Senior Databricks Platform Architect

About Zetta2 (ZettaSquared)

At Zetta², we’re on a mission to help enterprises realize the value of AI for their business. We’re a pure-play, agnostic AI-native firm that provides a full range of AI infrastructure and software products, solutions, agentic workflows and services, alongside leading AI technologies and best-in-class partnerships, helping enterprises drive measurable business outcomes, quickly taking AI solutions from idea to production.

Zetta² integrates leading AI models, hyperscale platforms, and AI technologies to deliver secure, production-ready AI-native solutions. Our vendor-neutral approach enables us to recommend the best technology or ground-up approach for each customer , not just a preferred platform. We continually vet partners from the fast-moving AI world and have strategic partnerships with many of the industry’s leaders. We work with Google, Amazon Web Services, Oracle, IBM, OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia, Cursor, Grok by X, Typesafe AI, Thinking Machines, Apache Iceberg, Databricks, WorkOS, Zapier, Unsloth, Snowflake, Ping Identity, Pinecone, ServiceNow, Microsoft, Salesforce and many more AI stack industry leaders.

Zetta² raised a substantial seed round in August of 2026, led by Smith/Newberg Road Partners, L.P./Bekman 514, Ltd. Smith, with sales in excess of $12B, is one of the world's largest independent electronic-component distributors, offering supply chain services on a global scale.

About the Role – Senior Databricks Platform Architect

We’re looking for a hands-on architect who has previously led one or more enterprise Databricks greenfield deployments and can own the platform from initial design through production operations, governance, and user adoption for a key strategic clients. Onsite work (near 290/Beltway 8 area in Houston, Texas) will be required for this project.

Key Responsibilities

Platform Deployment & Configuration

● Lead the installation, configuration, and deployment of Databricks environments.

● Design and configure Databricks workspaces, clusters, cluster policies, compute resources, and networking.

● Deploy and configure Unity Catalog, Delta Lake, MLflow, and Databricks Workflows.

● Implement Infrastructure as Code (Terraform preferred) for platform provisioning and lifecycle management.

● Establish CI/CD pipelines supporting code promotion and environment management.

Security, Governance & Compliance

● Design and implement enterprise security architecture for Databricks.

● Configure identity management, RBAC, SSO, SCIM provisioning, and integration with enterprise identity providers.

● Implement data governance frameworks, metadata management, lineage, and cataloging.

● Establish data protection controls, encryption, auditing, monitoring, and compliance standards.

● Define governance processes using Unity Catalog and enterprise data management tools.

Data & AI Enablement

● Establish patterns and standards for data ingestion, transformation, orchestration, and analytics.

● Enable AI/ML development through MLflow and Databricks AI capabilities.

● Define best practices for structured, semi-structured, streaming, and batch data processing.

● Support enterprise modernization and migration initiatives.

Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement

● Act as the technical lead for Databricks platform implementation projects.

● Guide engineers, administrators, and architects throughout deployment and adoption.

● Facilitate architecture reviews and technical decision-making.

● Communicate project status, risks, and recommendations to executive leadership.

Required Qualifications

● Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field.

● 7+ years of experience in data architecture, cloud architecture, or enterprise platform engineering.

● 5+ years of hands-on Databricks implementation experience.

● Proven experience deploying and configuring new Databricks environments from inception through production.

● Strong expertise in:

o Databricks Lakehouse Platform

o Unity Catalog

o Delta Lake

o Databricks Workflows

o MLflow

o Apache Spark and PySpark

o SQL and Python

● Experience implementing Infrastructure as Code using Terraform.

● Deep understanding of enterprise security, networking, governance, and compliance requirements.

● Experience designing cloud-native architectures in Azure, AWS, or GCP.

● Strong stakeholder management and leadership experience.

Preferred Qualifications

● Databricks Certified Professional or Databricks Certified Architect certification.

● Azure Solutions Architect, AWS Solutions Architect, or Google Professional Cloud Architect certification.

● Experience implementing enterprise data governance frameworks.

● Experience migrating legacy data warehouses and analytics platforms to Databricks.

● Knowledge of DevOps, DataOps, and MLOps practices.

● Experience supporting AI/ML and Generative AI workloads.

What We Offer

The base salary range for this role is $150K – $250K, total salary for role expected to be $200K – $400K, depending on experience, location, and level. In addition to base compensation, this role is eligible for meaningful early-stage equity, quarterly and year-end bonuses, along with a comprehensive benefits package:

● 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and dependents.

● Ongoing training across our strategic AI partners.

● Access to state-of-the-art AI models, generous usage of modern AI tools, and exciting customers with real-world business problems.

● Complementary in-office lunches and snacks provided.

● Ownership of high-impact projects across some of the world’s best companies.

● Flexible time off.

● Relocation assistance.

● Enjoy a fast-moving culture that values the desire and ability to learn AI technologies while having fun.

Zetta², has offices in Houston, Los Angeles (2027) & Boston (2027). This role is required to work out of one of our offices while not on client engagement.

Work Authorization: Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Visa sponsorship (including H-1B) is not available for this position.

We believe diverse perspectives make our work stronger and more impactful. We are an equal opportunity employer and evaluate all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.