Senior Databricks Engineering Lead

Role Description

We are seeking a forward-thinking Senior Azure Databricks Engineer to lead the design, build, and operation of our data lakehouse that powers analytics and reporting across PNNL Enterprise Systems. This role is central to delivering governed, performant, and reliable data products—especially for ERP and other enterprise—and enabling self-service analytics with Power BI and AI/ML.

• Design and evolve a Databricks‑based architecture that moves data with confidence from source systems to curated gold tables.
• Build robust pipelines using the medallion pattern (Bronze/Silver/Gold) with Delta Lake and Unity Catalog.
• Lead modernization from legacy data warehouses and ETL tools into Azure Databricks.
• Shape CI/CD for Databricks (e.g., DAB, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions) and standardize deployment practices across environments.
• Configure and operate workspaces, clusters, jobs, and workflows; tune for performance and reliability.
• Implement role‑based access controls, data masking, and fine‑grained models with Unity Catalog.
• Guide engineers and analysts in adopting lakehouse best practices and modern data engineering standards.
• Stay current with Azure and Databricks capabilities, recommending and piloting features like Delta Live Tables and Unity Catalog enhancements.

Qualifications

• PhD and 3 years of Software Engineering experience -OR-
• MS/MA and 5 years of Software Engineering experience -OR-
• BS/BA and 7 years of Software Engineering experience -OR-
• AA and 16 years of Software Engineering experience in designing, architecting, programming, deploying, and automating software solutions in support of scientific research or consumer digital product development -OR-
• HS/GED and 18 years of Software Engineering experience in designing, architecting, programming, deploying, and automating software solutions in support of scientific research or consumer digital product development.

• 7+ years of professional data engineering or platform engineering experience, with 3–5+ years focused on cloud data platforms.
• 5+ years of experience operating production Azure Databricks, including Delta Lake, SQL, notebooks, Jobs/Workflows, and cluster management.
• Production experience (3-5+ years) designing and operating ingestion-to-gold pipelines (medallion architecture) for ERP or other complex transactional sources.
• Experience with Azure Data Factory and/or Fabric Data Pipelines for orchestration and integration.
• Familiarity with core Azure services: ADLS Gen2, Key Vault, Azure DevOps or GitHub.
• Strong proficiency in Python and SQL in a Spark/Databricks environment.
• Experience implementing Databricks Asset Bundles (DAB) or equivalent for CI/CD and standardizing deployment workflows.
• Experience using GenAI / LLM-based tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Azure OpenAI, Databricks Genie, or similar) to accelerate and automate engineering tasks.
• Exposure to agentic AI / AI agents (e.g., orchestrating multi-step AI workflows for data quality checks, pipeline monitoring, or support automation) is a plus.

Requirements

• Requires U.S. Citizen, or Person who is currently in the U.S. or U.S. Territory with residency for the preceding 3 continuous years.
• This is not a Testing Designated Position (TDP).

Benefits

• Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance.
• Robust telehealth care options.
• Several mental health benefits.
• Free wellness coaching.
• Health savings account, flexible spending accounts.
• Basic life insurance, disability insurance.
• Employee assistance program, business travel insurance.
• Tuition assistance, relocation, backup childcare.
• Legal benefits, supplemental parental bonding leave, surrogacy and adoption assistance, and fertility support.
• Company-funded pension plan and 401(k) savings plan with company match.
• Up to 120 vacation hours per year and ten paid holidays per year.

Company Description

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a world-class research institution powered by a highly educated, diverse workforce committed to the values of Integrity, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Courage.

At PNNL, you will find an exciting research environment and excellent benefits including health insurance, and flexible work schedules.

PNNL is located in eastern Washington State—the dry side of Washington known for its stellar outdoor recreation and affordable cost of living.