Databricks Data Platform Lead for Real-Time Delivery

Alaska Airlines, Inc.; SeaTac (WA); On-site; USD 139,000 - 208,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free standby travel privileges

Comprehensive medical, dental and 401k

Annual bonus plans

Generous paid time off

Career development resources

Job summary

Alaska Airlines is seeking a Principal Data Engineer to own the design and evolution of its Enterprise Data Platform on Databricks in Seattle. You will lead end-to-end data pipelines, mentor engineers, and partner with Enterprise Architecture and Security to ensure scalable, secure platforms aligned with business goals.

You’ll drive real-time streaming, Delta Live Tables, Unity Catalog, and cost-effective engineering practices while working with cross-functional teams across the airline’s data

Qualifications

• 7+ years of data engineering on large-scale platforms.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Expert Databricks and Apache Spark proficiency.
• Hands-on with real-time streaming (Structured Streaming) and Delta Live Tables.
• Strong Python, SQL and PySpark coding skills.
• IaC (Terraform/ ARM) and CI/CD with Azure DevOps or GitHub.
• Knowledge of Unity Catalog and Lakehouse Federation.
• Ability to lead with cross-functional teams and write specs.
• Experience with Kafka; excellent communication.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of high-performance data pipelines on Databricks.
• Collaborate with data scientists, analysts, and engineers.
• Define workspace governance, orchestration, and CI/CD practices.
• Optimize cluster configs, Spark params, and cost/performance.
• Evaluate new Databricks features and promote adoption.
• Troubleshoot performance, memory, and latency issues.
• Mentor engineers in streaming, Delta tables and debugging.
• Manage Unity Catalog for governance and access control.
• Monitor costs and drive cost-reduction initiatives.
• Standardize tagging and metadata for cost attribution.

Skills

Databricks

Apache Spark

Python

SQL

PySpark

CI/CD

Terraform

Azure DevOps

GitHub

Kafka

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Azure

Databricks

Delta Lake

Unity Catalog

Job description

Alaska Airlines is seeking a Principal Data Engineer to own the design and evolution of its Enterprise Data Platform on Databricks in Seattle. You will lead end-to-end data pipelines, mentor engineers, and partner with Enterprise Architecture and Security to ensure scalable, secure platforms aligned with business goals.

You’ll drive real-time streaming, Delta Live Tables, Unity Catalog, and cost-effective engineering practices while working with cross-functional teams across the airline’s data