Principal Architect

A key Optimus client is currently seeking a Principal Architect with Databricks to join their team located here in Houston! This is a permanent hire role located onsite and in the office 4 days a week in Houston. Per our client's specifications, candidates are required to be US Citizens, Green Card holders, or independently authorized to work in the US. We are unable to provide H-1B visa sponsorship/transfer at this time. No third party organizations please.

Why Join Us

• Career Growth: Advance your career with opportunities for leadership and personal development.
• Culture of Excellence: Be part of a supportive team that values your input and encourages innovation.
• Competitive Benefits: Enjoy a comprehensive benefits package that looks after both your professional and personal needs.

A Day In The Life

The Principal Architect is part of a team building and supporting the core enterprise data & machine learning platform. The Principal Architect should be self-driven and be able to work in a federated team environment, advising on best practice architectural patterns & balancing the needs of individual data analytics & machine learning use cases against overall enterprise architecture principles in architecting & building the data/machine learning platform.

The ideal candidate should have strong knowledge of computer science, Databricks, DevOps, MLOps, CI/CD, and platform automation with an application programming background. The architect will be responsible for designing and building automated processes, keeping reproducibility, auditability, and traceability in view of all deliverables.

This person will demonstrate an ability to manage complex, high-quantity, and often contradictory information to solve problems effectively, apply business knowledge to advance organizational goals, and comfortably navigate complex policy, people, and process-related organizational dynamics.

This is a practical, hands-on role, not a TOGAF/Zackman or other theoretical one. The ideal candidate should have started their career as a software engineer and subsequently honed their architectural expertise through leading teams in the software engineering and product development of large, multi-tenant software applications. This individual is expected to be a thought leader, proficient in building consensus and establishing strong links between business and technology sectors. They must uphold objectivity and have a profound grasp of the fact that effective architecture is essential for the organization's success in meeting its business goals and objectives.

As a Principal Architect, you will:

• Lead creation & evolution of the data & ML platform under the guidance of the Chief Architect and in partnership with BU data science, engineering & architecture teams.
• Develop solutions roadmap and phased implementation approach for tech platforms deliver strategic business objectives.
• Balance individual needs for platform and tools against overall enterprise and BU-level architectural principles
• Ensure platforms and tools are not overlapping or duplicated.
• Provide guidance to balance tradeoffs between development speed and build-up of technical debt, as well as increased run costs due to sub-optimized code.
• Monitor the market for new architectural patterns; recommend new technologies to enhance existing technical infrastructure where relevant to the program's needs.
• Lead and design procedures for reviewing and integrating new components to existing cross-functional tech platforms used for Trailblazer
• Build & maintain a core data platform with high automation & ease of use by data scientists & engineers within each business unit.
• Responsibly receive, transmit, and handle consumer and customer data per applicable policies and procedures.
• Review and follow data privacy practices, policies, and guidelines.
• Formulate solution plans and provide guidance on designing automated delivery pipelines and best practices.
• Do tool analysis and selection and implement automation frameworks and approaches for different application platforms.
• Do hands on prototyping of new tools, libraries, frameworks, and architectural patterns. This hands-on approach is aimed at demonstrating to platform users that the proposed architecture goes beyond theoretical exercises, providing tangible, proven benefits.
• Evaluate and improve developer productivity by continuously assessing DevSecOps value stream.
• Identify emerging automation techniques to help improve DevSecOps & MLOps toolchain.
• Ensure the Data/ML platform is fault-tolerant, highly available, follow 12-factor app standards where possible, and efficiently and effectively use computing resources.

What We Need From You

• Bachelor's Degree in computer science from a four-year college or university Req
• 10 years' experience in Computer Science, or equivalent combination of education and/or experience Required
• Certifications specific to Application Development, agile methods, machine learning, data platforms of focus are a strong advantage Required