About this role.
This senior customer-facing technical leadership role owns data and AI architecture strategy for complex enterprise retail and CPG accounts. The Solutions Architect drives Databricks platform adoption, leads migrations and real-time/AI implementations, and aligns technical decisions with customer business outcomes. The position requires expert Python, SQL, and ideally Spark/PySpark skills, alongside deep knowledge of distributed data platforms, governance, and cloud-native systems. It also carries substantial executive-facing, competitive positioning, mentoring, and cross-functional orchestration responsibilities. The role is remote within the United Kingdom, with Leeds or Manchester referenced as locations.
Role DNA
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Job Complexity
5/5Pace & Pressure
5/5Autonomy Level
5/5Communication Load
5/5Salary analysis
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Core skills
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Sample interview questions
I would begin by defining business domains, data products, latency requirements, governance needs, and target outcomes. I would implement layered ingestion and transformation patterns, use streaming pipelines for near-real-time sources, establish centralized cataloging and access controls, and create reliable feature and model-serving workflows. I would also define observability, cost controls, data-quality checks, and a phased migration plan tied to measurable adoption milestones.
I would frame the discussion around the executive's business objectives rather than platform features, quantify the cost and risk of the current state, and present a practical target architecture with a phased value realization plan. I would use a focused proof of value to validate key assumptions, communicate trade-offs clearly, and establish success metrics such as faster insight delivery, improved reliability, or increased user adoption.
I first assess the incumbent's footprint, stakeholder priorities, technical pain points, contractual constraints, and migration risks. I then develop a differentiated architecture and business case focused on the customer's highest-value workloads, validate it through a targeted technical evaluation, and build an incremental migration roadmap. Throughout the process, I coordinate sales, specialists, partners, and product teams to address both technical and organizational objections.
I would inspect the query plan, Spark UI metrics, partitioning strategy, data skew, join patterns, shuffle volume, file sizes, and cluster utilization. Typical improvements include filtering and projecting early, selecting appropriate join strategies, addressing skew, compacting small files, optimizing storage layouts, and tuning partition counts and compute configuration. I would benchmark changes against agreed latency and cost targets before production rollout.
I would involve them in account planning, discovery, architecture reviews, and customer workshops with progressively greater ownership. I would provide structured feedback on technical design, executive communication, and prioritization, while using reusable patterns and post-engagement retrospectives to accelerate learning. For critical decisions, I would remain accountable while creating safe opportunities for them to lead defined workstreams.
JOB ID: FEQ427R333
Location: Leeds/Manchester, United Kingdom – remote contract
Industry: Enterprise Retail or CPG (UKI Enterprise)
The Role
As a Sr. Solutions Architect, you are an expert-level technical leader responsible for the organisation’s most complex customer engagements. You drive consumption strategy, own executive-level relationships, and serve as the definitive technical authority for your accounts. You have declared your archetype—a recognised technical specialisation that makes you a force multiplier across your team and region. You operate at the intersection of deep technical expertise, strategic account planning, and executive influence.
The Impact You Will Have
- Drive the technical and consumption strategy for the organisation’s most complex customer engagements, directly influencing platform adoption and revenue growth.
- Own senior-level technical relationships — serving as a trusted advisor on enterprise data and AI strategy
- Lead the most complex architecture engagements: multi-workload platforms, enterprise-wide migrations, real-time systems, and AI/ML at scale
- Operate as an Expert on the Databricks Platform with a declared archetype — actively mentoring others and driving horizontal impact across your team
- Develop and execute competitive strategies for your customers, positioning Databricks against incumbent and emerging platforms
- Orchestrate cross-functional teams (DSAs, SSAs, Partners, Product) to deliver enterprise-grade solutions
- Coach and develop junior SAs (L3–L5) on technical depth, customer engagement, and use case prioritisation
- Contribute to Field Engineering thought leadership through customer-facing content, workshops, and community engagement
What We Look For
- 8+ years in solutions architecture, principal engineering, technical pre-sales leadership, or a senior customer-facing technical role
- Expert-level coding proficiency — Python, SQL, and ideally Spark/PySpark. You will complete a live coding assessment and a platform build during the interview
- Deep expertise in enterprise data architecture: distributed systems at scale, streaming/real-time, lakehouse design patterns, data governance frameworks, and cloud-native platforms
- Expert-level Databricks Platform knowledge (or equivalent depth in competing platforms with demonstrated rapid learning ability)
- Declared technical specialisation with recognised depth — e.g., real-time architectures, ML/AI platforms, data governance, large-scale migrations, or industry-specific solutions
- Proven track record of driving consumption growth and platform adoption in large accounts
- Executive presence — ability to influence Directors, VPs, and C-level stakeholders on long-term data and AI strategy
- Experience leading competitive displacements and complex enterprise evaluations
- Strong strategic thinking — connecting technical architecture decisions to business outcomes and revenue impact
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a quantitative discipline (or equivalent experience); advanced degrees are valued
Nice to Have:
- Databricks certifications
- Prior experience at Databricks, Snowflake, AWS, Google, Microsoft, or a top-tier data/AI company
- Published thought leadership (blogs, conference talks, open source contributions)
- Industry experience in Retail or Consumer Packaged Goods with executive-level domain credibility
Interview Process: Recruiter Screen → Hiring Manager Screen → Design and Architecture Interview → Live Coding Assessment → Build, Demo, Pitch! Presentation → Reference Check
About Databricks
Databricks is the Data and AI company. More than 20,000 organizations worldwide — including adidas, AT&T, Bayer, Block, Mastercard, Rivian, Unilever, and 70% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Data + AI Platform to build and scale data and AI apps, analytics and agents. Headquartered in San Francisco with 30+ offices around the globe, Databricks offers a unified platform that includes Genie, Lakebase, Agent Bricks, Lakeflow, Lakehouse, and Unity Catalog. To learn more, follow Databricks on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and Instagram.
Benefits
At Databricks, we strive to provide comprehensive benefits and perks that meet the needs of all of our employees. For specific details on the benefits offered in your region click here.
Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
At Databricks, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture where everyone can excel. We take great care to ensure that our hiring practices are inclusive and meet equal employment opportunity standards. Individuals looking for employment at Databricks are considered without regard to age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other protected characteristics.
Compliance
If access to export-controlled technology or source code is required for performance of job duties, it is within Employer’s discretion whether to apply for a U.S. government license for such positions, and Employer may decline to proceed with an applicant on this basis alone.
Annual salary information is not provided for this position. Explore salary ranges for similar roles in our Salary Directory ›
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