Senior Databricks Lakehouse Architect — Remote

Cognizant; Raleigh (NC); Remote; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking an experienced Databricks Architect to lead the design and implementation of enterprise data modernization initiatives. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in Databricks Lakehouse architecture, AWS cloud technologies, large-scale data migration, and modern data engineering practices.

This role will drive architecture decisions, establish best practices, and support the modernization of legacy data platforms into a scalable Databricks ecosystem.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of Data Engineering/Data Architecture experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on Databricks Architecture experience.
• Strong expertise in Databricks Lakehouse, Apache Spark / PySpark, Delta Lake, Databricks Workflows, Unity Catalog, Databricks SQL, Python, SQL, AWS Cloud (S3, IAM, networking, security).
• Experience designing enterprise data models and data integration patterns.
• Strong knowledge of data governance, security, and compliance frameworks.
• Experience with large-scale cloud migration and modernization initiatives.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement enterprise-scale Databricks Lakehouse architecture.
• Lead data modernization and migration programs from legacy platforms to Databricks.
• Architect scalable ELT/ETL pipelines using Databricks, Spark, Delta Lake, and Python.
• Define data governance, security, lineage, and metadata management strategies using Unity Catalog.
• Design batch and real-time data processing solutions.
• Provide architecture guidance for cloud-native solutions on AWS.
• Collaborate with business, analytics, and engineering teams to define data strategies.
• Establish best practices for data quality, monitoring, performance tuning, and cost optimization.
• Create architecture standards, reference architectures, and technical documentation.
• Mentor data engineers and technical leads throughout the development lifecycle.
• Evaluate and recommend emerging technologies and AI/ML capabilities within the Databricks ecosystem.

Skills

Databricks Lakehouse

Apache Spark / PySpark

Delta Lake

Databricks Workflows

Unity Catalog

Databricks SQL

Python

SQL

AWS Cloud

Data Modeling

Data Governance

ETL/ELT design

Data Migration

Tools

AWS S3

Job description

Cognizant is seeking an experienced Databricks Architect to lead the design and implementation of enterprise data modernization initiatives. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in Databricks Lakehouse architecture, AWS cloud technologies, large-scale data migration, and modern data engineering practices.

This role will drive architecture decisions, establish best practices, and support the modernization of legacy data platforms into a scalable Databricks ecosystem.