Who Is Marcus Thomas?

Marcus Thomas is one of the country’s leading independent advertising and marketing agencies. From our offices in Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Santiago, Chile, we bring together thinkers, makers and storytellers who help brands grow by creating meaningful connections with people.

We offer a full range of services: creative, media, digital, PR, social, search and CRM, all working together to build ideas that make an impact. Our integrated approach has earned national recognition for work that blends strategy, creativity and technology to move businesses forward.

At Marcus Thomas, we believe great marketing makes people’s lives better. We call that the Value Exchange: a partnership where everyone benefits. Join us and help shape an agency driven by curiosity, collaboration and results.

Hybrid and Remote Work Eligibility

We are looking for candidates based in or near the Cleveland, Ohio area. This role follows a hybrid schedule with two days per week in our Warrensville Heights office, and local candidates are strongly preferred.

Candidates located elsewhere in Ohio are also welcome to apply and would work fully remote.

For the right candidate outside of Ohio, we are able to consider fully remote applicants from the following registered states: Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.

The Role

We are looking for a highly experienced Senior Database Developer. In this senior, hands-on role, you will design, implement, optimize, and support the databases that underpin our lottery platforms and client solutions. You will help ensure data integrity, performance, security, and scalability across complex, high-availability systems that support mission-critical lottery operations.

As the Senior Database Developer, you will serve as the technical authority for client databases, partnering with IT staff, application developers, architects, and implementation teams to design efficient schemas, optimize queries, and resolve performance issues. You will guide database strategy from early solution design through production support, ensuring structures align with application requirements, reporting needs, and regulatory expectations for security and data privacy.

You will contribute to project scoping and technical planning by providing database-level estimates and recommendations, translating business and application requirements into durable, well-documented data models. You will also mentor other developers on database best practices, assist with query optimization and schema design, and drive continuous improvement in our data practices.

Key Responsibilities

Core Responsibilities

• Provide primary production support for database incidents, including after-hours deployments, maintenance windows, and emergency recovery.
• Lead performance tuning across query optimization, indexing strategies, and execution plan analysis. Proactively identify and resolve bottlenecks before they become incidents.
• Partner with architects, developers, and IT to align database design with application architecture, performance goals, and platform roadmap. Set database standards and best practices for the team.
• Lead all client-facing database communications: incident updates, root cause summaries, mitigation steps, and go-live readiness discussions. Serve as the database point-of-contact in client meetings and design reviews.
• Own database architecture, schema design, and data strategy for lottery platforms, client systems, and internal applications. Design and evolve stable, scalable, secure data models for high-volume transactional and reporting workloads.
• Translate complex technical tradeoffs into clear, plain-language explanations for non-technical stakeholders. Present recommendations on performance, availability, security, cost, and maintainability in a way that supports confident decision-making.

Additional Responsibilities

• Ensure data security, privacy, and compliance through access controls, permissions, auditing, and operational monitoring in regulated client environments.
• Refine and automate recurring administrative processes to improve reliability and reduce operational risk.
• Evaluate and recommend database technologies, tools, and process improvements that advance performance, scalability, or maintainability.
• Contribute to solution scoping, estimation, and approach selection, translating client requirements into durable technical plans.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, support playbooks, and standardized processes that reduce reliance on tribal knowledge.
• Mentor developers on SQL, schema design, and performance practices. Raise the technical floor of the team over time.
• Support testing and release readiness by contributing to test plans, QA validation, and issue documentation.

Skills and Qualifications

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. We are unable to provide visa sponsorship now or in the future. U.S. citizens and permanent residents (green card holders) are encouraged to apply.

Technical Qualifications

• 7+ years of hands-on SQL Server experience in production environments, including designing, developing, administering, and supporting databases end-to-end.
• Proven experience owning mission-critical databases in high-availability environments, including incident response, root cause analysis, and long-term remediation.
• Deep T-SQL expertise, including complex stored procedures, functions, and query tuning at production scale.
• Strong experience with query optimization, indexing strategies, and execution plan analysis, with the ability to proactively surface performance risks before they become incidents.
• In-depth understanding of data modeling, schema design, and normalization for transactional and reporting workloads.
• Strong understanding of data security practices, including role-based access control, permissions, auditing, and encryption, with experience supporting regulated or compliance-sensitive environments.

