What is a senior database developer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Tao Ju

A senior database developer designs, implements, and manages complex databases for organizations. They create efficient and secure database systems that store and retrieve data accurately and quickly. Senior database developers maintain and upgrade existing databases to ensure they remain up-to-date, reliable, and accessible. They work closely with other developers and IT professionals to ensure old and new databases integrate seamlessly with other software applications and meet the organization's business needs.

What general advice would you give to a senior database developer?

Dr. Tao Ju

Vice Dean for Research & Professor, Washington University in St. Louis

They are not in this alone. The opportunities are out there, but it is up to them to be proactive and take ownership of their career. They should become familiar with and use all of the resources available to them-alumni, faculty and career advisors, job search sites, mentoring programs, career fairs, professional associations, and networking events. Take advantage of their existing network and seek out ways to make further connections. Keep an eye on trends, follow news, and research companies. Dream big but be flexible. In this time of constant transition and change, graduates who can shift their plans to the conditions of the job market will have less stress and more success. Talk with companies they've never heard of and explore careers they've never considered. They might be surprised at what they find and where it leads them. Lastly, remain confident and positive. They've worked hard to get to this point and they can be rest assured that their choice to pursue engineering will pay off in the short and long run.

ScoreSenior Database DeveloperUS Average

Salary

7.8

Avg. Salary $108,559

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.0

Growth rate 21%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 29.94%

Black or African American 4.43%

Hispanic or Latino 8.17%

Unknown 4.80%

White 52.50%

Gender

female 20.69%

male 79.31%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

4.0

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a senior database developer?

Pros

Chance to work on high-impact projects
Excellent salary, benefits, and job security
Potential for advancement into management positions
Opportunity to work remotely or choose flexible hours
Ability to make a significant impact on business operations

Cons

High stress and pressure to meet tight deadlines
Work can be repetitive and monotonous at times
May require long hours during critical project stages
Can be challenging to collaborate with non-technical stakeholders
Can be difficult to balance technical responsibilities with management responsibilities

Key steps to become a senior database developer

Explore senior database developer education requirements

Most common senior database developer degrees

Bachelor's

65.5 %

Master's

24.4 %

Associate

7.2 %

Start to develop specific senior database developer skills

Skills	Percentages
ETL	8.40%
Database Development	5.43%
Java	4.93%
Data Warehouse	4.77%
PL/SQL	4.26%

Complete relevant senior database developer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior database developers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior database developer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior database developer resumes.

Research senior database developer duties and responsibilities

Complete continuous improvement projects to further automate, fix issues and increase efficiency across database, ETL and business line processing.
Involve in DBA responsibilities such as managing users and permissions, creating audit triggers, and overlook the daily back up.
Major focus on SQL and PL/SQL application development using packages, store procedures, functions, triggers and views.
Provide back end support to the Java base applications with huge and complex data.

Get senior database developer experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior database developer. The most common roles before becoming a senior database developer include database developer, senior software engineer team lead and programmer analyst.

Prepare your senior database developer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior database developer resume.

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