Senior AI Platform Engineer - Databricks & Governance

Vallen Distribution; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance

401(k) with company match up to 6%

Employer-paid life insurance

Job summary

Vallen Distribution is building a governed, production-grade AI capability on an Azure-first, Databricks-centered architecture. The AI Platform Engineer will own the Databricks AI/ML layer, drive enterprise governance, and deliver automation use cases with business teams.

You will serve as the internal AI expert and policy owner, collaborating with the SVP of Data & Technology Innovation. This greenfield role offers broad ownership across the AI stack, with visibility into a growing program and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, or related field.
• Hands-on AI/ML engineering and data engineering experience.
• Experience with Databricks stack and Python/SQL workflows.
• Practical experience building with LLMs and prompt engineering.
• Strong Python skills and ability to own full solution delivery.
• Azure-focused knowledge including OpenAI, Data Lake Storage, and Key Vault.
• Ability to communicate with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience assessing AI/ML risks, data sensitivity, and governance.

Responsibilities

• Own the Databricks AI/ML layer including feature stores and model registry.
• Define prompt engineering standards and cross-team LLM integration patterns.
• Design data pipelines feeding AI/ML use cases from the lakehouse.
• Evaluate agentic frameworks for internal automation.
• Directly build 2–3 automation use cases per year with business teams.
• Manage full delivery lifecycle from scoping to handoff.
• Ensure governance and risk assessment for AI tools and platforms.

Skills

AI/ML engineering

Data engineering

Python

SQL

LLM engineering

Stakeholder collaboration

Risk & governance awareness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/IT

Tools

Databricks

MLflow

Unity Catalog

Azure OpenAI

Python/SQL workflows

Job description

Vallen Distribution is building a governed, production-grade AI capability on an Azure-first, Databricks-centered architecture. The AI Platform Engineer will own the Databricks AI/ML layer, drive enterprise governance, and deliver automation use cases with business teams.

You will serve as the internal AI expert and policy owner, collaborating with the SVP of Data & Technology Innovation. This greenfield role offers broad ownership across the AI stack, with visibility into a growing program and