Databricks Specialist

Red Cedar Consultancy; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Red Cedar Consultancy seeks a Databricks Specialist to support a federal project in Washington, DC. You will design and optimize high-performance Spark applications and enterprise data infrastructure in AWS Databricks, focusing on scalable ETL/ELT pipelines with PySpark, SQL, Delta Lake, and Medallion Architecture.

Responsibilities include administering Databricks workspaces, managing AWS services, and implementing DevSecOps practices; collaborate with cross-functional Agile teams in

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in CS/IT/Data Science or a related engineering discipline.
• 3+ years of hands-on Databricks / Spark development experience.
• Proficient in Python and SQL with experience in REST API data ingestion.
• Strong AWS experience (S3, IAM, Lambda, Glue, Aurora).
• Experience with Terraform and CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitLab CI).
• Experience in Agile/Scrum delivery environments.
• Active or prior High-Risk Public Trust clearance.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize scalable Spark applications in AWS Databricks.
• Design, build, and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines using Medallion Architecture (Bronze/Silver/Gold).
• Administer Databricks workspaces, clusters, jobs, and Unity Catalog.
• Manage AWS services and provision infrastructure with Terraform.
• Optimize queries and Spark jobs and troubleshoot large-scale data processing.
• Implement data quality checks and automated lineage tracking.
• Collaborate with Agile teams in multi-contractor federal environments and provide technical leadership.

Skills

Python

SQL

REST API data ingestion

Agile/Scrum

Data engineering

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Science, or related field

Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate

Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional

Databricks Certified Machine Learning Associate

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate/Professional

AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty

Tools

Databricks

Apache Spark

Delta Lake

Terraform

Jenkins

GitLab CI

AWS S3

IAM

Glue

Aurora

Job description

Job Title: Databricks Specialist

Location: Washinton DC

Summary

The Senior Data Engineer / Databricks Specialist will support a federal project by developing, designing, and optimizing high-performance Spark applications and enterprise data infrastructure in AWS Databricks. The role focuses on scalable ETL/ELT pipelines using Python, PySpark, SQL, and Delta Lake; Medallion Architecture; and secure, reliable data solutions for mission-critical environments.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize scalable Spark applications in AWS Databricks using Python, PySpark, and SQL.
• Design, build, and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines using Medallion Architecture (Bronze, Silver, and Gold layers), ensuring data integrity, completeness, and lineage.
• Administer Databricks workspaces, clusters, scheduled jobs, access controls, Unity Catalog, and notebooks.
• Manage AWS services including S3, Lambda, IAM, Aurora, and Glue; provision infrastructure with Terraform.
• Optimize queries and Spark jobs; troubleshoot and debug large-scale data processing solutions.
• Integrate structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data from APIs and databases.
• Integrate security and compliance controls into DevSecOps CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, GitLab CI, or equivalent tools, supporting FISMA/FedRAMP requirements, ATO reassessments, and POA&M resolution.
• Implement data quality checks, anomaly detection, validation rules, and automated lineage tracking.
• Collaborate with cross-functional Agile/Scrum teams in multi-contractor federal environments; provide technical leadership and production on-call support.

Required Qualifications

• At least 3 years of dedicated, hands-on Databricks development experience.
• Production experience with PySpark, Apache Spark, Spark SQL, and Delta Lake.
• Strong proficiency in Python and SQL and working knowledge of REST API-based data ingestion.
• Strong hands-on experience with AWS S3, IAM, Lambda, Glue, and Aurora.
• Production experience with Terraform infrastructure as code and CI/CD tools such as Jenkins, GitLab CI, or equivalent.
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum delivery environments.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Science, or a related engineering discipline.
• Active or previous High-Risk Public Trust (Tier 4) clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with Unity Catalog, Delta Live Tables (DLT), and MLflow or Model Registry for AI/ML pipelines.
• Experience supporting federal government contracts and FISMA/FedRAMP environments.

Preferred Certifications

• Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate
• Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional
• Databricks Certified Machine Learning Associate
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate or Professional
• AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty