Principal Solutions Architect (Financial Services)

Sunnydata
United States
RemoteCareer-pivot friendly

Who this role is best for

Strong fit for experienced data architects who lead technical execution and presales support, with a focus on Databricks and Financial Services. Candidates must balance hands-on engineering with client-facing responsibilities and demonstrate deep technical and domain knowledge.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 10+ years of hands-on data engineering and solution architecture experience, particularly with Databricks and Financial Services.
    — “10+ years as a hands on Solutions Architect and/or Senior Data Engineer, with recent experience implementing data solutions on Databricks.”
  • Individuals who can mentor teams and deliver innovative solutions for data analytics and AI initiatives.
    — “Guide internal teams, provide direction and mentorship to project teams, and educate end users on data products and analytic environments.”
  • Candidates with a background in designing end-to-end data solutions, including governance, security, and data quality.
    — “Able to run complex architecture discovery, solution design sessions, and build implementation blueprints that engineering and analytics teams can execute.”

Things to consider

  • The role demands a balance between technical delivery and presales engagement, which may require strong time management and adaptability.
    — “drive customer success on two fronts: hands on technical execution and presales support, splitting your time evenly between the two.”
  • Candidates must be based in the Pacific Time zone or West Coast, which may limit applications from other regions.
    — “residing in Pacific Time or on the West Coast are strongly preferred.”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience with Databricks in solution design and production deployment on your resume.
    — “Design, build, and deploy comprehensive data solutions that capture, transform, and leverage data for AI, ML, and business intelligence initiatives.”
  • Emphasize your ability to mentor teams and lead complex data projects in your interview responses.
    — “Guide internal teams, provide direction and mentorship to project teams.”
  • Demonstrate your proficiency in Spark, Kafka, and SQL through technical examples in your interview.
    — “Expertise in data engineering technologies (Spark, Hadoop, Kafka), the Databricks platform, and data science/ML tooling (pandas, scikitlearn).”
  • Showcase your experience with cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or GCP in your portfolio or resume.
    — “Cloud Platforms: AWS, Azure, and/or GCP.”
  • Include examples of solution documentation, such as blueprints or logical system views, in your application materials.
    — “Experience producing detailed solution documentation, including POCs, roadmaps, sequence diagrams, class hierarchies, and logical system views.”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Designed and deployed comprehensive data solutions
  • Managed multiple customer accounts
Typical background
10+ years as a Solutions Architect and/or Senior Data Engineer

Skills & requirements

Required

Data EngineeringDatabricksCloud PlatformsArchitecture Design

Preferred

Distributed StorageData Integration

Stack & domain

DatabricksSparkHadoopKafkaPandasScikitlearnJavaPythonScalaAWSAzureGCPSQLCommunicationPresentationDocumentationFinance

About the role

Original posting from Sunnydata via Ashby

SunnyData is a leading Databricks technology partner, helping customers build scalable architectures, robust data engineering pipelines, and advanced ML and AI applications. As a Principal Solutions Architect, you'll drive customer success on two fronts: hands on technical execution and presales support, splitting your time evenly between the two.

The Impact You Will Have

  • Customer Engagement: Serve as a trusted advisor to customers, guiding their data engineering and architecture strategy with a focus on Databricks solutions.
  • Technical Delivery: Design, build, and deploy comprehensive data solutions that capture, transform, and leverage data for AI, ML, and business intelligence initiatives, while driving innovation through thought leadership on data trends.
  • Presales Support: Partner with sales teams to present technical solutions to prospective clients, demonstrating the value of SunnyData's offerings.
  • Project Oversight: Manage multiple customer accounts, ensuring timely delivery and clear reporting on progress and outcomes.
  • Solution Design: Architect data solutions that incorporate best practices in governance, security, and data quality.
  • Data Analysis: Evaluate data sources for their value and recommend inclusion strategies that strengthen analytics.
  • Cross Functional Collaboration & Mentorship: Guide internal teams, provide direction and mentorship to project teams, and educate end users on data products and analytic environments.
  • Problem Resolution: Perform system analysis, diagnose data and system defects, and apply the right fix.
  • Quality Assurance: Test data movement, transformation code, and data components for accuracy and reliability.

