{
  "format": "sf-skill-matrix",
  "version": 1,
  "name": "DBA Skill Matrix",
  "description": "Public example of a matrix for database administrators responsible for performance, availability, and governance.",
  "levels": [
    {
      "name": "Junior",
      "description": "Handles routine administration work and follows established operational procedures."
    },
    {
      "name": "Middle",
      "description": "Owns database reliability and performance improvements independently in production environments."
    },
    {
      "name": "Senior",
      "description": "Leads database strategy, critical incident response, and long-term data platform governance."
    }
  ],
  "groups": [
    {
      "name": "Data Platform",
      "rows": [
        {
          "name": "Data modeling",
          "cells": [
            {
              "level": 1,
              "level_name": "Junior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Read and support existing schemas",
                  "info": "Understands tables, keys, and normalization rules used in the current system."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 2,
              "level_name": "Middle",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Review schema changes for production use",
                  "info": "Assesses migration safety, write amplification, and query impact before rollout."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 3,
              "level_name": "Senior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Shape data modeling standards",
                  "info": "Guides consistency, lifecycle design, and cross-system data ownership."
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "SQL and tuning",
          "cells": [
            {
              "level": 1,
              "level_name": "Junior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Read query plans and basic metrics",
                  "info": "Finds obvious inefficiencies and applies standard indexing or query fixes."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 2,
              "level_name": "Middle",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Tune critical workload paths",
                  "info": "Improves slow queries with plan analysis, indexing strategy, and workload context."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 3,
              "level_name": "Senior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Own performance strategy",
                  "info": "Defines tuning priorities, storage patterns, and capacity tradeoffs at system level."
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Operations",
          "cells": [
            {
              "level": 1,
              "level_name": "Junior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Execute standard maintenance safely",
                  "info": "Follows runbooks for users, permissions, vacuum, and routine health checks."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 2,
              "level_name": "Middle",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Handle incidents and operational changes",
                  "info": "Owns production fixes, maintenance windows, and impact communication."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 3,
              "level_name": "Senior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Lead critical database operations",
                  "info": "Coordinates high-risk changes and defines resilient operational processes."
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Availability and Governance",
      "rows": [
        {
          "name": "Backup and recovery",
          "cells": [
            {
              "level": 1,
              "level_name": "Junior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Monitor backup success",
                  "info": "Checks job status and understands the basics of restore procedures."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 2,
              "level_name": "Middle",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Validate recovery readiness",
                  "info": "Runs restore tests, verifies recovery objectives, and documents realistic scenarios."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 3,
              "level_name": "Senior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Define disaster recovery standards",
                  "info": "Sets backup topology, restore cadence, and business-aligned recovery targets."
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Replication and availability",
          "cells": [
            {
              "level": 1,
              "level_name": "Junior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Support replica monitoring",
                  "info": "Tracks lag, replication health, and routine failover prerequisites."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 2,
              "level_name": "Middle",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Operate replication under production load",
                  "info": "Diagnoses lag, slot issues, and planned failover procedures."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 3,
              "level_name": "Senior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Shape high-availability architecture",
                  "info": "Balances failover speed, data safety, operational cost, and service complexity."
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Governance and access",
          "cells": [
            {
              "level": 1,
              "level_name": "Junior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Apply access rules consistently",
                  "info": "Follows least-privilege patterns and existing audit requirements."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 2,
              "level_name": "Middle",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Review risk in data operations",
                  "info": "Controls sensitive access, validates changes, and tracks operational exceptions."
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "level": 3,
              "level_name": "Senior",
              "tasks": [
                {
                  "name": "Define governance policy for databases",
                  "info": "Sets ownership, audit expectations, and cross-team controls for critical data assets."
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}