Practice Director of AI and Data Engineering

3Ci; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 300,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

3Ci is seeking a player-coach executive to build and scale its Data & AI Engineering practice in the United States. You will own revenue, client outcomes, and team performance, while shaping AI-led data platforms and architectures.

Lead multi-million-dollar data transformation programs and establish governance, partnerships, and delivery excellence across Databricks, Snowflake, Fabric, and MLOps. This role blends strategic leadership with hands-on capability.

Qualifications

• 10–15+ years in data engineering, data architecture, or analytics consulting
• A track record leading multi-million-dollar data transformation programs
• P&L and revenue growth ownership in consulting or professional services
• Deep expertise in Databricks, Snowflake, Fabric, dbt, Airflow and AWS/Azure/GCP
• Hands-on experience with vector databases, RAG, and MLOps
• Executive presence and experience building a consulting practice
• Preferred: Databricks, Snowflake, Azure, AWS, GCP, dbt, or AI/ML certifications; MBA or advanced degree

Responsibilities

• Own the practice P&L, including a $5M annual net-new revenue target
• Lead strategic data platform and analytics programs as executive sponsor and trusted client advisor
• Shape deals and grow offerings across modern data platforms, lakehouse architecture, DataOps, BI, and MLOps
• Design AI-ready data architectures: vector databases, embedding pipelines, feature stores, and RAG
• Drive AI-augmented delivery, from AI coding assistants to agentic data operations and self-healing pipelines
• Set responsible AI data governance standards
• Build partnerships with Databricks, Snowflake, Microsoft Fabric, dbt Labs, and emerging AI platforms
• Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing team of engineers and architects

Tools

Databricks

Snowflake

Fabric

dbt

Airflow

AWS

Azure

GCP

Vector databases

RAG

MLOps

Job description

Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Atlanta, 3Ci is an IT solutions and services firm serving Fortune 500 and mid-market clients across the Southeast. We’re part of a 55-year family enterprise that’s ready to move now. Ownership wants results fast and is backing this role with the authority to deliver them.

THE ROLE

You’ll build and scale 3Ci’s Data & AI Engineering practice, with AI as its primary growth engine. This is a player-coach executive role (20% personal utilization) with full ownership of revenue, client outcomes, team, and market positioning.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Own the practice P&L, including a $5M annual net-new revenue target
• Lead strategic data platform and analytics programs as executive sponsor and trusted client advisor
• Shape deals and grow offerings across modern data platforms, lakehouse architecture, DataOps, BI, and MLOps
• Design AI-ready data architectures: vector databases, embedding pipelines, feature stores, and RAG
• Drive AI-augmented delivery, from AI coding assistants to agentic data operations and self-healing pipelines
• Set responsible AI data governance standards
• Build partnerships with Databricks, Snowflake, Microsoft Fabric, dbt Labs, and emerging AI platforms
• Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing team of engineers and architects

WHAT YOU BRING

• 10–15+ years in data engineering, data architecture, or analytics consulting
• A track record leading multi-million-dollar data transformation programs
• P&L and revenue growth ownership in consulting or professional services
• Deep expertise in Databricks, Snowflake, Fabric, dbt, Airflow, and AWS/Azure/GCP
• Hands-on experience with vector databases, RAG, and MLOps
• Executive presence and experience building a consulting practice
• Preferred: Databricks, Snowflake, Azure, AWS, GCP, dbt, or AI/ML certifications; MBA or advanced degree

WHY 3Ci

This role is central to 3Ci’s evolution from a staffing-led firm into a modern technology consulting partner. You’ll work directly with executive leadership, with the platform, resources, and authority to build something significant.