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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # SQL Developer & Database Performance Specialist - **Company:** Trace Solutions - **Location:** London, UK - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Agile Methodology, Business Logic, Databases, Database Queries, Software Debugging, Microsoft SQL Server, Packet Analyzer, Performance Tuning, PowerBuilder, Scrum Methodology, Software Tools, SQL Stored Procedures, SQL Databases, Transact-SQL, Database Performance, Git, Front End Software Development, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Database View, Software Version Control - **Published:** September 2, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.tracesolutions.co.uk/news/wanted-sql-developer-database-performance-specialist/ ## About the Role * Experience working alongside legacy client-server application logic (such as PowerBuilder) where code cannot easily be modified on the front-end. * Exposure to property management software, multi-ledger accounting, or related business domains. * An interest and some experience in using AI tools (such as Claude Code) to assist with query construction, debugging, and productivity. * Agile working practices and Scrum ceremonies. Personal skills & mindset * Analytical Thinker: Demonstrates strong problem-solving skills and genuinely enjoys uncovering the "why" behind sudden drops in query or database performance. * Proactive Growth: Takes active steps to continuously improve your own technical and professional skills. * Resourceful Collaboration: Can investigate issues independently but seeks input from others when appropriate and shares knowledge openly. * Pragmatic Problem Solver: Comfortable evaluating trade-offs between complex database redesigns and fast, effective tactical fixes (like an index or a quick query rewrite). * Clear Communicator: Communicates effectively with both technical and non-technical colleagues, ensuring complex performance risks are easily understood. ## Description Our engineering teams are organised into small, Agile teams of 5 to 6 people using Scrum to deliver focussed product increments. Our time is split across three core areas: * Core Product Development: Building the next generation of our Mojo platform. * Client Requests: Delivering tailored, high-value features directly for our users. * 3rd-Line Support: Diving deep into complex, rewarding technical troubleshooting to assist our internal support teams We operate a hybrid working model with a minimum of 2 days per week in our London office. We choose to work this way because we value face-to-face collaboration, team brainstorming, and peer-to-peer mentoring. What we are looking for The SQL Developer & Database Performance Specialist is expected to be our internal "SQL Whisperer." You will have a profound understanding of how database queries execute inside Microsoft SQL Server, coupled with a passion for hunting down reporting efficiencies and improving system performance. This role is a hands-on technical position embedded within the engineering cycle, acting as a critical bridge between legacy reporting logic and modern cloud database architecture. Your primary mission will be to ensure our core SQL Server database runs optimally to support current TRAMPS/BlueBox/o6ix installations, while providing the clean execution paths needed as we transition to our modern cloud future. Additionally, you will act as the go-to technical resource across all squads: writing new, optimised T-SQL queries for emerging product features, diving into the database to diagnose and resolve reported application bugs, and inefficiencies to ensure our platforms run flawlessly. Technical skills - must be familiar with: * Deep profiling of database queries using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Plan Cache analysis, and Extended Events. * Reading and evaluating Execution Plans to spot performance bottlenecks (e.g., expensive table scans, bad cardinality estimates, or costly joins). * Designing and implementing advanced indexing strategies specifically optimised for heavy read/reporting workloads. * Writing, refactoring, and optimising complex T-SQL queries, database views, and stored procedures. * Diagnosing database resource issues such as locking, blocking, or parameter sniffing. * Working with version control systems such as Git., * Performance Optimisation: Methodically hunt down, isolate, and resolve slow-running reporting queries across both the legacy TRAMPS/BlueBox/o6ix system and Mojo platform workflows. * Query Crafting: Write clean, efficient, and highly optimised new T-SQL queries and procedures to support emerging product features in the cloud ecosystem. * Defect Investigation: Actively partner with developers and 2nd/3rd -line support to diagnose, trace, and debug complex data-related application bugs. * Index Architecture: Design, monitor, and maintain indexing structures across our property schemas to maximise read efficiency while minimising structural overhead. * Environment & Data Support: Assist engineering teams with complex query plans, test data design, and performance-profiling inside our development and staging database environments. ## Related Videos - [Systems Thinking for Performance: How to Diagnose and Fix Slow Systems without Guessing](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2103-systems-thinking-for-performance-how-to-diagnose-and-fix-slow-systems-without-guessing) - [Kubernetes and Microservices with Multi-Model Databases](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/382-kubernetes-and-microservices-with-multi-model-databases) - [How a Small Team Shrank a Microsoft Monorepo by 94%](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1236-how-a-small-team-shrank-a-microsoft-monorepo-by-94) - [Branch your database like your code: How schema changes and pull requests go hand in hand](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/350-branch-your-database-like-your-code-how-schema-changes-and-pull-requests-go-hand-in-hand) - [Fault Tolerance and Consistency at Scale: Harnessing the Power of Distributed SQL Databases](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1146-fault-tolerance-and-consistency-at-scale-harnessing-the-power-of-distributed-sql-databases) - [How building an industry DBMS differs from building a research one](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/768-how-building-an-industry-dbms-differs-from-building-a-research-one) ## Related Articles - [Making Data Warehouses Fast: A Developer’s Story](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/107-making-data-warehouses-fast-a-developer-s-story) - [SQL Murder Mystery: A game for hobby detectives who want to learn SQL](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/38-sql-murder-mystery-a-game-for-hobby-detectives-who-want-to-learn-sql) - [Data Science & more: The Lopez dilemma](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/10-data-science-more-the-lopez-dilemma) - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers) - [How We Built a Worry-Free System That Runs for 10+ Years – And What We’d Do Again](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/751-how-we-built-a-worry-free-system-that-runs-for-10-years-and-what-we-d-do-again) - [The 8 Best Code Testing Tools](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/402-the-8-best-code-testing-tools)