People and Leadership Skills

• Demonstrated ability to work directly with clients: writing clear status updates and post-incident communications, facilitating technical discussions with mixed audiences, and leading database issues through to full resolution.
• Comfortable operating as the database authority on a cross-functional team, collaborating closely with developers, architects, and IT, and mentoring others on best practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with loyalty, ecommerce, or regulated transaction platforms.
• Familiarity with PostgreSQL or other relational database platforms alongside SQL Server.
• MCSE or equivalent Microsoft database certification.
• Experience mentoring developers on SQL, data modeling, or performance practices.
• Experience in a technical lead or database authority role on a cross-functional team.
• Familiarity with Agile methodologies and cross-disciplinary delivery environments.
• Background in a marketing, advertising, or digital agency environment. Strong candidates may also come from finance, healthcare, or consulting.

What We Value

We believe technical excellence thrives when paired with strong human skills. In this role, you’ll succeed if you bring:

• Adaptability and resilience across dynamic and fast-paced projects.
• A growth mindset and self-awareness that fuel continuous learning.
• Clear and empathetic communication with both technical and non-technical teams.
• Organization and time management allow you to lead yourself and support others.
• Creativity and innovation when tackling technical challenges.
• Strong analytical thinking and decision-making capabilities.
• A collaborative spirit and willingness to educate and uplift others.

Our Values

Community:

• Commit to teach and learn from others.
• Make our clients an extension of our team.
• Share your affinities with others who share them.

Accountability:

• Commit to your work.
• Own your work.
• Understand our processes and embrace them.

Respect and Collaboration:

• Listen as passionately as you speak.
• Be a team player.
• Communicate clearly; clear is kind.

Inspired Thinking:

• Embrace and encourage new ideas.
• Think critically; seek to understand and then to be understood.
• Be insatiably curious.

Diversity:

• Embrace each other’s authenticity.
• Respect all views.
• Understand our different cultures, as they make us unique.

Fun/Make work play:

• Lift each other with enthusiasm.
• Celebrate each other’s successes.
• Find moments of magic in the work.

Why You’ll Love Working Here

• Long-Term Partnerships: Our clients stay with us for more than 12 years, a reflection of trust and collaboration.
• Award-Winning Work: Be part of campaigns recognized for creativity, strategy and results.
• Flexibility and Balance: Hybrid schedules and flexible hours support your life and your best work.
• Inclusive Culture: Our workplace values every perspective and creates space for all voices.
• Growth and Learning: Experience opportunities for professional and personal development through ongoing learning programs.

Benefits Highlights

• Time Off: Flexible policy; most teammates enjoy 4-6 weeks annually
• Family Support: 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave
• Health & Wellness: Comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, plus telemedicine, behavioral health and access to the Calm app
• Lifestyle Perks: Wellness and creative stipends, phone plan support, and partner discounts
• Financial Benefits: 401(k) with company contributions, student-loan paydown and college-savings options

Our Hiring Process

Our hiring process is designed to help us get to know you and give you a genuine feel for our culture and team. It typically includes short conversations with our recruiting team and hiring manager, a team and/or leader interview, and final selection.

To support fairness and consistency, we use AI tools to assist with parts of the process. Résumés may be reviewed initially with an AI assistant that compares experience and skills to the job description and highlights potential matches for our recruiting team. Candidates can choose to opt out of AI résumé screening when applying.

We also use AI to record and transcribe interviews to promote accuracy and equity. Transcripts may be reviewed by HR to confirm that all candidates are treated respectfully and evaluated fairly. Candidates can opt out of this transcription feature at any stage.

While AI helps us stay organized and consistent, every decision to move a candidate forward is made by real people. Our recruiting and hiring teams remain hands-on throughout the process and use AI only as a tool, not as a decision-maker for how to find talent.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

At Marcus Thomas, we believe diversity is a strength and that great ideas come from different perspectives. We’re committed to creating opportunities for talented individuals who have been historically underrepresented in our industry and to fostering an inclusive culture where everyone can grow, thrive and do their best work.

We encourage women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, immigrants, people of all religions and nationalities, and people with disabilities to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability.