Azure Data Architect

Job Summary

Job Title: Azure Databricks Architect

Job Summary:

The Azure Databricks Architect is responsible for designing, building, and optimizing scalable data platforms and analytics solutions on Microsoft Azure using Azure Databricks. The role involves architecting end-to-end data pipelines, ensuring data governance, and enabling advanced analytics and AI solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and implement scalable data architectures using Azure services
• Build and optimize ETL/ELT pipelines using Azure Databricks and Apache Spark
• Architect data lake and data warehouse solutions using Azure Data Lake and Azure Synapse Analytics
• Define data modeling strategies (batch & real-time processing)
• Ensure data security, governance, and compliance standards
• Collaborate with stakeholders to understand business requirements and translate them into technical solutions
• Optimize performance and cost efficiency of data workloads
• Implement CI/CD pipelines for data engineering workflows
• Mentor and guide data engineers and development teams
• Integrate advanced analytics, AI, and ML solutions when required

Skill Requirements

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Strong experience with Azure Databricks and Spark (PySpark/Scala)
• Hands-on experience with Azure services (ADF, ADLS, Synapse, Event Hub)
• Expertise in big data architecture and distributed systems
• Strong knowledge of SQL, Python, and data engineering concepts
• Experience with data modeling techniques (star schema, dimensional modeling)
• Understanding of real-time streaming (Kafka/Event Hub)
• Knowledge of DevOps and CI/CD practices

Strong Development Area:

Data Engineering Foundations

Batch vs streaming; lakehouse concepts; medallion (Bronze/Silver/Gold); file formats (Parquet/Delta/CSV/JSON/Avro); partitioning & clustering; schema evolution; data governance basics; DevOps/CI-CD for data.

SQL

Joins, subqueries, CTEs, window functions, set operations; aggregation & rollups; MERGE/UPSERT; analytic functions; performance (indexes, partition pruning, statistics); data validation scenarios (dedupe, top-N, SCD keys).

Apache Spark (Core)

Spark architecture (driver/executors), DAG, stages/tasks; RDD vs DataFrame/Dataset; wide vs narrow transformations; shuffle mechanics; caching/persistence; partitioning; broadcast joins; skew handling; checkpointing; job tuning.

PySpark

DataFrame API, Spark SQL; UDF vs pandas UDF; windowing; incremental loads; structured streaming (triggers, watermarks); handling semi-structured data; optimizing with predicates, pushdown, join strategies; error handling; unit testing (pytest + chispa).

Databricks Platform

Workspace basics; clusters (Single Node/All-Purpose/Jobs), cluster policies; DBR/LTS; notebooks & Repos; Jobs & Workflows; Delta Lake & Delta Live Tables; Unity Catalog (catalog/schema/table, permissions, lineage); MLflow basics; secret scopes; DBFS; REST APIs; Databricks Connect.

Delta Lake / Lakehouse Patterns

ACID transactions; schema enforcement/evolution; time travel; OPTIMIZE/ZORDER; VACUUM; CDC patterns (MERGE INTO, change data feed); streaming vs batch Delta; expectations/constraints; table maintenance strategies.

Orchestration & Scheduling

Databricks Workflows; Azure Data Factory/Synapse pipelines; triggers; parameter passing; fail/retry; alerts; integration with AutoSys/Control-M/Jenkins/GitHub Actions; event-driven patterns.

Python (Core for Data)

Core syntax; typing & data structures; file I/O; logging; virtual environments; packaging; testing (pytest); common data libs (pandas, pyarrow); error handling; performance considerations (vectorization, generators).

Data Quality & Testing

Great Expectations/dbx expectations or custom checks; unit/integration tests; reconciliation (row/amount); anomaly detection; contract testing for schemas; data observability (metrics, SLAs, freshness).

Security & Governance

Unity Catalog permissions, row/column-level security; secrets management (Key Vault/Secret scopes); PII handling; audit logs; token management; compliance basics.

Cost & Performance Optimization

Cluster sizing, autoscaling; DBU awareness; spot/preemptible instances; storage formats; caching; efficient joins; job scheduling; monitoring with metrics & Ganglia/Spark UI; cost tagging and chargeback.

Analytical Skills & Problem Solving

Break down data problems; root-cause incidents; propose alternatives; estimate complexity; communicate clearly with stakeholders.

Stake Holder Management

Interaction with Client Stakeholders, Communication.

Other Requirements

1. Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (Recommended)

2. Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate (Optional But Valuable