Prime Partners→
SCADA DBA Engineer at Prime Partners in Greenville, SC
Mid LevelOn-siteFull-timeGreenville, SC
Skills
sqlsql servermysqlmariadbpostgresqlscadabuilding automationignitionbacnetmodbusopcopc uadatabase administrationtime-series dataetldata integrationperformance tuningdisaster recoverytroubleshootinganalytical skillscollaborationdocumentationpythonpowershellbi toolsdata warehousingcloud platformshigh-availability architecturesfailover strategies
Job Description
We are seeking a SCADA Engineer / Senior SCADA Engineer with a strong background in databases and data management to support and evolve our building automation SCADA platform. This role combines traditional SCADA engineering responsibilities with database administration, historian design, and data quality ownership for our operational systems.
You will work closely with controls engineers, IT, and operations teams to ensure that data flowing through our SCADA and building management systems is reliable, performant, secure, and useful for analytics and decision-making. Depending on experience, the role can be hired at the SCADA Engineer or Senior SCADA Engineer level.
Key responsibilities
- Design, configure, and maintain SCADA solutions for building automation, including real-time monitoring, alarming, and control of HVAC, lighting, energy, and related systems.
- Own the design, configuration, and administration of SCADA-related databases and historians (e.g., SQL Server, MariaDB, InfluxDB or similar) used for logging, reporting, and analytics.
- Implement and optimize data models, schemas, and retention strategies to support high-volume time-series data and long-term storage needs.
- Perform database performance tuning, indexing, capacity planning, and housekeeping to ensure fast, reliable access to SCADA data.
- Set up, monitor, and regularly test database backup, restore, and disaster recovery processes for SCADA and historian systems.
- Develop and maintain ETL/data integration processes between SCADA, historians, reporting tools, and other enterprise systems.
- Configure and maintain tag historians, events, alarms, and reporting functions within the SCADA platform, ensuring data integrity and consistency.
- Collaborate with IT on database and server provisioning, security hardening, patching, and monitoring for SCADA-related infrastructure.
- Implement and enforce standards for data quality, naming conventions, and documentation across SCADA tags, databases, and interfaces.
- Troubleshoot data issues end-to-end (field device, network, SCADA, database, historian, reports) and drive root-cause analysis and permanent corrective actions.
- Create and maintain technical documentation, procedures, and training materials related to SCADA data flows, databases, and historian architecture.
- For Senior level: act as the primary subject matter expert for SCADA data and databases, mentor other engineers, and help define the long-term data and historian strategy.
Required qualifications – SCADA and controls
- Bachelors degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- 2+ years of experience working with SCADA or building automation systems in industrial, utilities, or building management environments.
- Hands-on experience configuring and supporting SCADA/HMI software (such as Ignition or comparable platforms), including tags, alarms, and basic scripting.
- Familiarity with common industrial/automation protocols (for example BACnet, Modbus, OPC/OPC UA or similar) and their impact on data flows into SCADA and historians.
Required qualifications – databases and data management
- Strong proficiency with SQL and relational databases (e.g., SQL Server, MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL), including writing and optimizing complex queries, views, and stored procedures.
- Experience with database administration tasks such as user and role management, backup and recovery, performance monitoring, and tuning.
- Experience working with time-series data, historians, or similar data logging systems used in SCADA/industrial environments.
- Understanding of database security concepts, including access control, auditing, and supporting cybersecurity requirements for industrial control systems.
- Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills, particularly in diagnosing data integrity, performance, and connectivity issues across SCADA and database layers.
Preferred qualifications
- Experience designing or administering historians that integrate multiple databases or sites, and supporting advanced analytics or reporting use cases.
- Familiarity with integrating SCADA data into BI or analytics tools, data warehouses, or cloud platforms.
- Experience with scripting or programming (e.g., Python, PowerShell, or similar) to automate database and data management tasks.
- Exposure to high-availability or redundant SCADA/database architectures and related failover strategies.
- Prior experience in a SCADA Administrator, SCADA Systems Engineer, or Database Administrator role supporting operational technology environments.
Level expectations – SCADA Engineer vs. Senior SCADA Engineer
SCADA Engineer
- Implements and supports SCADA configurations and database solutions under established patterns and guidance.
- Focuses on day-to-day operations, troubleshooting, and incremental improvements to SCADA data and database performance.
Senior SCADA Engineer
- Owns major SCADA data and database initiatives end-to-end, including architecture, standards, and cross-team coordination.
- Serves as the go-to expert for SCADA data, historians, and databases, mentoring others and shaping long-term strategy.
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