Sentara is hiring for a Lead Databricks Administrator - Remote!

Overview

We are seeking a Lead Databricks Administrator to lead the administration, optimization, and evolution of our enterprise data ecosystem. This senior-level position will ensure reliable, secure, and high-performing database environments while advancing team expertise across Databricks, Databricks Lakehouse, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Cosmos DB, and AI-integrated data operations.

The successful candidate will act as a technical leader, mentor, and cross-functional collaborator ensuring the seamless integration of emerging technologies into our data platform strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead administration, configuration, and support of Databricks, Databricks Lakehouse, Microsoft SQL Server, and Cosmos DB environments.
• Ensure data integrity, performance, availability, and security across multiple database technologies.
• Perform advanced SQL database administration, including backup/recovery, performance tuning, replication, clustering, and maintenance automation.
• Configure and tune database parameters; define data repository requirements, schemas, and governance standards.
• Provide actionable platform performance insights, usage analytics, and capacity planning reports to leadership.
• Develop and maintain runbooks, SOPs, and troubleshooting guides for database and platform operations.
• Design and implement automation, monitoring, and infrastructure-as-code solutions (Databricks CLI, REST APIs, Terraform).
• Act as a senior technical escalation point, collaborating with engineering teams to resolve complex or high-impact issues.
• Identify and integrate platform enhancements that improve reliability, observability, and scalability.
• Mentor team members to build competency in Databricks, Databricks Lakehouse, Microsoft SQL Server, Cosmos DB, and AI-focused technologies.
• Participate in both weekday and weekend on-call rotations to ensure 24/7 operational coverage

Core Technical Skills and Experience

Databricks Administration (Required)

• 5 years of hands-on Databricks experience in an Azure cloud environment.
• Expertise with Unity Catalog, external locations, access control, and data governance.
• Experience managing secrets and credentials using enterprise tools (Azure Key Vault, AWS Secrets Manager).
• Proficiency with automation and infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform, CLI, REST APIs).
• Strong experience with Spark optimization, Delta Lake management, and schema design for analytics.
• Familiarity with Databricks workflows, job orchestration, monitoring, and recovery strategies.

SQL Database Administration (Required)

• 7 years of experience supporting and administering Microsoft SQL Server databases.
• Strong skills in query tuning, indexing, backup/restore strategies, replication, and Always On availability groups.
• Knowledge of database security, encryption, and compliance best practices.
• Experience supporting ETL/ELT processes, metadata management, and data quality assurance.

Additional Technical Expertise (Highly Desired)

• Databricks Lakehouse: configuration, tuning, monitoring, replication, and backup/recovery management.
• Cosmos DB: deployment, scaling, sharding, and performance optimization in enterprise environments. 
• AI/ML Integration: familiarity with AI tools and frameworks (Databricks ML flow, Azure AI services) and how they integrate into enterprise data pipelines.
• Scripting and Automation: experience with Python, PowerShell, or Bash for platform automation.
• Cross-platform data integration: experience connecting and managing multi-database architectures and hybrid environments.

Core Competencies

• Strategic problem-solving and analytical thinking.
• Ability to manage complex projects independently with minimal oversight.
• Strong mentoring and knowledge-sharing mindset.
• Effective collaboration across cross-functional and cross-platform teams.
• Commitment to continuous learning and adopting emerging technologies.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, or a related field (Required)

Certification/Licensure

• Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate or Professional (Preferred)
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate (Preferred)
• Databrick Lakehouse or Lakehouse DB Professional Certification (Preferred)

Experience

• Required to have a minimum of 8 years of total experience in database administration, including database design, performance tuning, and backup/recovery strategies
• Required to have 7 years of experience supporting and administering Microsoft SQL Server databases.
• Required to have 5 years of hands-on Databricks experience in an Azure cloud environment.
• Databricks Lakehouse: configuration, tuning, monitoring, replication, and backup/recovery management.
• Hands-on Databricks or Spark experience in a cloud environment