Chief Architect - Data Engineering (Databricks Practice)

UNISON Group; Toronto; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

UNISON Group in Toronto, Canada seeks a Lead Solution Architect – Data Engineering to anchor our Databricks practice. You will design secure, scalable Lakehouse architectures, lead migrations to cloud platforms, and drive presales through PoCs, estimates, and proposals.

You will mentor engineers, create accelerators, and shape delivery and GTM offerings with strong Python/SQL/Scala, Spark, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog expertise.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in data engineering/architecture.
• 3+ years with Databricks at enterprise scale.
• Strong leadership and presales experience.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end architecture and designs for Databricks engagements.
• Lead large migrations and cloud transformation programs.
• Drive presales: discovery, solutioning, PoCs, RFPs, proposals.
• Mentor engineers and develop reusable accelerators.

Skills

Databricks

Data architecture

Presales

Python/SQL/Scala

CI/CD for data

Tools

Spark UI

Delta Lake

Unity Catalog

Airflow

MLflow

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