server estate.