Database Administrator (52053)

Position Objective: Provide support services as a Database Administrator in support of the overall operational objectives of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke within the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Perform routine database backups to ensure data integrity and ad hoc recovery using complex tools and applications.
• Perform central database maintenance and routine upgrades, enhancements and modifications in accordance with manufacturer's specifications.
• Monitor database usage and performance and schedule necessary improvements.
• Perform advanced disaster recovery of production databases in the instance of application, system or network failures.
• Routinely audit existing data stores, monitor application
• Coordinate with researchers and staff to design, develop, configure, test, and maintain databases, web applications, and data management systems supporting clinical and research operations while ensuring data accessibility, usability, and integrity.
• Provide support for customization, expansion, and maintenance of scientific data and knowledge management systems, including integration of existing and new clinical, imaging, and research data sources.
• Support and maintain clinical, imaging, and research data repositories and solutions, including relational databases, data management middleware technologies, indexing systems, and related research data platforms.
• Provide technical guidance and assistance in evaluating, customizing, and applying both open source and commercial data management systems, applications and tools used for supporting research.
• Configure database security parameters to all for both restriction and sharing of operational and scientific data and datasets.
• Facilitate the development, design, testing, and maintenance of web applications, databases, and data management systems supporting clinical and research requirements of the Stroke Group.
• Maintain all clinical and research data collected by the Stroke Group and ensure data integrity, accessibility, and compliance with established quality control standards.
• Coordinate clinical and imaging data management activities with collaborators within NIH and external national and international research institutions.
• Coordinate clinical and imaging data management activities with internal and external collaborators, including NIH investigators and national and international research partners.
• Write scripts and programs in Matlab and other languages to extract, analyze and format data based on user requests.
• Assist researchers in retrieving, integrating, and analyzing information from databases and other data sources and in developing research, operational, and management reports.
• Develop and maintain query, reporting, and analytical tools supporting clinical, imaging, and research operations across existing and emerging data repositories and systems.
• Assess data collection, usage and query trends and demands and proactively develop, test and implement solutions.
• Perform data and coding reconciliation and document data inventories to ensure integrity of operational and research data.
• Perform queries of clinical, imaging, and research databases for clinical operations, research studies, publications, presentations, and reporting purposes.
• Generate routine and ad hoc reports on clinical, imaging, and research data for investigators, clinicians, fellows, and project personnel.
• Collect, organize, integrate, and analyze data from internal and external sources to support Stroke Group research initiatives.
• Perform image and data analyses for Stroke Group clinical and research projects and document findings for scientific dissemination.
• Prepare clinical and image data for analysis using PC and MAC platforms and statistical software packages including SAS, SPSS, R, Python, or equivalent tools.
• Conduct basic statistical analyses on completed and ongoing studies using standard and specialized statistical software packages.
• Compile, summarize, and present analytical results to investigators and project personnel for publications, presentations, and professional meetings.
• Conduct analyses of clinical and imaging data and prepare methods and results sections for manuscripts, abstracts, and scientific publications.
• Perform complex queries of clinical, imaging, and research databases to support patient care activities, research studies, publications, presentations, and reporting requirements.
• Conduct image and data analyses utilizing statistical and analytical software packages including SAS, SPSS, R, Python, MATLAB, or equivalent tools.
• Prepare clinical and imaging data for analysis, perform statistical analyses, and summarize findings for investigators and project personnel.
• Compile, present, and communicate analytical results to support publications, scientific presentations, grant applications, and professional meetings.
• Analyze clinical and imaging data and contribute to the preparation of methods and results sections for manuscripts, abstracts, and scientific publications.
• Use systems analysis techniques and procedures to determine hardware, software and system functional specifications for PC laptops and desktops, to ensure they meet the computational and networking needs of the organization.
• Design and maintain database hardware and software that are, or can be, deliverable components of data solutions, ensuring that critical, high-demand applications are available for use.
• Develop and implement a variety of application and system interfaces through both standard and customized means to allow for increased centralized access and data sharing.
• Coordinate database storage and retrieval requirements with information technology (IT) network and server managers.
• Assist users in troubleshooting and resolving database, data management, image processing, and analytical software issues.
• Serve as a subject matter expert and consultant on database management, image processing, image analysis, and research data management activities supporting ongoing clinical and research projects.
• Examine, evaluate, test, and provide critical assessment of new and emerging software tools for the tasks of managing, sharing, accessing, preserving, and discovering data.
• Routinely track application and system demands and propose new off the shelf or custom products and applications to improve usability.
• Research emerging technologies related to database design and utilization to include machine learning, natural language processing and other artificial intelligence, intelligent automation solutions and recommend investments.
• Maintain working relationship with database vendors to stay abreast of new developments, offerings and solutions that may be applicable to operations and research needs.
• Perform routine database and supporting technology assessments and test solutions to increase performance, increase data security and improve user experience.
• Perform image processing activities, including evaluation, testing, validation, implementation, and user training for imaging software applications and analytical tools.
• Evaluate, select, and implement software solutions for management, processing, analysis, visualization, and reporting of clinical, imaging, and research data while adapting procedures to evolving technologies.
• Evaluate and recommend new software packages, imaging applications, and analytical tools to support clinical and research operations.
• Examine, evaluate, test, and provide critical assessment of new and emerging software tools for the tasks of managing, sharing, accessing, preserving, and discovering data.
