Principal Solutions Architect – Databricks

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Lead technical discovery for Databricks opportunities and conduct architecture sessions with client engineering and data leadership.

• Design Lakehouse reference architectures that include Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, workflow orchestration, and Mosaic AI.

• Take ownership of technical content in proposals and Statements of Work (SOWs), encompassing architecture diagrams, migration strategies, team composition, and effort estimations.

• Execute proof-of-concept builds and technical evaluations showcasing functional code.

• Act as a technical authority during competitive assessments against Snowflake, Microsoft Fabric, and proprietary Spark platforms.

• Collaborate with Sales to assess and identify scenarios where Databricks may not be the optimal solution.

• Function as the lead architect on significant Databricks engagements from initiation to production handoff.

• Establish technical direction for teams of three to six engineers, reviewing designs and code.

• Troubleshoot Spark performance, Delta Lake optimization, Unity Catalog migration and governance, cost management, and streaming architecture challenges.

• Facilitate knowledge transfer to enable client teams to independently operate the systems delivered.

• Manage strategic-account escalations while keeping executive stakeholders informed.

• Serve as the primary technical relationship manager with Databricks field, partner, and product teams.

• Develop and manage the Databricks co-sell initiative and support Databricks-sourced opportunities.

• Promote partner tier advancement and the Brickbuilder specialization roadmap.

• Represent Blue Orange Digital at Data + AI Summit, partner enablement sessions, and regional Databricks gatherings.

• Generate technical marketing materials including reference architectures, benchmarks, case studies, and conference presentations.

• Create internal enablement and certification programs for engineers.

• Report directly to the Head of Delivery, collaborating closely with the CEO and Head of Sales on partnership strategies.

⛳️ Requirements

• A minimum of eight years of experience in data engineering, data architecture, or platform engineering.

• At least four years of experience architecting solutions on Databricks in production settings.

• Solutions Architect-level proficiency in Databricks.

• Capability to design multi-workspace Unity Catalog governance models.

• Proficiency in explaining Photon cost advantages, diagnosing skewed joins from Spark UI, and reasoning about Delta Lake file organization and liquid clustering.

• Hands-on expertise with Spark, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Databricks Workflows, Delta Live Tables, MLflow, and Mosaic AI.

• Fluency in at least one major cloud platform: AWS, Azure, or GCP.

• Experience with infrastructure-as-code practices.

• Proven pre-sales experience leading technical discovery, developing proposal architecture, and securing competitive deals.

• A track record of enterprise delivery, including at least one large-scale migration to Databricks from a legacy warehouse, Hadoop, or custom Spark platform.

• Strong executive communication skills.

• Experience working within or alongside a technology partner ecosystem.

• Willingness to travel approximately 25 percent of the time for client engagements, partner meetings, and industry events.

• Background checks may be necessary for specific positions or projects.

🏝️ Benefits

• Performance bonus tied to Databricks-sourced pipeline and closed revenue.

• Competitive base salary plus a bonus directly linked to the partnerships you cultivate.

• Complete ownership of a growing practice, with executive support and direct access to decision-makers.

• Engage with production Databricks challenges at a real enterprise scale across various industries.

• A builder culture that empowers engineers to lead, deliver, and make architectural decisions.

• Professional development budget that supports certifications, conference attendance, and speaking engagements.

• Flexible remote work environment.

• A collaborative team that prioritizes production-grade craftsmanship over billable work.

• Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO).

• Paid parental and bereavement leave.