Databricks Solution Architect - London Based (Hybrid)
Who We Are
ThirdEye Consulting is a top-tier Salesforce, Data & AI consultancy!
We specialise in delivering high-impact, complex transformation programmes for ambitious clients. We help forward-thinking organisations tackle serious technical debt, drive their AI agenda, and unlock what's often their most undervalued asset: clean, connected data. As registered partners across multi-cloud providers, we're genuinely technology-agnostic. We choose what's right for the problem, not what's convenient.
AI isn't a bolt-on here. It's woven into how we work, how we deliver, and where we're headed. We have a dedicated AI Innovation team with a real budget, genuine freedom to explore emerging tools, and the kind of open, curious culture that attracts sharp people and keeps them. You'll be working alongside some of the best technical minds in the industry and you'll have the space to grow alongside them
This is a rare combination: the security of a growing, commercially successful consultancy, with the innovation agenda and agility of a company genuinely at the frontier. Here, cutting-edge isn't an aspiration, it's the standard we hold ourselves to every day. You'll get hands-on with the latest technology, help shape the direction of client programmes, and be part of an AI journey, without the risk of being left behind by it.
If you're technically curious, energised by complex problems, and ready to do your best work, this is the place.
The Role
This is our first dedicated Databricks hire, and the technical direction of the practice is yours to set. You'll own the technical solution on our Databricks engagements: designing it, and for the first year or so, getting hands on with implementation.
We've gone live with Databricks internally and for our customers, designing and building solutions that migrate multiple terabytes of on-prem data to the cloud; govern internal and external access through Unity Catalog; run repeatably through the use of declarative ingestion pipelines; and serve our data to consumers such as Salesforce, using federated zero-copy sharing.
Databricks at ThirdEye is growing. This role is how we scale it.
Databricks is a more technical sell and a more technical build than most enterprise platforms. Depth matters. You'll go deep on Lakehouse architecture, own design decisions clients live with for years, and stay close enough to the keyboard to prove they work. You'll also be the technical voice on pursuits, working alongside our industry sellers and co-selling with the Databricks field team.
What you will do
Solution ownership and delivery
Own the end-to-end Databricks solution on client engagements, from discovery through to production and handoverDefine the target architecture and document it properly: HLDs, LLDs, data models, system landscape, security and governance designMake and defend the decisions that matter: workspace and catalog topology, cluster and compute strategy, ingestion patterns, medallion layering, the cost modelRun technical and functional workshops, and land on a design the client's own team can operateOwn delivery quality, including the best practices and patterns the team works toManage stakeholders from data engineers up to senior decision makers and C-level, and be upfront with them when a plan is wrong, needs to change, or isn't going to give them value
Hands-on build
Build it. Pipelines, notebooks, Unity Catalog structures, jobs, and the migration mechanicsWork in Python, Spark and SQL day to day, version-controlled and deployed through CI/CDSolve for problems that only appear at scale: cluster warm-up cost, large-table performance, cross-workspace sharing limits, cloud region capacityEmbrace the unknown. Don't just design for when ingestion connectors, public cloud data stores and out-of-the-box (OOTB) solutions can be used. Every client is different and requires a unique solution. Each one has a different setup, be it unsupported versions of SQL Server, hard-to-access physical data centres, or a blind spot with respect to a cloud application that got acquired a decade agoAs the practice grows, shift from building on Databricks, to designing the solution and directing the team that builds on it, while still getting into the weeds when it makes sense
Practice and reusable IP
Turn what we learn on each engagement into assets we reuse: template notebooks, reference architectures, migration patterns, delivery playbooksSharpen our position on Databricks and where it sits against competing or complementary platformsTake an active part in internal community and professional development sessionsUse AI tools to speed up solutioning and delivery without lowering the quality bar
Coaching and cross-skilling
Enable and coach our existing data and integration team on DatabricksCoach and review the work of more junior engineers, including our Philippines-based dev and QA teamsSet the standard for what good looks like in ThirdEye's Databricks implementations
Pre-sales
Act as the technical voice on Databricks deals: discovery, solution design, scoping and effortBuild POCs and demos that make the business case real for the clientBring your experience, credibility and delivery-honed instincts to the fore when talking to prospects about what works, what doesn't, and how they can get the most from their investment in Databricks
What you have done
Databricks expertise
Acted as lead architect on Databricks implementations covering the full lifecycle, discovery, design and build, through to production release and supportDeep hands-on experience of the core platform: Unity Catalog, Delta Lake, workflows and jobs, declarative pipelines, SQL warehouses, cluster and compute configurationMigrated data at scale off on-prem or legacy platforms: SQL Server, file shares, Teradata or similarWorking knowledge of Mosaic AI, vector search, and how ML and GenAI workloads land on the platformStrong on at least one major cloud, ideally Azure, and how Databricks deploys and integrates within it: networking, identity, storage, private connectivityHold or are on the path to Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional
Solution design
Created solution design documentation that stands the test of time: HLDs, LLDs, data models, ERDs, system landscape and security architectureDesigned medallion or equivalent layered architectures, and can explain any trade-offs you makeDesigned the governance and access model in Unity Catalog: catalogs, schemas, grants, lineage, data classificationModelled cost as part of the design, with a defensible view on compute strategy, storage and licensingReviewed and coached other engineers while keeping ownership of the overall solution
Delivery lifecycle
Planned and run technical workshops that end in decisionsManaged and engaged stakeholders at all levels across a full delivery lifecycleComfortable with Git-based development and CI/CD for Databricks assetsGuided functional testing with customer data teams and business users
Integration and the wider picture
Integrated Databricks with operational systems, preferably including Salesforce Data 360 or an integration platform such as MuleSoft or Informatica
Nice to have
Experience at a Databricks SI partner, or at Databricks itselfFamiliarity with competing platforms (Snowflake, Synapse, Fabric, dbt) and how they stack up against DatabricksExisting relationships at DatabricksExperience standing up a new capability or growing a new team
What you'll be measured on
Delivery quality on Databricks engagements: does it work, is it governed, can the client's team run it once we've goneReusable IP that makes the next engagement quicker than the last oneHow many ThirdEye consultants can credibly work on Databricks a year from nowTechnical contribution to Databricks pursuits, when asked to input to pre-sales
Who you are
A hands-on architect. You design well because you've built enough to know what works, and what doesn'tEqually at home in front of a code editor or an exec teamA critical thinker who approaches problems with their client's best interests in mindSomeone who earns trust quickly with clients and colleagues, because you can back up your points of view with genuine depthComfortable in ambiguity. You can walk into an undefined data engagement and work with our delivery leads to produce a planCurious and constantly learning. You follow the Databricks roadmap and try things out before clients ask for themGenerous with what you know. You'd rather have five people who can do this than be the only one who can
The good stuff
Benefits:
Private Medical InsuranceLife AssuranceDental, Optical and Physio (among others) cashback schemesSalary Sacrifice PensionPerk Apps28 days Annual LeaveHybrid working, with regular office days that fit around your life£250 WFH allowanceDog Friendly OfficeRegular Team Events
At ThirdEye, everyone is welcome. We believe the best solutions come from diverse perspectives and we actively welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If this role excites you, we'd love to hear from you. Please submit your CV.
ThirdEye Consulting is a top-tier Salesforce, Data & AI consultancy!
We specialise in delivering high-impact, complex transformation programmes for ambitious clients. We help forward-thinking organisations tackle serious technical debt, drive their AI agenda, and unlock what's often their most undervalued asset: clean, connected data. As registered partners across multi-cloud providers, we're genuinely technology-agnostic. We choose what's right for the problem, not what's convenient.
AI isn't a bolt-on here. It's woven into how we work, how we deliver, and where we're headed. We have a dedicated AI Innovation team with a real budget, genuine freedom to explore emerging tools, and the kind of open, curious culture that attracts sharp people and keeps them. You'll be working alongside some of the best technical minds in the industry and you'll have the space to grow alongside them
This is a rare combination: the security of a growing, commercially successful consultancy, with the innovation agenda and agility of a company genuinely at the frontier. Here, cutting-edge isn't an aspiration, it's the standard we hold ourselves to every day. You'll get hands-on with the latest technology, help shape the direction of client programmes, and be part of an AI journey, without the risk of being left behind by it.
If you're technically curious, energised by complex problems, and ready to do your best work, this is the place.
The Role
This is our first dedicated Databricks hire, and the technical direction of the practice is yours to set. You'll own the technical solution on our Databricks engagements: designing it, and for the first year or so, getting hands on with implementation.
We've gone live with Databricks internally and for our customers, designing and building solutions that migrate multiple terabytes of on-prem data to the cloud; govern internal and external access through Unity Catalog; run repeatably through the use of declarative ingestion pipelines; and serve our data to consumers such as Salesforce, using federated zero-copy sharing.
Databricks at ThirdEye is growing. This role is how we scale it.
Databricks is a more technical sell and a more technical build than most enterprise platforms. Depth matters. You'll go deep on Lakehouse architecture, own design decisions clients live with for years, and stay close enough to the keyboard to prove they work. You'll also be the technical voice on pursuits, working alongside our industry sellers and co-selling with the Databricks field team.
