Principal Databricks Architect

Role Description

The Principal Databricks Architect will shape and scale our Databricks-based data science and AI platform, and to lead where our practice is heading: a governed, self-service environment that lets data science teams move from idea to production with minimal friction. As the technical leader of the platform, this individual brings design thinking to mature the platform as a product—designing reusable capabilities, patterns, and guardrails that empower actuarial, data science, and analytics teams to independently develop, train, deploy, and operate models and AI agents. The ideal candidate pairs deep architectural expertise with a strong enablement mindset, engaging directly with diverse data science communities to understand their workflows and remove barriers to adoption. They will modernize our platform around the latest Databricks capabilities—Unity Catalog governance, Mosaic AI and Agent Bricks, Genie, Lakeflow, and Lakebase—while ensuring interoperability with our Snowflake enterprise data platform through open formats such as Apache Iceberg. This is a highly visible role that sets technical direction, champions frictionless developer experience, enforces least-privileged access and data governance, and enables global, cost-efficient deployment of AI in compliance with data sovereignty requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Arts/Sciences (BA/BS) Computer Science or equivalent education and experience - Required
• 10+ years progressive experience in enterprise-level IT functions - Required
• 7+ years experience in managing large enterprise data initiatives and teams - Required
• 5+ years architecting and operating enterprise-grade data and AI/ML platforms, with hands-on Databricks and Apache Spark experience on a major cloud (AWS preferred; Azure or GCP) - Required

Requirements

• Modern Databricks Expertise: Deep knowledge of the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform—Unity Catalog, Delta Lake/Iceberg, Lakeflow/Delta Live Tables, MLflow, Model Serving, AI Agent Framework/Agent Bricks, Lakebase, and Genie—plus lakehouse architecture, ETL/ELT, and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Databricks Asset Bundles) - Required
• Data Science Enablement: Demonstrated success building self-service platform capabilities and developer experiences that empower data science teams, along with a ModelOps track record covering lifecycle management, versioning, governance, and deployment automation - Required
• Consulting & Communication: Strong consulting, stakeholder management, and communication skills, with a track record of influencing senior leadership and driving technology adoption - Required
• Innovation & Initiative: Demonstrated ability to drive innovation, introduce contemporary practices, and lead technology transformations - Required
• Thought Leadership: Ability to define and communicate architecture vision, roadmaps, and best practices to both technical and non-technical audiences - Preferred
• Continuous Improvement: Passion for learning, sharing knowledge, and staying ahead of industry trends in data and AI - Preferred
• Platform-as-a-Product Mindset: Passion for delivering frictionless, self-service experiences and measurable business value—treating internal data science teams as customers and continuously improving their journey from prototype to production - Preferred
• Interoperability Experience: Familiarity integrating Databricks with Snowflake and other engines via open standards (Apache Iceberg, Unity Catalog/Lakehouse federation) to minimize data duplication and governance gaps - Preferred
• Availability for cross-time-zone meetings - Preferred

Benefits

• Gain valuable knowledge from and experience with diverse, caring colleagues around the world.
• Enjoy a respectful, welcoming environment that fosters individuality and encourages pioneering thought.
• Join the bright and creative minds of RGA, and experience vast, endless career potential.
• Compensation Range: $126,710.00 - $188,840.00 Annual.
• RGA provides an annual bonus plan that includes all roles and some positions are eligible for participation in our long-term equity incentive plan.
• RGA maintains a full range of health, retirement, and other employee benefits.