Databricks Solutions Architect

Databricks Solutions ArchitectPerficient is a global AI-first consultancy. Our team of strategists, designers, technologists, and engineers partners with the world's most innovative enterprises and admired brands to deliver real business results through the transformative power of AI. As part of our AI-First strategy, we empower every employee to build AI fluency and actively engage with AI tools to drive innovation and efficiency. We break boundaries, obsess over outcomes, and shape the future for our clients. Join a company where bold ideas and brilliant minds converge to redefine what's possible - while building a career filled with growth, balance, and purpose.Perficient currently has a career opportunity for a Databricks Solutions Architect to join our team located in the United States. This role is primarily office-based at a local Perficient location, with travel and on-site client engagements expected as needed.Job OverviewThe Solutions Architect is expected to be knowledgeable in two or more technologies within the Data & Analytics domain. The Solutions Architect may or may not have a programming background, but will have expert infrastructure architecture, client presales / presentation, team management and thought leadership skills. You will provide best-fit architectural solutions for one or more projects; you will assist in defining scope and sizing of work; and anchor Proof of Concept developments. You will provide solution architecture for business problems, perform platform integration with third party services, and design and develop complex features for clients' business needs.You will collaborate with some of the best talent in the industry to create and implement innovative high quality solutions, participate in Sales and various pursuits focused on our clients' business needs. You will also contribute in a variety of roles in thought leadership, mentorship, systems analysis, architecture, design, configuration, testing, debugging, and documentation. You will challenge your leading edge solutions, consultative and business skills through the diversity of work in multiple industry domains.The Perficient Data & Analytics Solutions organization supports a wide variety of clients, technologies, and applications. Our Team members drive innovation in the arena of data and analytics solutions. We work on innovative digital transformation deployment for various clients across the globe. We had explosive growth in the last few years to meet the demands of a massive transition to digital with an AI First approach. Our practice groups include Artificial Intelligence, Analytics, Content Management, Data Governance, Data Management, Data Strategy and Search.Perficient is always looking for the best and brightest talent and we need you! We're a quickly growing, global digital consulting leader, and we're transforming the world's largest enterprises and biggest brands. You'll work with the latest technologies, expand your skills, and become a part of our global community of talented, diverse, and knowledgeable colleagues.ResponsibilitiesDrive project requirements by interviewing business and IT stakeholders.Own and aggressively drive forward end-to-end Lakehouse and AI solutions. Provide architectural solutions/designs to project execution teams for implementation.Architect Databricks solutions on various Cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, and GCP). This includes multi-cloud integration, data ingestion and streaming, data transformation, data modeling, data governance and data sharing.Architect Databricks AI/BI solutions that drive business insights with Databricks ML, AI and BI features.Integrate Databricks solutions with cloud platforms like Azure (ADF, ADLS, Event Hub, Azure DevOps) or AWS (S3, Lamda, Glue).Evaluate and integrate innovative solutions with GenAI, Delta Live Tables/Lakeflow, Lakebridge, etc.Design and implement analytical data models and star schemas for BI and AI consumption.Provide architectural assessments, strategies, and roadmaps for one or more technological domains.Work with Product Owner and Business SMEs to understand functional requirements and interact with other cross-functional teams to architect, design, develop, test, and release features.Project and solution estimation and team structure definition.Develop Proof-of-Concept projects to validate new architectures and solutions.Support multiple Agile Scrum teams with planning, scoping and creation of technical solutions for the new product capabilities throughout continuous delivery to production.Liaise with offshore team and clients for resolving technical dependencies, issues, and risks.Mentor and provide architectural guidance to multiple teams building innovative applications.Drive common vision, practice and capabilities across teams.Engage with Technical Architects and technical staff to determine the most appropriate technical strategy and designs to meet business needs.Demonstrate broad solutions technical leadership, impacting significant technical direction, exerting influence outside of the immediate team and driving change.QualificationsMinimum of 10 years of professional experience with Data Management and Cloud technologies including Enterprise Data Warehouses, Data Lakes and Lakehouses3-5 years of professional experience with Databricks and Lakehouse Architecture.4-5 years of hands-on experience with big data technologies such Spark, Hadoop, Kafka, Data Lakehouse.Experience implementing, designing, and building solutions leveraging Databricks Unity Catalog, ML/AI and Workflows.At least 3 Databricks project implementations that exploit the full capabilities (discover, design, implement and optimize) – is a MUST.At least 5 Years architecting ETL/ELT solutions using commercial tools.Proficiency with Classic ML/AI, Gen AI and Agentic AI type solutions and architectures.DevOps experience with Databricks CI/CD (Asset Bundles), Git, TerraformDesign and architecture experience supporting both batched and streaming workloads for Big Data Pipelines.At least 3 years of experience in a professional services company, consulting firm, or agencyHave a solid understanding of delivery methodology and lead teams in the implementation of the solution according to the designed architecture.Experience in project and solution estimation and team structure definition.Fluent and current on architecture trends with an eye on market/technical conditions and future direction.Experience in defining new architectures and ability to drive an independent project from an architectural standpoint.Demonstrated ability to leverage AI tools to enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and support data-informed task execution.Familiarity with AI-enhanced platforms is a plus.A solid understanding of AI capabilities and limitations including ethical considerations is expectedDemonstrated success in performing work and managing complex and/or large consulting projects.Proficient in authoring, editing and presenting technical documents.Ability to elicit requirements and communicate clearly with non-technical individuals, development teams, and other ancillary project members.Strong written and oral communication skills; Ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical staff.Track record of leadership roles delivering solutions within defined timeframesExperience working with a globally distributed team and managing off-shore teamsDesire to mentor younger team members and develop their skills.Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field.Preferred Skills & EducationMaster's degree in Computer Science or related fieldCertification in Databricks (Champion or Professional), Apache Spark and/or Cloud Platforms (AWS/Azure) preferred.Leadership and team management experience with the ability to provide strategic planning and oversightExperience leading customer workshop sessions to educate customers on the latest technology trends and best practices.Perficient, Inc. proudly provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a protected veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Perficient, Inc. complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. Perficient, Inc. expressly prohibits any form of unlawful employee harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or covered veterans. Improper interference with the ability of Perficient, Inc. employees to perform their expected job duties is absolutely not tolerated.Disability Accommodations: Perficient is committed to providing a barrier-free employment process with reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. 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