Chief Architect - Data Engineering (Databricks Practice)

Unison Group; Singapore; On-site; SGD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Unison Group is seeking a Lead Solution Architect – Data Engineering to own and defend Databricks-based architectures for enterprise clients in APAC. You will lead solution design on client engagements, drive migrations to cloud, and mentor the team while shaping reusable assets and accelerators.

You will stay hands-on with performance tuning, code reviews, and setting engineering standards, while guiding presales and delivery to ensure secure, scalable data platforms across multiple cloud

Qualifications

• 12+ years in data engineering and architecture.
• 3+ years on Databricks at enterprise scale.
• Experience with large migrations and cloud transformations.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end architecture and design decisions on Databricks engagements, ensuring secure, scalable Lakehouse solutions.
• Lead delivery of production-grade data platforms including ingestion, transformation, governance, and BI/ML enablement.
• Drive presales activities: discovery, solutioning, estimation, PoCs, RFPs, and proposals; translate technical trade-offs for executives.
• Mentor engineers, create accelerators, and contribute to go-to-market offerings.

Skills

Databricks

Spark

Python

SQL

Scala

CI/CD for data platforms

Presales capability

Migration & cloud transformation

Leadership

Education

Databricks Data Engineer Professional

Tools

Unity Catalog

Delta Lake

Airflow

MLflow

DLT/Lakeflow

Workflows

ADF

OpenAI APIs

Anthropic APIs

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