Databricks Resident Solutions Architect (RSA)

Job Title: Databricks Resident Solutions Architect (RSA)
Location: Remote
Rate: $75 85/hr

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced Databricks Resident Solutions Architect (RSA) to engage directly with customers on professional services engagements. This is a hands-on, delivery-focused consulting role where you will design, build, and support production-grade data engineering, analytics, and AI/ML solutions on the Databricks platform across cloud environments.

The ideal candidate is technically deep, customer-facing, and comfortable owning real-world implementations while acting as a trusted advisor to client teams.

Core Responsibilities

• Engage with customers on short- to mid-term professional services projects using Databricks (data engineering, data science, cloud).

• Design and implement reference architectures and production-level big data and AI solutions.

• Collaborate with project managers, customer teams, and internal engineering/support teams to ensure successful delivery.

• Provide escalated technical support and operational assistance to unblock customer engagements.

• Work hands-on writing code in Python and/or Scala, leveraging Apache Spark and distributed compute.

• Integrate solutions across cloud ecosystems (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform).

• Scope new engagements and support sales/pre-sales by estimating effort and defining deliverables (as needed).

• Provide product and engineering feedback based on customer engagements to improve platform capabilities.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in data engineering, data platforms, and analytics.

• 8+ years of hands-on technical experience; 10+ years of consulting experience preferred.

• Strong coding skills in Python and/or Scala.

• Deep experience with Apache Spark, including distributed computing and Spark runtime internals.

• Hands-on experience delivering 6 8+ Databricks projects in production environments.

• Working knowledge of AWS, Azure, and/or Google Cloud Platform, with deep expertise in at least one cloud provider.

• Experience with CI/CD, production deployments, and MLOps.

• Strong client-facing, communication, and consulting skills.

• Databricks Data Engineering Professional certification and required coursework preferred.

What You Should Expect from the Role

• Billable professional services role delivering real implementations, not just strategy.

• Technically deep work involving design, development, debugging, and performance optimization.

• Exposure to customer escalations, operational challenges, and migration scenarios.

• Engagements across industries, workloads (ETL, streaming, AI/ML), and cloud platforms.

• Opportunity to influence how customers adopt Databricks for data and AI transformation.

Consulting & Advisory Expectations

• Act as a trusted technical advisor with clarity and authority.

• Simplify complex technical concepts for business stakeholders.

• Build trust early, set realistic expectations, and consistently over-deliver.

• Assess build vs. buy tradeoffs and highlight Databricks scalability and maintainability.

• Address performance concerns through benchmarking, bake-offs, and phased migration plans.

• Align closely with account teams to ensure consistent messaging and delivery.