Manager, Data Operations

How you’ll make an impact:

As the Manager of Data Operations, you will lead a team responsible for the reliability, performance, and security of a mission-critical data platform spanning SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, Snowflake, and Microsoft Fabric.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You will balance people management with deep technical engagement—guiding the team while also stepping in to solve complex performance issues, drive platform improvements, and ensure operational excellence across the environment.

You’ll partner closely with engineering, analytics, and platform teams to ensure our data systems are scalable, cost-efficient, and ready to support advanced analytics and AI-driven workloads.

Lead and Grow the Team

Manage, mentor, and develop a team of data engineers and DBAs

Set clear priorities and uphold high operational standards

Coach on performance tuning, troubleshooting, and best practices

Partner on hiring, workforce planning, and team development

Own Platform Reliability and Security

Ensure availability, performance, and security across all platforms

Lead incident response and improve operational readiness

Strengthen monitoring, alerting, and runbooks to reduce noise and speed response

Support backup, recovery, and disaster recovery strategies

Stay Hands-On

Troubleshoot complex performance issues across CPU, memory, IO, and concurrency

Optimize queries, indexing, and execution plans at scale

Guide database design and performance with engineering teams

Serve as an escalation point for critical production issues

Drive Improvement and Modernization

Identify opportunities to improve scalability, efficiency, and cost

Support adoption of Snowflake, Microsoft Fabric, and modern data tools

Partner to enable analytics, ML, and AI workloads

Promote automation and standardization

What we’re looking for:

Strong SQL Server performance tuning experience in production environments, including execution plans, indexing, locking/blocking, and wait analysis

Experience with Azure SQL and hybrid data platforms; familiarity with Snowflake and/or Microsoft Fabric is a plus

Proficiency in SQL and scripting languages such as PowerShell or Python

Experience with monitoring and observability tools like Query Store, Azure Monitor, or Datadog

A solid understanding of how infrastructure decisions impact database performance, scalability, and cost

Experience supporting analytics, reporting, or AI-driven data platforms

Proven ability to lead technical teams while remaining hands-on when needed

Strong decision-making skills, accountability, and a track record of improving operational practices

Excellent collaboration and communication skills, especially during incidents, cross-functional initiatives, and technical decision-making discussions

What Success Looks Like:

A secure, high-performing, well-monitored data platform

A team with clear ownership and reduced operational noise

Effective incident response with continuous improvement

Ongoing platform enhancements—not just maintenance

A data environment ready to scale with analytics and AI needs

Estimated Salary Range: $150,000-168,000

Actual salary will be determined based on factors including, but not limited to, skill set and level of experience. This salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Strata also provides discretionary variable pay programs based on role. In addition, Strata provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits, health and welfare benefits, paid time off, parental leave, life and accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits.

Find out more about Strata benefits here .

How we work:

Our preferred location for open roles is Chicago, IL. We value in‑person connection and regularly host on‑campus events to create meaningful opportunities for our team to build relationships and collaborate

Thinking about applying?

Research shows that women and underrepresented groups tend to apply to jobs only when they check every box on a job posting. If you’re currently reading this and hesitating to click “Apply” for that reason, we encourage you to go for it! A true passion and excitement for making an impact is just as important as work experience.

Should you require a reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please reach out to careers@stratadecision.com.

Here @ Strata…

Our culture is driven by our people solving problems together. We embrace learning, collaboration, and continuous career growth. Together, we lift our customers, our products, our company, and our community.

We believe that each of our team member’s unique perspectives and experiences is what drives innovation and positive change. Our individual differences are what make us a more forward-thinking organization. We foster a culture of inclusion, equity and belonging, regardless…