• Routinely track application and system demands and propose new off the shelf or custom products and applications to improve usability.
• Research emerging technologies related to database design and utilization to include machine learning, natural language processing and other artificial intelligence, intelligent automation solutions and recommend investments.
• Maintain working relationship with database vendors to stay abreast of new developments, offerings and solutions that may be applicable to operations and research needs.
• Perform routine database and supporting technology assessments and test solutions to increase performance, increase data security and improve user experience.
• Evaluate and recommend
• Research, write and implements upon approval disaster recovery plans in accordance with operational and research requirements and to align with organizational IT continuity of operations plans.
• Research, write and implement upon approval database development, monitoring and evaluation, recovery and enhancement standard operating procedures (SOP) and ensure alignment with organizational IT processes and procedures.
• Research, write and distribute job aids, training guides, user manuals and cheat sheets to assist users access, search and retrieve data from databases.
• Assess scientific research plans and identify opportunities to standardize data collection, storage and retrieval methodologies.
• Documents technical specifications and database management architecture following industry best practices and maintains version control.
• Routinely assesses data repositories and management systems and identifies opportunities to centralize storage to reduce overall technology inventory and to optimize data investment.
• Track, document, and maintain records of database modifications, corrections, quality control findings, errors, system enhancements, and decisions affecting the content, integrity, governance, and regulatory compliance of clinical and research data.
• Develop, implement, and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), quality assurance procedures, quality control guidelines, and data management standards related to clinical, imaging, and research databases.
• Ensure compliance with established data collection, data entry, quality control, and data management procedures for all clinical and research databases.
• Configures and implements a variety of security protocols to ensure protection of data on systems hosting medical and research data.
• Manage inventory of application licenses for databases that store medical and scientific data, following approved authorization processes and credentialing requirements.
• Coordinate with security and privacy officers to establish and maintain security and privacy policies, controls and monitoring protocols for all data storage and retrieval tools, applications, systems and equipment.
• Maintain patching and updates to network, server and platforms running or supporting data applications and services supporting operations and research.
• Actively research and monitor developments in and updates to Federal information technology and data management requirements and take action to ensure database compliance.
• Coordinates with operations and research managers to develop standardized, Institute-wide data management plan to serve as outline for individual protocol-specific data management plans.
• Assess utilization and future plans to identify and recommend investment opportunities and assist preparing upgrade budgets and cost estimates.
• Develop and maintain database and database management technology maintenance, upgrade and replacement schedule and align with organizational information technology management maintenance and investment schedules.
• Coordinate with research staffs to assess future research plans and predict future demand, volume and utilization and recommend upgrades and investments to support uninterrupted operations.
• Routinely collect user feedback to proactively identify limitations of
• Maintains roster of users and status of introductory and advanced trainings completed or needed and proactively schedule sessions.
• Develops training materials, organize training sessions and coordinate delivery schedules with management to ensure users have the most up to date knowledge of database procedures to support their work.
• Routinely gather user feedback and prepare workshops to assist users improve their skills performing a multitude of functions using database tools and applications.
• Provide one on one support to users requesting assistance to resolve issues or improve their skills conducting data searchers, statistical operations within designated tools and reporting and dashboarding applications.
• Mentor new database administrators as necessary to ensure quality service and optimized database performance.
• Train new members of the Stroke Group on clinical data collection procedures, database entry requirements, quality assurance and quality control standards, data management policies, and regulatory requirements.
• Train staff on new developments, methodologies, and software packages related to database management, image processing, image analysis, and statistical computing.
• Provide guidance, consultation, and training to Stroke Group fellows and staff regarding image processing, image analysis, database utilization, statistical methods, and data analysis methodologies.
• Develop training materials, user guides, and workshops related to clinical data management, image analysis, and statistical software applications.
• Maintain and support clinical, imaging, and research databases, ensuring data integrity, security, accessibility, and system functionality.
• Develop, test, maintain, and enhance web applications, databases, and data management systems supporting Stroke Group clinical and research activities.
• Perform routine database maintenance, upgrades, backups, recovery activities, and performance monitoring to ensure uninterrupted operations.
• Execute database queries and generate routine and ad hoc reports to support clinical operations, research studies, publications, presentations, and management requests.
• Maintain accurate and complete clinical, imaging, and research datasets and ensure compliance with established quality assurance and quality control standards.
• Conduct image processing, image analysis, and data analysis activities in support of ongoing and completed research studies.
• Perform statistical analyses using approved analytical software packages and prepare data outputs for research, operational, and scientific purposes.
• Prepare, compile, and present analytical findings, visualizations, and reports for investigators, collaborators, manuscripts, abstracts, presentations, and professional meetings.
• Develop, update, and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), data management plans, quality control procedures, user guides, and training materials.
• Document database modifications, data corrections, quality control findings, system enhancements, and decisions affecting data integrity and governance.
• Evaluate, test, validate, and recommend software applications, imaging tools, database technologies, and analytical platforms to support evolving research requirements.
• Coordinate data management, reporting, and analytical activities with NIH investigators, collaborators, contractors, and external research partners.
• Provide training and technical guidance to staff, fellows, and researchers regarding database systems, clinical data management, image analysis, statistical software, and data quality procedures.
• Provide consultation and subject matter expertise related to database management, image processing, image analysis, research data management, and reporting requirements.
• Deliver periodic status reports summarizing database activities, system enhancements, data quality metrics, reporting activities, training conducted, and project support accomplishments.