Solutions Architect - Strat Media

Databricks
Los Angeles, CA
Hybrid

Who this role is best for

Candidates with technical pre-sales or senior hands-on experience in data engineering and cloud-native platforms will find this role in architecture leadership and customer technical strategy at Databricks.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 6+ years in technical roles and a specialization in distributed data systems will naturally align with this role's demands.
    — “6+ years in solutions architecture, data engineering, technical pre-sales, or a senior hands-on technical role
  • Candidates who can lead architecture discussions and perform trade-off analysis with senior stakeholders will excel in this role.
    — “Proven ability to lead architecture discussions with senior technical stakeholders

Things to consider

  • This role requires 30% travel, which may influence your availability and work-life balance expectations.
    — “Ability to travel to customers 30% of the time
  • Candidates must be prepared to develop a technical specialization in a specific domain within the team.
    — “Develop and declare an emerging technical specialization (archetype)

How to stand out

  • Highlight live coding and solution-building experience in Python and SQL on your resume and in interviews.
    — “Strong coding proficiency in Python and SQL — [REDACTED] demonstrate live coding, debugging, and solution-building skills
  • Emphasize your ability to translate technical architectures into business value for different audiences.
    — “Excellent communication skills — able to translate complex architectures into business value
  • Showcase experience in designing scalable data pipelines, streaming architectures, or lakehouse patterns.
    — “Deep expertise in distributed data systems architecture: designing scalable pipelines, streaming architectures, lakehouse patterns
  • Demonstrate leadership in cross-functional collaboration with DSAs, SSAs, and Partners.
    — “Orchestrate cross-functional resources (DSAs, SSAs, Partners)
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

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

What success looks like

  • technical wins in competitive scenarios
  • platform adoption and consumption growth
  • cross-functional resource orchestration
Typical background
solutions architecturedata engineeringtechnical pre-sales

Skills & requirements

Required

Technical Pre-salesCloud-native Data PlatformsDistributed Data Systems ArchitectureProduction DeploymentsArchitecture Discussions

Preferred

Databricks CertificationsCompetitive Platforms ExperienceIndustry Domain Expertise

Stack & domain

PythonSQLDatabricks PlatformCommunicationLeadershipDatabricks CertificationsCloudData EngineeringAI

About the role

Original posting from Databricks

REQ ID FEQ327R527

At Databricks, our customers challenge us with solving some of the world's toughest data problems. Our customers rely on our Solutions Architect team to understand the technologies that power our platform, the broader cloud and technology ecosystems, and how they can all be brought together to solve these problems.

As a Solutions Architect, you will lead the technical strategy for your customers — owning architecture discussions, driving platform adoption, and serving as a trusted advisor to customer technical leads and architects. You combine deep technical expertise with strategic thinking to position Databricks as the foundation of your customers’ data and AI strategy. You are developing a technical specialization (archetype) and are recognized within your team for depth in a specific domain.

The Impact You Will Have

Own the end-to-end technical strategy for your accounts, from initial discovery through production deployment and consumption growth

Lead complex architecture discussions — designing scalable, production-grade solutions spanning data engineering, ML/AI, and real-time analytics

Serve as a trusted technical advisor to customer architects, engineering leads, and Directors

Drive technical wins in competitive scenarios by demonstrating Databricks’ differentiation through custom-built solutions

Develop and declare an emerging technical specialization (archetype) — becoming a go-to resource for your team in that domain

Orchestrate cross-functional resources (DSAs, SSAs, Partners) to deliver comprehensive solutions for complex customer needs

Influence product direction by providing structured feedback on customer requirements and competitive gaps

What We Look For

6+ years in solutions architecture, data engineering, technical pre-sales, or a senior hands-on technical role

Strong coding proficiency in Python and SQL — you must demonstrate live coding, debugging, and solution-building skills

Deep expertise in distributed data systems architecture: designing scalable pipelines, streaming architectures, lakehouse patterns, and cloud-native data platforms

Proficient on the Databricks Platform (or demonstrated ability to achieve proficiency rapidly) with a developing technical specialization in one area (e.g., real-time/streaming, ML/AI, data governance, migrations)

Proven ability to lead architecture discussions with senior technical stakeholders — whiteboarding, design reviews, and trade-off analysis

Experience with production deployments on public cloud (AWS, Azure, or GCP), including infrastructure, security, and governance considerations

Track record of driving platform adoption and consumption growth within accounts

Excellent communication skills — able to translate complex architectures into business value for both technical and executive audiences

Ability to travel to customers 30% of the time

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a quantitative discipline (or equivalent experience)

Nice to Have:

Databricks certifications (Data Engineer, ML, Platform)

Experience with competitive platforms (Snowflake, AWS native services, Azure Synapse) — understanding the landscape you'll position against

Background in a data/AI company or cloud provider

Industry domain expertise (Financial Services, Healthcare, Retail, Media, etc.)

Interview Process: Recruiter Screen → Hiring Manager Screen → Design and Architecture Interview → Live Coding Assessment → Build, Demo, Pitch! Presentation → Reference Check

#CMEG

Pay Range Transparency

Databricks is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents the expected base salary range for non-commissionable roles or on-target earnings for commissionable roles.  Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to job-related skills, depth of experience, relevant certifications and training, and specific work location. Based on the factors above, Databricks anticipated utilizing the full width of the range. The total compensation package for this position may also include eligibility for annual performance bonus, equity, and the benefits listed above. For more information regarding which range your location is in visit our page here.

Zone 1 Pay Range$180,000—$247,500 USDZone 2 Pay Range$180,000—$247,500 USDZone 3 Pay Range$180,000—$247,500 USDZone 4 Pay Range$180,000—$247,500 USDAbout 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.

Source: Databricks careers

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