Data Platform Engineer

First Orion•North Little Rock, AR

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

This is an opportunity for a Data Platform Engineer within First Orion’s Data Engineering organization. This hands-on role is responsible for implementing, automating, operating, and improving our enterprise data platform, with a primary focus on Databricks running on AWS. The engineer will translate platform architecture and governance standards into reliable infrastructure, deployments, access controls, pipelines, and internal data solutions. You will work closely with the Data Platform Architect, who sets platform direction, architecture, and company process alignment. The Data Platform Engineer provides implementation expertise, builds according to those designs, and owns the operational quality of the platform. We are looking for a collaborative, self-motivated engineer with strong technical judgment and a commitment to secure, reliable, and maintainable solutions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
5+ years of experience in data engineering, platform engineering, cloud infrastructure, DevOps, or a related discipline
3+ years of hands-on experience with Databricks and Apache Spark in production environments
Strong Terraform experience, including modules, state management, provider configuration, and CI/CD
Strong knowledge of Unity Catalog, including securable objects, ownership, privilege inheritance, and governance models
Strong AWS experience, particularly IAM, S3, networking, encryption, monitoring, and secure service integration
Experience with Databricks Asset Bundles, Git-based development, automated testing, and deployment pipelines
Strong Python and SQL skills with working knowledge of PySpark, Delta Lake, and distributed data processing
Experience with identity and access management, service principals, groups, least privilege, and SSO/SCIM
Experience with platform observability, troubleshooting, incident response, performance tuning, and cost optimization
Ability to translate architecture and governance requirements into maintainable code, automation, and operating procedures
Strong communication and collaboration skills across architecture, engineering, security, and business teams

Nice To Haves

Experience migrating Hive Metastore or DBFS-based workloads to Unity Catalog
Experience with Databricks Apps, Streamlit, REST APIs, or lightweight Python applications
Databricks or AWS certifications
Experience with FinOps, Delta Sharing, AI/ML platforms, or high-scale telecom data systems

Responsibilities

Implement, operate, and continuously improve the Databricks platform on AWS
Build and maintain Terraform modules for Databricks, AWS infrastructure, Unity Catalog, permissions, and supporting integrations
Develop and maintain Databricks Asset Bundles and CI/CD pipelines for repeatable deployments across environments
Configure and support workspaces, compute policies, SQL warehouses, workflows, jobs, service principals, and platform permissions
Implement Unity Catalog governance, including catalogs, schemas, storage credentials, external locations, ownership, and group-based access
Build and support foundational data pipelines using Python, SQL, Apache Spark, Delta Lake, and Databricks workflows
Develop lightweight internal applications and governed user-input solutions using approved platform services
Monitor platform health, reliability, performance, security, and cost; troubleshoot incidents and complete root-cause analysis
Create reusable patterns, automation, runbooks, and self-service capabilities for engineering teams
Partner with the Data Platform Architect to validate designs, identify risks, and support production-readiness reviews