[Hiring] Director of Cloud Database Platforms & DBaaS @Lumen Technologies

Role Description

The Director, Cloud Database Platforms & DBaaS leads the strategy, modernization, and operational excellence of Lumen’s enterprise data platform ecosystem. This includes relational databases, NoSQL systems, cloud‑native managed databases, and emerging lakehouse architectures. The role ensures reliability, cost efficiency, and superior developer experience while guiding the transition from legacy database environments to scalable, cloud‑native platforms. It requires strong technical, operational, and leadership capability to manage a global organization supporting 24×7 mission‑critical workloads.

Location

This is a remote opportunity open to candidates located anywhere in the U.S.

Main Responsibilities

• Define and execute multi‑year strategies for DBaaS, cloud‑native databases, and lakehouse modernization.
• Establish architectural standards, lifecycle strategies, and reference patterns across relational, NoSQL, and analytical platforms.
• Partner cross‑functionally with Cloud, Architecture, Security, Data Engineering, and FinOps teams to align platform direction.
• Lead engineering teams delivering automated DBaaS provisioning, patching, backup, schema management, and environment refresh.
• Implement infrastructure as code, CI/CD integrations, and standardized templates to reduce operational toil.
• Set and manage SLOs/SLAs for relational, NoSQL, Exadata, cloud‑native, and analytical platforms.
• Drive performance engineering, including data modeling, indexing, partitioning/sharding, and capacity planning.
• Ensure strong HA/DR architectures with validated RTO/RPO targets and regular resilience testing.
• Oversee 24×7 global operations with Tier 1/2/3 support, improving incident response and operational maturity.
• Lead modernization from legacy data warehouses to lakehouse architectures supporting analytics and streaming workloads.
• Partner with data engineering teams to ensure platforms are governed, discoverable, performant, and cost‑optimized.
• Provide executive stewardship of the Oracle Exadata estate, including lifecycle, performance, HA/DR, and cost optimization.
• Define rationalization and migration paths from Exadata to cloud‑native platforms where appropriate.
• Improve developer experience through templates, guardrails, documentation, and consultative database guidance.
• Own financial governance, including forecasting, cost optimization, and unit economics transparency.
• Manage vendor relationships, roadmaps, commercial terms, and innovation outcomes with database and cloud partners.
• Lead and develop a global team of engineers, DBAs, SREs, and operational leaders while fostering a culture of excellence.

Qualifications

• 12+ years leading enterprise relational and NoSQL database platforms.
• 7+ years managing global engineering and operations organizations with 24×7 responsibilities.
• Proven experience with cloud‑native managed databases and modern data platforms.
• Hands‑on experience operating Oracle Exadata within a mixed‑platform environment.
• Strong understanding of SRE principles, observability, CI/CD, and infrastructure‑as‑code practices.
• Excellent executive‑level communication and cross‑functional leadership ability.
• Experience with lakehouse architectures and advanced analytics workloads (preferred).
• Familiarity with modern automation tooling and intelligent operations (preferred).
• Relevant cloud, database, or data‑platform certifications (preferred).
• Experience operating at enterprise scale in regulated or complex environments (preferred).

Compensation

This information reflects the anticipated base salary range for this position based on current national data. Minimums and maximums may vary based on location. Individual pay is based on skills, experience and other relevant factors.

• $152,066 - $202,755 in these states: AL, AR, AZ, FL, GA, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, WI, WV, WY
• $159,670 - $212,893 in these states: CO, HI, MI, MN, NC, NH, NV, OR, RI
• $167,273 - $223,031 in these states: AK, CA, CT, DC, DE, IL, MA, MD, NJ, NY, TX, VA, WA

Benefits

• Lumen offers a comprehensive package featuring a broad range of Health, Life, Voluntary Lifestyle benefits and other perks that enhance your physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing.

Background Screening

If you are selected for a position, there will be a background screen, which may include checks for criminal records and/or motor vehicle reports and/or drug screening, depending on the position requirements.

Equal Employment Opportunities

We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all persons regardless of race, color, ancestry, citizenship, national origin, religion, veteran status, disability, genetic characteristic or information, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, family status, pregnancy, or other legally protected status (collectively, “protected statuses”).

Privacy Notice

Lumen is committed to protecting the privacy and security of personal information collected during the recruitment and hiring process.

Disclaimer

The job responsibilities described above indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not intended to include a comprehensive inventory of all duties and responsibilities for this job.