A DBA is a Database Administrator, and this is the most common job that you find a database specialist doing. There are Development DBAs and Production DBAs.

A Development DBA usually works closely with a team of developers and gets more involved in design decisions, giving advice on performance and writing good SQL.

That can be satisfying at a human level because you are part of a team and you share the satisfaction of the teams accomplishments.

A Production DBA (on the other hand) is responsible for maintaining Databases within an organization, so it is a very difficult and demanding job. He or she, often gets involved when all the design decisions have been made, and has simply to keep things up and running.

Therefore, of course, it is also a rewarding job, both financially and in terms of job satisfaction. But it is a more "lonely" job than being a Development DBA.