Databricks Architect

What You'll Do: Design lakehouse architectures on Databricks, including medallion layering, Delta Lake strategy, and workspace topology Lead client-facing architecture sessions and translate business requirements into a platform plan people can execute against Build and tune ingestion and transformation pipelines using Spark, Delta Live Tables, and Databricks Workflows Stand up Unity Catalog for governance: access controls, lineage, data classification, and cross-workspace sharing Set standards for CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and environment promotion so the platform stays maintainable after launch Keep an eye on cost. Cluster policies, compute sizing, and job optimization are part of the job, not an afterthought Plan and run migrations from legacy warehouses and on-prem Hadoop or SQL Server environments Mentor client engineers and document decisions so the platform outlives the engagement Prepare data foundations for ML and GenAI use cases, including feature pipelines and model serving patternsQualifications Core Experience 8+ years in data engineering or data architecture, with at least 3 years designing production solutions on Databricks Deep hands-on skill with Apache Spark (PySpark and Spark SQL), Delta Lake, and performance tuning at scale Real experience implementing Unity Catalog and data governance in an enterprise setting Strong SQL and PythonCloud and PlatformProduction experience on Azure, AWS, or GCP (Azure strongly preferred) Infrastructure as code with Terraform or similar, plus CI/CD using Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or equivalent Comfort with streaming patterns such as Structured Streaming, Kafka, or Event HubsConsulting and Communication A track record of leading architecture conversations directly with client stakeholders, both technical and business Ability to scope work, push back on bad requirements, and explain tradeoffs in plain language Must be able to travel onsite in Houston as neededNice to HaveDatabricks certifications (Data Engineer Professional or Solutions Architect) Experience with MLflow, Mosaic AI, or GenAI workloads on Databricks Background in energy, industrial, or other data-heavy Houston industriesWhy Join Us You'll be working with a lean team of data practitioners who care more about platforms that hold up in production than slide decks that look good in a steering committee. There's no layer of management between you and the client, which means your architecture calls get made and shipped, not diluted. The contract-to-hire structure gives both sides six months of real work together before committing. For a senior architect who wants ownership, visibility, and a seat at the table as the practice grows, that's a good place to start.