Staff Data Platform Architect (Databricks) (210325)

Staff Data Platform Architect (Databricks)Hartford, CT, hybrid (on-site 3 days per week)Department: Data & Analytics PlatformBusiness Unit: Infrastructure and Cloud ServicesReports To: Senior Director, Data PlatformThe target hiring compensation range for this role is $55-57 / hourly as a W2 employee.Holidays and vacation days taken are unpaid.Compensation is based on several factors including, but not limited to education, relevant work experience, relevant certifications, and location. Additional benefits offered may include; medical health insurance and dental insurance, life insurance, and eligibility to participate in a 401k plan with company match.Role Overview:We are seeking a Staff Data Platform Architect to serve as the primary technical consultant and strategist for our enterprise Databricks ecosystem. This is a high-impact, senior individual contributor role focused on driving technical excellence, automation, and fiscal efficiency.Unlike a traditional administrator, you will act as an internal consultant to our extensive Databricks team, providing the blueprint for scalable pipelines, advanced automation, and long-term capacity forecasting. You will bridge the gap between complex infrastructure (Unix/Linux) and modern AI/ML workflows, ensuring our platform is both cutting-edge and cost-effective.Key Responsibilities:Strategic Consultation & ArchitectureAct as the Technical Authority for Databricks, advising engineering teams on Unity Catalog governance, workspace topology, and complex migration patterns.Consult on the design of high-performance data pipelines, specifically optimizing Delta Live Tables (DLT) and structured streaming for scale.Partner with teams using Ab Initio and Fivetran to ensure seamless integration and architectural alignment across the multi-platform ecosystem.Platform Optimization & Financial ForecastingCapacity Planning: Own the forecasting of DBU consumption and partner with leadership on multi-year contract utilization and commitment management.Cost Engineering: Design and implement sophisticated cost-attribution models (chargeback/showback) and proactively identify "leaks" in compute spend.Performance Tuning: Define enterprise standards for Z-ordering, partitioning, and compute strategy to maximize performance-per-dollar.Advanced Automation & AI OperationsArchitect "self-healing" infrastructure through Python and Bash automation, reducing manual toil for the wider engineering team.Consult on the operationalization of ML models, leveraging MLflow and Model Serving to move experiments into production.Guide the integration of Generative AI and LLM-backed workflows into the standard data engineering lifecycle.Infrastructure & Linux EngineeringProvide deep-tier expertise for the Unix/Linux environments underpinning our compute nodes.Develop advanced automation scripts for cluster lifecycle management, monitoring, and security hardening.Required QualificationsExperience: 7+ years in Data Engineering/Platform roles, with at least 4 years of deep architectural experience in Databricks.The "Consultant" Mindset: Proven ability to advise multiple teams, influence technical roadmaps, and communicate complex trade-offs to senior leadership.Technical Depth: Mastery of Unity Catalog, Delta Lake, and PySpark.Systems Expertise: Strong proficiency in Unix/Linux systems administration and shell scripting (Bash) for infrastructure automation.Financial Acumen: Experience managing cloud consumption (DBUs), forecasting usage, and implementing cost-governance tools.Tooling: High proficiency with Git-based CI/CD and experience in Oracle environments.Preferred QualificationsHands-on experience with Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform/Ansible) for Databricks provider.Exposure to Ab Initio or Fivetran in a large-scale enterprise environment.Background in highly regulated industries (e.g., Finance or Insurance).About Aquent:Aquent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world's biggest brands.Our eligible talent has access to amazing benefits like subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match.Aquent is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We're about creating an inclusive environment—one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.