Database Administration
Database Administration is an individual-contributor career path within Enterprise IT & Infrastructure. Professionals progress from guided execution to independent delivery, senior problem solving, cross-team leadership and enterprise-level expertise without requiring people management.
- Function
- Enterprise IT & Infrastructure
- Archetype
- Engineering
- Highest level
- L7 · Distinguished Database Administration Professional
Why it exists
Enables the organization to deliver reliable outcomes in database administration by building progressively deeper expertise, judgment, ownership and business impact.
Typical responsibilities
Execute discipline-specific work; apply professional standards; solve increasingly complex problems; collaborate with stakeholders; improve quality and efficiency; share expertise; at senior levels, shape practices and decisions beyond the immediate team.
Where the work happens
Common in Enterprise IT & Infrastructure teams across technology companies, shared-services organizations, consulting firms, multinational operations and other employers that require database administration capability.
How the career progresses
Associate Database Administration Professional → Database Administration Professional → Senior Database Administration Professional → Staff Database Administration Professional → Senior Staff Database Administration Professional → Principal Database Administration Professional → Distinguished Database Administration Professional
Levels in this career
Six standard stages. The seventh exists only where the career provides for it.
- L1Associate Database Administration Professional
- L2Database Administration Professional
- L3Senior Database Administration Professional
- L4Staff Database Administration Professional
- L5Senior Staff Database Administration Professional
- L6Principal Database Administration Professional
- L7Distinguished Database Administration Professional
Optional distinguished level. Not every career reaches it.
What is expected at L7 · Distinguished Database Administration Professional
Rare distinguished/fellow-level authority with enterprise- or industry-wide influence. The focus is successful individual contribution at this stage, not people management.
The five dimensions that change
- Autonomy
- Operates as an industry-level authority.
- Scope
- Enterprise and industry/ecosystem scope.
- Complexity
- Novel problems with few precedents.
- Influence
- Executive, industry and external thought-leadership influence.
- Business impact
- Creates new practices, capabilities or direction with enterprise/industry impact.
- Ambiguity
- Extreme.
What good looks like
Distinguished Database Administration Professional consistently demonstrates the expected autonomy and judgment for L7, delivers outcomes appropriate to the scope of the role, applies required Human, Professional and Technical skills at the mapped proficiency, and produces evidence of impact rather than relying on tenure alone.
Typical evidence
Completed work with measurable quality/outcome; stakeholder feedback; examples of problems solved and decisions made; reusable artifacts or improvements; demonstrated skill proficiency; mentoring/influence evidence at senior levels.
Skills expected at L7
Grouped as human, professional and technical. Target proficiency uses the P1–P7 scale, and each row says what that level means for that particular skill.
Human25
| Human | P | Supporting |
|---|---|---|
| AccountabilityExecution & Self-Management | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Active listeningCommunication & Language | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| AdaptabilityExecution & Self-Management | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Change championingInfluence & Leadership Without Authority | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Clear verbal communicationCommunication & Language | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Clear written communicationCommunication & Language | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| CollaborationCollaboration & Relationships | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Continuous learningExecution & Self-Management | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Critical thinkingThinking & Problem Solving | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Cross-functional collaborationCollaboration & Relationships | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Decision makingThinking & Problem Solving | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Executive communicationCommunication & Language | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Executive presenceInfluence & Leadership Without Authority | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Giving constructive feedbackCommunication & Language | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Influencing without authorityInfluence & Leadership Without Authority | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Knowledge sharingCollaboration & Relationships | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| MentoringCollaboration & Relationships | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| NegotiationInfluence & Leadership Without Authority | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Organizational awarenessInfluence & Leadership Without Authority | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| ProfessionalismEthics & Professional Conduct | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Stakeholder alignmentInfluence & Leadership Without Authority | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Strategic thinkingThinking & Problem Solving | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Structured problem solvingThinking & Problem Solving | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Systems thinkingThinking & Problem Solving | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Time managementExecution & Self-Management | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
Professional12
| Professional | P | Supporting |
|---|---|---|
| IT asset management practiceIT Service Management & Governance | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| IT service financial managementIT Service Management & Governance | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Requirements documentationBusiness Analysis & Requirements | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Requirements elicitationBusiness Analysis & Requirements | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Resource managementProject, Program & Portfolio Management | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Schedule managementProject, Program & Portfolio Management | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Scope managementProject, Program & Portfolio Management | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Service request managementIT Service Management & Governance | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Status reportingProject, Program & Portfolio Management | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Technical debt managementIT Service Management & Governance | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Traceability managementBusiness Analysis & Requirements | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Use case modelingBusiness Analysis & Requirements | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
Technical11
| Technical | P | Supporting |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud monitoringCloud Platforms | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Cloud networkingCloud Platforms | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Google Cloud PlatformCloud Platforms | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Google Cloud StorageCloud Platforms | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthorityCore | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Google Workspace administrationEnterprise IT & Service Platforms | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Microsoft 365 administrationEnterprise IT & Service Platforms | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| ServiceNow administrationEnterprise IT & Service Platforms | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| SlackCollaboration & Productivity Tools | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| VirtualizationNetworking & Infrastructure | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Wi-Fi networkingNetworking & Infrastructure | P7Enterprise / Industry AuthoritySupporting | Industry-level authority who creates new practices, influences the profession and represents the organization externally. |
| Enterprise monitoring toolsEnterprise IT & Service Platforms | P6ExpertSupporting | Enterprise expert who sets standards, shapes strategy and develops capability across functions. |
This is the highest level in this career.
Adjacent careers
Computed from shared skills. It is a signal for exploring, not a hiring or eligibility guarantee.
- Collaboration & Productivity PlatformsEnterprise IT & Infrastructure45 shared skills
- Systems Administration / InfrastructureEnterprise IT & Infrastructure46 shared skills
- IT Service Desk / End-User SupportEnterprise IT & Infrastructure43 shared skills
- IT Service ManagementEnterprise IT & Infrastructure43 shared skills
- Business Systems AnalysisEnterprise IT & Infrastructure44 shared skills
- IT Asset & Software License ManagementEnterprise IT & Infrastructure44 shared skills
Career framework v21, active since August 17, 2026.