Databricks Migration Engineer (US Citizens)

Tier One Technologies is seeking a Databricks Migration Engineer to support our US Government client. This remote Contract-to-Hire position involves leading the migration to Databricks Lakehouse, optimizing data processes, and ensuring best practices in data governance and security.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the technical migration from legacy SQL Server stored procedures and ADF pipelines to Databricks Lakehouse (Delta Lake), ensuring best practice Lakehouse design
• Translate traditional relational data warehousing paradigms into scalable, distributed Lakehouse frameworks (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
• Design robust, reusable ETL/ELT frameworks using PySpark, Delta Live Tables (DLT), and Databricks Workflows
• Architect and refine the Gold Layer (dimensional models, star schemas) specifically to maximize Power BI performance
• Optimize Databricks SQL Warehouses to support high-concurrency, low-latency Power BI queries (DirectQuery and Import modes)
• Implement advanced optimization techniques, including Z-Ordering, data skipping, liquid clustering, and materialized views
• Define and enforce governance standards for cluster sizing, auto-scaling policies, and serverless SQL compute to balance performance with cost
• Implement proactive monitoring dashboards to track Databricks Unit (DBU) consumption and identify cost-saving opportunities
• Establish best practices for partition strategies and file size management within Delta Lake
• Design and implement a robust data security model using Unity Catalog for centralized governance
• Enforce row-level and column-level security policies to ensure compliant data access for Power BI consumers and internal analysts
• Align the Lakehouse security architecture with existing enterprise Azure Active Directory (Microsoft Entra ID) and RBAC standards
• Act as the primary technical lead, conducting dedicated pair-programming sessions, workshops, and code reviews to transition the team from SQL-centric to Spark-centric thinking
• Create comprehensive technical documentation, including architecture diagrams, design patterns, and optimization playbooks
• Build a foundational knowledge transfer framework to ensure the internal team is fully self-sufficient post-migration
• Communicate effectively verbally and in written form to both technical and non-technical audience
• Work in an organized fashion, completing tasks timely while paying close attention to details

Requirements:

• Must be a US Citizen
• Bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
• 5+ years of experience in Data Engineering, Data System Development or related roles
• 5+ years of experience with Cloud platforms (e.g. Azure, AWS, GCP)
• 1+ year leading complex, cross-functional data projects and technical teams
• Experience with Databricks Lakehouse, Apache Spark, Delta Lake, cloud-native databases, storage solutions, and distributed compute platforms
• Experience with data warehousing, dimensional modeling, enterprise data lakes, incremental data loads, and metadata-driven ingestion and data quality frameworks using PySpark
• Excellent communication skills
• Must be able to obtain a Position of Public Trust Clearance
• Must have resided in the US for the last 5 years and not have traveled outside the US for a combined total of 6 months or more in last 5 years