Required Experience

  • Experience: 10+ years as a hands on Solutions Architect and/or Senior Data Engineer, with recent experience implementing data solutions on Databricks.
  • Technical Proficiency: Expertise in data engineering technologies (Spark, Hadoop, Kafka), the Databricks platform, and data science/ML tooling (pandas, scikitlearn).
  • Architecture & Solution Design: Deep understanding of the end to end data analytics workflow (data modeling, ETL, data integration) using modern engineering techniques. Able to run complex architecture discovery, solution design sessions, and build implementation blueprints that engineering and analytics teams can execute.
  • Programming Skills: Proficiency in Java, Python, and/or Scala.
  • Cloud Platforms: AWS, Azure, and/or GCP.
  • SQL Expertise: Able to write, debug, and optimize SQL queries.
  • Client Facing Skills: Strong written and verbal communication, with experience in client facing roles.
  • Presentation Skills: Able to build and deliver detailed presentations to clients and stakeholders.
  • Documentation: Experience producing detailed solution documentation, including POCs, roadmaps, sequence diagrams, class hierarchies, and logical system views.
  • End to End Solutions: Able to take technical solutions into production, ensuring performance, security, scalability, and robust data integration.
  • Team Leadership: Experience managing, mentoring, and growing a team of engineers.

Preferred Experience

  • Distributed Storage: Familiarity with cloud and distributed data storage systems such as S3, ADLS, HDFS, GCS, Kudu, ElasticSearch/Solr, Cassandra, or other NoSQL storage systems.
  • Data Integration: Experience with data integration technologies like Spark, Kafka, StreamSets, Matillion, Fivetran, NiFi, AWS Data Migration Services, Azure Data Factory, and Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services (IICS).
  • Software Development Lifecycle: Comprehensive experience with the complete SDLC, including design, documentation, implementation, testing, and deployment.
  • Automated Pipelines: Expertise in automated data transformation and curation using tools like dbt, Spark, Spark Streaming, and automated pipelines.
  • Workflow Management: Experience with workflow management and orchestration tools like Airflow, AWS Managed Airflow, Luigi, and NiFi.
  • Domain Knowledge: Background working in the Financial Services industry, preferably in a banking environment.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Understanding of industry compliance requirements and standards, specifically in banking IT landscapes.
  • Certifications (at least 2 of the following): Associate Developer for Apache Spark, Data Engineer Associate, Professional Data Engineer, Machine Learning Associate, Professional ML Engineer.
  • Location: residing in Pacific Time or on the West Coast are strongly preferred.

Education:

  • Degree: 4-year Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field.

Benefits

  • Health Insurance : Employees and their eligible family members including spouses, domestic partners, and children are eligible for coverage from the first day of employment.
  • Paid Time Off : Start your career at SunnyData with a minimum of 20 days Paid Time Off annually, plus nine paid company Holidays.
  • An opportunity to grow your technical and people skills, lead teams on complex customer projects that are highly innovative and cutting edge. Great opportunity to grow in your career with the right level of focus, innovation and customer centricity with a high growth consulting company dedicated to Databricks.

Compensation Overview

The annual base salary range provided for this position is a nationwide market range and represents a broad range of salaries for this role across the country. The actual salary for this position will be determined by a number of factors, including the scope, complexity and location of the role; the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; and other conditions of employment. As part of our comprehensive compensation and benefits program, employees are also eligible for performance-based cash incentive awards.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:

SunnyData is dedicated to building a workforce that reflects the world around us. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to unbiased hiring practices. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.

Why Join SunnyData?

  • Innovative Environment: Work with cutting-edge technologies and industry leaders in data engineering and AI.
  • Customer Impact: Make a real difference in how businesses leverage data for strategic decision-making.
  • Career Growth: Opportunities for professional development and career advancement.
  • Collaborative Culture: Join a supportive team that values collaboration and knowledge sharing.

If you are passionate about data engineering and enjoy engaging with clients to solve their most challenging problems, we would love to hear from you. Apply today and become a key player in SunnyData's success story.

Source: Sunnydata careers (Ashby)

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