Position Summary:
The Snowflake Operations Engineer defines and promotes best practice within the database. Automates support activity through the creation of appropriate tools, builds monitoring capabilities and drives process improvements. Ensuring that Sainsburys obtains the maximum value from their Snowflake investment. They will also provide support and consultancy across the Snowflake user base from analytical and reporting users to data engineers with best practices and platform optimisation considerations.
The Snowflake Operations Engineer works in agile, empowered teams that contain all skills and support needed to put fantastic products in the hands of our customers and colleagues at pace. They work in a culture that encourages teams to innovate, collaborate, learn and take ownership.
Key Responsibilities:
- Support teams in developing solutions that meet business needs whilst moving towards the agreed end state architecture
- Create, promote and monitor frameworks for the management of metadata within Snowflake
- Write best practice guides and operating manuals to simplify use of the platform
- Develop appropriate mechanisms or patterns to manage data sharing with internal or external teams through Snowflake
- Provide subject specific training to the teams using Snowflake as appropriate in supporting better use of the investment in the product
- Work with the broader Engineering community to review solutions, monitor deliveries, review cost utilization, and put in place technical or process driven controls as appropriate.
- Experiment with new opportunities to utilize underused features within Snowflake
- Drive agreement and adoption of core standards in relation to the Snowflake environment
- Optimize data pipeline performance and review data models and solution designs as appropriate to reduce cost and improve response times
- Troubleshoot Snowflake issues encountered by teams
- Work with the broader Snowflake user community to support teams by sharing expertise and promoting alignment where appropriate.
- Support monitoring, adoption and adherence to security and data retention standards within the platform
- Work with all key stakeholders including Product Owners, Engineers, data analysts, visualization teams and Architects to ensure optimal data solutions are delivered
- Put in place mechanisms to monitor and manage object growth, usage, and security within Snowflake
- Provide reporting and direction on cost utilization across the platform
- Create and manage disaster recovery scenarios in relation to the platform
- Create processes to optimize the creation and management of new accounts, databases and schemas.
- Automate administrative tasks where possible
- Implement specific technical solutions and processes to manage redundant database clones and duplicate data sets.
Required Education & Experience:
- Some understanding of data modelling approaches and experience in the physical implementation of these
- Has exposure and experience in working with one or more cloud platforms
- Strong database administration knowledge in Snowflake or another database technology
- Strong communication and influencing skills used to drive the implementation of robust database control structures across a wide user base
- Curiosity and drive to understand business processes and the data they generate in addition to the opportunities to structure and use this data to drive business value
- Strong SQL skills both administrative and as used in the development of data pipelines
- Abreast with the latest industry developments across database technologies
- Experienced in Data Warehousing/Analytic end to end architecture