# Specialist Solutions Architect - Data Engineering

**Company**: Databricks
**Location**: Amsterdam, Netherlands
**Work arrangement**: hybrid
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: contract
**Category**: Engineering
**Industry**: Technology
**Wikidata**: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18350420

**Apply**: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/databricks/jobs/8870159002?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_f5068279-922

## Description

As a Specialist Solutions Architect (SSA) – Data Engineering, you are a hands-on technical authority who guides strategic customers in designing, building, and optimising production-grade data workloads on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform.

Partnering closely with Account Teams and Solution Architects, you translate complex big data challenges into high-performance, scalable architectures using Apache Spark and modern streaming frameworks.

In this role, you will drive successful implementations, align technical roadmaps to accelerate platform adoption, and establish deep domain specialisation; whether in real-time streaming, performance optimisation, or operational data layers, while expanding your impact across Field Engineering.

## The impact you will have:

- Drive Technical Wins & Scope: Lead end-to-end technical design, proof of concepts (PoCs), and workload sizing for strategic customer engagements, acting as a trusted advisor to front-line technical stakeholders to secure technical wins.

- Architect Production Data Systems: Design, build, and optimise scalable, high-performance batch and streaming pipelines, operational data layers (Lakebase), and end-to-end performance load testing on Databricks.

- Deploy Interactive Data Applications: Build and operationalise custom user-facing data applications using Databricks Apps, transforming data pipelines and AI models into interactive tools.

- AI-Native Engineering: Leverage AI coding assistants, LLMs, and agentic workflows (e.g., Genie Code, Cursor) as a force multiplier to rapidly prototype, debug, and deliver architectural assets with full ownership of outputs.

- Enablement & Domain Leadership: Mentor peers, contribute reusable architecture assets, and deliver technical workshops and community presentations to scale expertise across accounts and field teams.

## What we look for:

- Deep Data Engineering Expertise: 5+ years in data or software engineering with hands-on proficiency in distributed processing (Apache Spark, Delta Lake, SDP) and real-time streaming technologies (Spark Streaming, Kafka, CDC).

- AI-First Builder Mindset: Demonstrated daily reliance on AI coding tools and LLMs to accelerate pipeline development, troubleshooting, and asset generation.

- Production Programming & Foundations: Strong production coding skills in Python, SQL, and Scala or Java, with a solid grasp of data modelling and system design fundamentals.

- Customer Advisory & Delivery: 5+ years in pre-sales or post-sales technical consulting, managing customer engagements and navigating multi-stakeholder technical discussions.

- Operational & HTAP Architectures: Practical experience with operational/transactional data layers (Postgres/OLTP), low-latency serving, reverse ETL, and hybrid transactional/analytical processing.

## Nice to haves:

- Cloud & Migration Mastery: Hands-on experience with major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and legacy data lake modernisation (e.g., Hadoop migration and cost optimisation).

- Application Experience: Background in constructing specialised data applications (e.g., risk modelling, fraud detection, customer lifetime value) across industries as a data expert.

- Ecosystem & Culture Contribution: Active track record of technical community engagement, public speaking, open-source contributions, or peer mentoring and interviewing.

- Flexibility & Travel: Ability to travel up to 30% for strategic customer engagements and internal alignment.

## Notes on the role:

- This will be an office-based contract (Amsterdam), with a hybrid schedule, requiring up to 30% travel when needed for customer visits, events & trainings.

- An initial 12-month fixed-term contract is to be offered, with the expectation of extending/converting to FTE upon successful completion of the probation period.

## Skills

### Required
- Apache Spark
- Delta Lake
- SDP
- Spark Streaming
- Kafka
- CDC
- Python
- SQL
- Scala
- Java
- Postgres
- OLTP

### Nice to have
- AWS
- Azure
- GCP
- Hadoop migration
- cost optimisation
- risk modelling
- fraud detection
- customer lifetime value

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Source: [Apply at job-boards.greenhouse.io](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/databricks/jobs/8870159002?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)