Job Description

Please note the base salary will be determined by the successful candidate's education, skills and experience. The listed salary range serves as a general pay guideline for this position's pay level.

Snowflake Database Administrator


Location: Canada , Remote

Why pursue this opportunityOur mission - make insurance, investments and benefits simple, fast and easy for our customers. Play an integral role - this is an opportunity that allows for you to grow your skills, while directly contributing to the business unit you are a part of. Deliver excellence - provide a personal, accurate, professional, and courteous service and resolution to our customers.

What You'll Do

Cloud Platform Exposure

+ Comfort working with at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
+ Understanding of object-storage services (e.g., S3, Azure Blob) and how they integrate with Snowflake external stages

Account & Warehouse Management: + Provision, resize, suspend/un-pause, and decommission virtual warehouses.
+ Define databases, schemas, stages, and file-format objects following Landing-Staging-Curated conventions.
Security & Access Control: + Design and maintain RBAC roles/privileges, enforce least-privilege principles.
+ Configure network policies (Azure AD SSO, IP allow-lists), MFA, and service-account key rotations
+ Enable automatic encryption of data at rest and in transit. Implement dynamic data masking or row-access policies for sensitive fields (PII, financials, etc.)
+ Familiarity with regulated industries (e.g., insurance, banking, healthcare) is a plus--especially in Canada, where data-residency and compliance (PIPEDA, provincial privacy laws) can be critical.
Monitoring & Cost Governance: + Implement Resource Monitors per finance-budget targets, alert on credit thresholds.
+ Analyze ACCOUNT_USAGE and query history to identify inefficiencies and recommend clustering keys or materialized views.
Data Ingestion Oversight: + Manage Snowpipe pipelines, automate failure alerts, and troubleshoot near-real-time loads.
+ Coordinate with Fivetran, Informatica Cloud, and Pentaho PDI teams to validate batch and pipeline ingestions
Performance Tuning & Optimization: + Advise on micro-partitioning/clustering strategies for large tables (e.g., Policy, Claims).
+ Use zero-copy clones to spin up dev/test environments without extra storage costs
+ Proven track record diagnosing performance bottlenecks: analyzing query history, recommending clustering keys, setting up materialized views.
+ Use of Snowflake's ACCOUNT_USAGE and INFORMATION_SCHEMA views (or third-party monitoring tools) to track usage and troubleshoot issue
Backup, Recovery & Retention: + Configure Time Travel and Fail-Safe retention policies; restore dropped/truncated objects as needed.
Automation & IaC: + Develop Python or Terraform scripts to automate provisioning, DDL deployments, and key rotations
+ Scripting (Python preferred; Bash/PowerShell acceptable) and Terraform for IaC

Data Integration & ETL/ELT Projects

+ Hands-on with popular ingestion tools (e.g., Fivetran, Informatica, Talend, Pentaho, DBT).
+ Familiarity building or supporting pipelines that push data into Snowflake (batch via COPY commands, continuous loads via Snowpipe).

SQL Mastery

+ Deep understanding of ANSI SQL and Snowflake-specific extensions.
+ Ability to rewrite or refactor slow, resource-intensive queries for better performance.

Collaboration & Enablement: + Partner with Power BI teams to optimize data models for report performance.
+ Maintain runbooks and deliver lunch-and-learn sessions on platform best practices
+ Pilot and onboard new Snowflake features (e.g., Snowpark, Search Optimization Service, External Functions) to accelerate digital initiatives.

What You'll Bring

Bachelor's in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related discipline

Certifications

: SnowPro Core (required): SnowProf Advanced (preferred), Data Architect or Data Engineer (preferred), Azure Data Engineer Associate or AWS Database Specialty (an asset) 3-5 years administering Snowflake in a production environment, preferably on Azure Canada regions. Excellent troubleshooting, communication (oral and written), and documentation abilities. Adaptable learner, eager to pilot new Snowflake innovations Strong analytical and problem solving skills Ability to work/support multiple projects in a fast paced environment Able to lead projects with minimal supervision Attention to detail/accuracy Ability to work independently and as a team member

Beyond the salary

For regular full-time positions, Empire Life offers a comprehensive total rewards package that includes:Competitive salaries with annual pay increases Annual bonus program, which recognizes both strong company performance and individual contributions, for non sales positions Competitive uncapped commission, for sales positions A comprehensive employer-funded benefits package starting from day one of employment, that includes life insurance, disability, health and dental and a generous health account Flexible work arrangements and an annual allotment of personal health days. Four weeks annual vacation from hire date A defined contribution pension plan with generous employer matching Top up programs for parental leave and compassionate leave Employer-sponsored wellness and recognition programs A cash employee referral program

To learn more about working at Empire Life, visit https://www.empire.ca/workatempire.

Get to know us

Empire life is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity, are committed to creating an inclusive environment, and welcome everyone to participate in our application process. We encourage those of all backgrounds and experiences to apply, even if you don't believe you meet each unique qualification outlined. Applicants will receive equal consideration without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or age.
Empire Life welcomes applications from people with disabilities and disabled people. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the screening and selection process. If you need this job posting in an alternative format or have any accessibility questions, please contact recruitment@empire.ca.