Databricks Champion

nimblegravity; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

nimblegravity seeks a Principal Architect to lead lakehouse and platform modernization engagements, serving as the technical voice in a strategic data platform partnership. The role blends hands-on architecture with client-facing work, including governance patterns and executive workshops.

Current Databricks Champion certification and a track record of production delivery across cloud, data, and AI workloads are required.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in data engineering or architecture with 4+ years Databricks delivery.
• Production lakehouse experience with Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, and Databricks SQL.
• Strong PySpark, SQL, data modeling, and performance tuning.
• Cloud depth, preferably Azure; AWS/GCP knowledge is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture for lakehouse implementations and modernization programs with Azure as the preferred cloud.
• Design patterns for Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, and governance balancing performance and cost.
• Direct technical migrations from legacy warehouses into modern BI ecosystems.
• Define ingestion, orchestration, CI/CD, testing, observability, and FinOps standards.
• Architect for AI readiness including feature pipelines and model serving.
• Join discovery calls, run architecture workshops, and shape technical solutions for sales pursuits.
• Scope engagements and review statements of work for accuracy and clarity.
• Build reusable accelerators, reference architectures, and playbooks.
• Serve as the primary technical liaison to the data platform partner and co-sell.
• Mentor engineers and run internal enablement sessions.

Skills

Databricks delivery

Architectural design

PySpark

Executive communication

Tools

Delta Lake

Unity Catalog

Workflows

Databricks SQL

Azure

Job description

Role overview

A principal architect role leading lakehouse and platform modernization engagements while serving as the primary technical voice in a strategic data platform partnership. The position blends hands‑on architecture with client-facing work, equally comfortable designing governance patterns or running executive workshops. The role requires current Databricks Champion certification and a track record of production delivery across cloud, data, and emerging AI workloads.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture for lakehouse implementations, platform migrations, and modernization programs with Azure as the preferred cloud
• Design Delta Lake, medallion, and Unity Catalog patterns balancing performance, cost, and governance
• Direct technical migration from legacy warehouses such as Teradata, Snowflake, or Synapse into modern lakehouse and BI ecosystems
• Define standards for ingestion, orchestration, CI/CD, testing, observability, and FinOps
• Architect for AI readiness, including feature pipelines, model serving, and generative or agentic use cases
• Join discovery calls, run architecture workshops, and shape technical solutions for sales pursuits
• Scope engagements and review statements of work for technical accuracy and commercial clarity
• Build reusable accelerators, reference architectures, and playbooks
• Serve as the primary technical liaison to the data platform partner, including co-sell activities
• Mentor engineers and run internal enablement sessions

Requirements

• Current Databricks Champion certification in good standing, with a shareable credentials wallet
• 10+ years in data engineering or architecture, including 4+ years of hands‑on Databricks delivery
• Production lakehouse experience covering Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Workflows or Lakeflow, and Databricks SQL
• Strong command of PySpark, SQL, data modeling, and performance tuning
• Background designing for security, governance, lineage, and compliance in regulated industries
• Cloud platform depth, ideally Azure, with working knowledge of AWS or GCP
• Client-facing comfort from engineering teams to C-suite
• Clear written and verbal communication across audiences

Nice to have

• Additional Databricks certifications such as Data Engineer Professional or Solutions Architect
• Power BI and Microsoft Fabric experience
• Hands‑on work with MLflow, Mosaic AI, and generative or agentic workloads
• Infrastructure as code and CI/CD for data platforms
• Consulting background including scoping, estimation, and statement-of-work contribution

Benefits and work setup

• Work directly with clients, engineers, and AI specialists on measurable business outcomes
• No H-1B visa sponsorship available

Equal opportunity employer