Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a national laboratory focused on scientific research, energy, national security, and digital innovation. The Senior Databricks Engineer will design, develop, and operate governed enterprise data lakehouse solutions, modernize legacy data platforms, build reliable pipelines, and enable analytics, reporting, and AI/ML capabilities using Databricks and Azure.
Responsibilities
- PNNL’s Digital Platforms organization is modernizing the enterprise data ecosystem to accelerate mission delivery across national security, energy, and scientific research. We operate robust, cloud native data platforms that enable analysts, scientists, and technologists to work faster and smarter
- We are seeking an experienced **Databricks Engineer** to support the design, build, and operation of our enterprise data lakehouse that powers analytics and reporting across PNNL systems. This role will focus on delivering governed, reliable, and performant data products—especially for ERP and other enterprise sources—and enabling downstream analytics with Power BI and AI/ML
- As part of a data transformation initiative, you will support the design, develop and maintain Databricks based lakehouse solutions that moves data reliably from source systems to curated gold tables. Using modern patterns such as Medallion Architecture, Delta Lake and Unity Catalog, you’ll support the build of scalable pipelines that transform raw data into analytics ready assets for Power BI and AI/ML, balancing pragmatic delivery with future-focused architecture
- You’ll support the modernization of legacy data warehouses and ETL tools into Databricks, transforming legacy ETL processes into scalable, maintainable solutions. Your platform engineering mindset will shape CI/CD for Databricks (e.g., DAB, GitHub Actions) and standardize deployment practices across environments. You will configure and operate workspaces, clusters, jobs, and workflows; tune for performance and reliability; and embed data quality, monitoring, and observability to keep critical pipelines healthy
- Security and governance will be integral to your work. You’ll implement role-based access controls, data masking, and Unity Catalog models to ensure secure, compliant data sharing, proper classification, lineage, and auditability
- You’ll stay current with Azure and Databricks capabilities, recommending and piloting features like Delta Live Tables and Unity Catalog enhancements to build a secure, reliable, and future ready data platform that accelerates science and mission delivery
- As part of our WE Culture, we offer a collaborative and agile team environment that embraces learning and fosters mentoring opportunities
Skills
- PhD and 1 years of Data or Software Engineering experience -OR-
- MS/MA and 3 years of Data or Software Engineering experience -OR-
- BS/BA and 5 years of Data or Software Engineering experience -OR-
- AA and 14 years of Data or Software Engineering experience -OR-
- HS/GED and 16 years of Data or Software Engineering experience
- At least 1 years of experience developing production Databricks solutions
- Experience in coding languages, such as, Python and SQL in a Spark/Databricks environment
- Experience with cloud services (platforms like AWS, Azure, GCP)
- U.S. Citizenship is required
- Experience working with Delta Lake, SQL, notebooks, end to end pipeline development, and cluster management
- Experience implementing Databricks Asset Bundles (DAB) or equivalent for CI/CD and standardizing deployment workflows
- Exposure to agentic AI / AI agents (e.g., orchestrating multi-step AI workflows for data quality checks, pipeline monitoring, or support automation) is a plus
- Familiarity with core Azure services such as ADLS Gen2 and Key Vault
- Experience using GenAI / LLM-based tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Azure OpenAI, Databricks Genie, or similar) to accelerate and automate engineering tasks such as code generation, test creation, documentation, and troubleshooting
Benefits
- Medical insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- Robust telehealth care options
- Several mental health benefits
- Free wellness coaching
- Health savings account
- Flexible spending accounts
- Basic life insurance
- Disability insurance (Research Associates excluded)
- Employee assistance program
- Business travel insurance
- Tuition assistance
- Relocation assistance
- Backup childcare
- Legal benefits
- Supplemental parental bonding leave
- Surrogacy and adoption assistance
- Fertility support
- Employees are automatically enrolled in our company-funded pension plan (Research Associates excluded)
- 401(k) savings plan with company match (Research Associates excluded)
- Employees may accrue up to 120 vacation hours per year
- Employees may receive ten paid holidays per year
- PNNL will consider remote candidates for this position
- A collaborative and agile team environment that embraces learning and fosters mentoring opportunities
Company Overview