Chief Architect - Data Engineering (Databricks Practice)

Unison

$160K — $200K *
Enterprise Technology
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 12+ years in data engineering/architecture, with 3+ years on Databricks at enterprise scale
  • Proficient in Spark architecture, performance tuning, and debugging
  • Experience with Lakehouse architecture, including Delta Lake and Unity Catalog
  • Proven track record in leading large-scale migrations and transformation projects
  • Strong presales abilities with a focus on solution design, pricing, and client interaction
  • Competency in modern programming languages such as Python, SQL, and Scala
  • Databricks certifications (Data Engineer Professional / SA) preferred

Responsibilities

  • Own architecture and design for Databricks engagements, ensuring security and scalability
  • Lead delivery of production-grade data platforms including ingestion and transformation
  • Manage large-scale cloud migration and transformation projects to Databricks
  • Stay hands-on with performance tuning and debugging while setting team engineering standards
  • Lead presales process from discovery to proposal, ensuring technical viability
  • Translate technical trade-offs into actionable insights for executives
  • Mentor engineers and develop reusable assets and accelerators for the practice

Benefits

  • Opportunity to shape and influence the practice's direction
  • Hands-on leadership role with direct involvement in technical solutioning
  • Collaborative environment with opportunities for mentoring and coaching others
  • Engagement in cutting-edge data and AI transformations across APAC
  • Flexibility to work across various cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP)
Full Job Description
We are building a fast-growing Databricks practice delivering enterprise data and AI solutions across APAC. As Lead Solution Architect - Data Engineering, you will be the technical anchor of the practice: leading solution design on client engagements, owning and defending enterprise architectures in presales, and driving large-scale migration and cloud transformation programs. This is a hands-on leadership role for a builder who can equally command a whiteboard in front of a CTO and a Spark UI when a pipeline misbehaves. You will also shape the practice itself - mentoring engineers, creating accelerators and reusable assets, and converting delivery success into case studies and go-to-market offerings.

Architecture & Delivery
  • Own end-to-end architecture and design decisions on Databricks engagements, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, performant, and aligned with Lakehouse best practices.
  • Lead delivery of production-grade data platforms - ingestion, transformation, orchestration, governance through Unity Catalog, and downstream BI/ML enablement.
  • Lead large-scale migrations (legacy DW/ETL, Hadoop, on-prem estates) and cloud transformation projects to Databricks on Azure/AWS/GCP, including assessment, wave planning, and cutover.
  • Stay hands-on: performance tuning, debugging, code and design reviews, and setting engineering standards for the team.


Presales & Stakeholder Management
  • Own and defend enterprise solution designs in front of architecture boards, CIOs, and CTOs - and enjoy it.
  • Drive presales end-to-end: discovery, solutioning, estimation, PoCs, RFPs, and proposals that convert.
  • Translate hard technical trade-offs into decisions executives can act on - from engineer to boardroom without changing gears.


Who Thrives Here
  • A builder at heart - 12+ years in data engineering/architecture, 3+ on Databricks at enterprise scale, and still happiest when hands are on the keyboard.
  • Deep Spark expertise - architecture, performance tuning, streaming, debugging, the advanced stuff that separates architects from diagram-drawers.
  • Lakehouse fluency - Medallion architecture, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, governance, orchestration (Workflows, DLT/Lakeflow, Airflow, ADF); Microsoft Fabric exposure a bonus.
  • Battle-tested in migrations - you've led large transformation programs and have the scars and success stories to show for it.
  • Presales instinct - you don't just design solutions; you sell them, price them, and defend them under fire.
  • Modern edge - strong Python/SQL/Scala, CI/CD for data platforms, and comfort integrating ML/AI (MLflow, LLM APIs like OpenAI and Anthropic) into what you build.
  • Certified credibility - Databricks Data Engineer Professional / SA accreditations strongly preferred.
  • Founder energy - curiosity, adaptability, and the drive to build offerings, not just deliver projects

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