What you will do
Solution ownership and delivery
Own the end-to-end Databricks solution on client engagements, from discovery through to production and handoverDefine the target architecture and document it properly: HLDs, LLDs, data models, system landscape, security and governance designMake and defend the decisions that matter: workspace and catalog topology, cluster and compute strategy, ingestion patterns, medallion layering, the cost modelRun technical and functional workshops, and land on a design the client's own team can operateOwn delivery quality, including the best practices and patterns the team works toManage stakeholders from data engineers up to senior decision makers and C-level, and be upfront with them when a plan is wrong, needs to change, or isn't going to give them value
Hands-on build
Build it. Pipelines, notebooks, Unity Catalog structures, jobs, and the migration mechanicsWork in Python, Spark and SQL day to day, version-controlled and deployed through CI/CDSolve for problems that only appear at scale: cluster warm-up cost, large-table performance, cross-workspace sharing limits, cloud region capacityEmbrace the unknown. Don't just design for when ingestion connectors, public cloud data stores and out-of-the-box (OOTB) solutions can be used. Every client is different and requires a unique solution. Each one has a different setup, be it unsupported versions of SQL Server, hard-to-access physical data centres, or a blind spot with respect to a cloud application that got acquired a decade agoAs the practice grows, shift from building on Databricks, to designing the solution and directing the team that builds on it, while still getting into the weeds when it makes sense
Practice and reusable IP
Turn what we learn on each engagement into assets we reuse: template notebooks, reference architectures, migration patterns, delivery playbooksSharpen our position on Databricks and where it sits against competing or complementary platformsTake an active part in internal community and professional development sessionsUse AI tools to speed up solutioning and delivery without lowering the quality bar
Coaching and cross-skilling
Enable and coach our existing data and integration team on DatabricksCoach and review the work of more junior engineers, including our Philippines-based dev and QA teamsSet the standard for what good looks like in ThirdEye's Databricks implementations
Pre-sales
Act as the technical voice on Databricks deals: discovery, solution design, scoping and effortBuild POCs and demos that make the business case real for the clientBring your experience, credibility and delivery-honed instincts to the fore when talking to prospects about what works, what doesn't, and how they can get the most from their investment in Databricks
What you have done
Databricks expertise
Acted as lead architect on Databricks implementations covering the full lifecycle, discovery, design and build, through to production release and supportDeep hands-on experience of the core platform: Unity Catalog, Delta Lake, workflows and jobs, declarative pipelines, SQL warehouses, cluster and compute configurationMigrated data at scale off on-prem or legacy platforms: SQL Server, file shares, Teradata or similarWorking knowledge of Mosaic AI, vector search, and how ML and GenAI workloads land on the platformStrong on at least one major cloud, ideally Azure, and how Databricks deploys and integrates within it: networking, identity, storage, private connectivityHold or are on the path to Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional
Solution design
Created solution design documentation that stands the test of time: HLDs, LLDs, data models, ERDs, system landscape and security architectureDesigned medallion or equivalent layered architectures, and can explain any trade-offs you makeDesigned the governance and access model in Unity Catalog: catalogs, schemas, grants, lineage, data classificationModelled cost as part of the design, with a defensible view on compute strategy, storage and licensingReviewed and coached other engineers while keeping ownership of the overall solution
Delivery lifecycle
Planned and run technical workshops that end in decisionsManaged and engaged stakeholders at all levels across a full delivery lifecycleComfortable with Git-based development and CI/CD for Databricks assetsGuided functional testing with customer data teams and business users
Integration and the wider picture
Integrated Databricks with operational systems, preferably including Salesforce Data 360 or an integration platform such as MuleSoft or Informatica
Nice to have
Experience at a Databricks SI partner, or at Databricks itselfFamiliarity with competing platforms (Snowflake, Synapse, Fabric, dbt) and how they stack up against DatabricksExisting relationships at DatabricksExperience standing up a new capability or growing a new team
What you'll be measured on
Delivery quality on Databricks engagements: does it work, is it governed, can the client's team run it once we've goneReusable IP that makes the next engagement quicker than the last oneHow many ThirdEye consultants can credibly work on Databricks a year from nowTechnical contribution to Databricks pursuits, when asked to input to pre-sales
Who you are
A hands-on architect. You design well because you've built enough to know what works, and what doesn'tEqually at home in front of a code editor or an exec teamA critical thinker who approaches problems with their client's best interests in mindSomeone who earns trust quickly with clients and colleagues, because you can back up your points of view with genuine depthComfortable in ambiguity. You can walk into an undefined data engagement and work with our delivery leads to produce a planCurious and constantly learning. You follow the Databricks roadmap and try things out before clients ask for themGenerous with what you know. You'd rather have five people who can do this than be the only one who can
The good stuff
Benefits:
Private Medical InsuranceLife AssuranceDental, Optical and Physio (among others) cashback schemesSalary Sacrifice PensionPerk Apps28 days Annual LeaveHybrid working, with regular office days that fit around your life£250 WFH allowanceDog Friendly OfficeRegular Team Events
At ThirdEye, everyone is welcome. We believe the best solutions come from diverse perspectives and we actively welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If this role excites you, we'd love to hear from you. Please submit your CV.