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Digital Consulting - Databricks Technical Architect - Manager

Huron Consulting · Chicago, IL · $145,000–$170,000 a year · Full time

Posted Sep 25, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about an applied AI or machine learning use case you built on Databricks.

What they are checking: The posting mentions applied AI, so they want hands-on experience beyond data pipelines.

How do you balance hands-on building with leading a team as a manager?

What they are checking: Whether they can stay technical while also guiding and growing others.

What would you do

A client wants to migrate from a legacy warehouse to Databricks. How do you plan it?

What they are checking: Whether they can lead a migration with clear phases and validation.

How do you help a client team take over the platform after go-live?

What they are checking: Enablement is part of the role, so they want plans for training and handoff.

About the work

Walk me through a Databricks lakehouse you designed. What decisions mattered most?

What they are checking: Whether they have real lakehouse architecture experience and can explain their reasoning.

How do you design Unity Catalog for a client with many teams and strict access rules?

What they are checking: Unity Catalog design is named in the posting, and governance mistakes are costly later.

How do you build medallion pipelines that stay reliable and easy to maintain?

What they are checking: Whether they apply bronze, silver and gold patterns with good testing and monitoring.

How do you control Databricks costs as usage grows?

What they are checking: Whether they understand cluster sizing, serverless options and cost monitoring.

How do you stand up a Databricks platform with infrastructure as code and CI/CD?

What they are checking: Whether they can build repeatable platform setups, which the role calls platform standup.

A pipeline slows down badly as data volume grows. How do you troubleshoot it?

What they are checking: Whether they know Spark performance tuning like partitioning and file sizes.

Practice this interview out loud.

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The full job description

As published by Huron Consulting.

Huron is a global consultancy that collaborates with clients to drive strategic growth, ignite innovation and navigate constant change. Through a combination of strategy, expertise and creativity, we help clients accelerate operational, digital and cultural transformation, enabling the change they need to own their future. Join our team as the expert you are now and create your future. You've built real technical depth in the consulting arena. But you find yourself wondering what's next on your career agenda. You want to keep sharpening what you do best—hands-on architecture, platform engineering, applied AI—while stepping into a role with more scope and visibility. Huron has your answer—our Technical Manager position on the Data Management & Analytics team. Our tech managers work alongside Huron and client team members to lead the full implementation lifecycle—planning, platform standup, architecture and design, build, migration, enablement, go-live, and post-production support. It's a highly-dynamic position—with considerable visibility into how modern data platforms actually get delivered. One trait that describes our ideal technical manager candidate is deeply capable. We seek out builders who consistently execute against a high technical bar and embrace career growth. Maybe your forte is Lakehouse architecture and Unity Catalog design…or medallion pipeline patterns at scale. Perhaps you excel at bringing GenAI and Mosaic AI into production workloads…standing up CI/CD and IaC for Databricks environments…or mentoring engineers through complex Delta Lake performance work. Whatever your unique strengths, whatever your passion—in design, build, and technical leadership—we've got you covered. We are looking for a Databricks Technical Architect to design, stand up, and productionalize Lakehouse platforms for our clients. You will translate business requirements into technical architecture, lead hands-on platform builds, design and deploy medallion data pipelines, and extend Databricks with native ML and GenAI capabilities to power conversational BI and intelligent data integration workflows. You will partner closely with Huron functional and domain leads—who own the business, governance, and MDM side—so that your focus stays where you deliver the most value: the platform, the pipelines, and the applied AI. Responsibilities Stand up and configure Databricks environments end-to-end—workspace and account architecture, Unity Catalog design, metastore strategy, cluster and SQL warehouse policies, networking (VPC/PrivateLink), IAM/SCIM, and cost governance. Design and deploy medallion (bronze/silver/gold) data pipelines using Delta Lake, Auto Loader, Delta Live Tables / Lakeflow Declarative Pipelines, Structured Streaming, and CDC patterns. Establish infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD foundations using Databricks Asset Bundles, Terraform, and GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps. Build applied AI solutions on Mosaic AI—Agent Framework, Vector Search, Model Serving, MLflow—including conversational BI experiences (Genie, AI/BI, ai_query, SQL AI Functions) and LLM-assisted data integration workflows (schema matching, entity resolution, source-to-target mapping acceleration, PII detection). Optimize Delta Lake performance (Z-order, liquid clustering, OPTIMIZE/VACUUM, schema evolution) and design for scalability, reliability, and cost efficiency. Integrate Databricks with the broader enterprise stack via Lakehouse Federation, Delta Sharing, and zero-copy interop with Salesforce Data Cloud, Snowflake, and Microsoft Fabric. Partner with functional and MDM/data governance leads so that platform decisions support downstream data quality, mastering, and stewardship workflows. Document and communicate architecture decisions to internal and external stakeholders. Establish and refine delivery accelerators, reference architectures, guardrails, and automated review patterns. Lead technical workstreams, mentor data and ML engineers, and coach client technology partners. Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems or related field. At least 4 years of hands-on experience with Databricks, within a broader background in data engineering, cloud data platforms, and analytics architecture. Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional or Machine Learning Professional (required). Cloud-agnostic capability across AWS, Azure, and GCP, with AWS experience preferred. Deep hands-on expertise with Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Delta Live Tables / Lakeflow, Structured Streaming, and Databricks Workflows. Working experience with Mosaic AI (Agent Framework, Vector Search, Model Serving), MLflow, Feature Store, and Genie / AI/BI for conversational analytics. Proficiency in Python, SQL, and PySpark; comfort with Scala a plus. Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Databricks Asset Bundles) and CI/CD for data platforms. Familiarity with Lakehouse Federation, Delta Sharing, and interop patterns with Salesforce Data Cloud, Snowflake, or Microsoft Fabric. Exposure to MDM, data quality, or data governance workflows a plus. Excellent communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills. The estimated base salary for this job is $145,000 - $170,000. The range represents a good faith estimate of the range that Huron reasonably expects to pay for this job at the time of the job posting. The actual salary paid to an individual will vary based on multiple factors, including but not limited to specific skills or certifications, years of experience, market changes, and required travel. This job is also eligible to participate in Huron’s annual incentive compensation program, which reflects Huron’s pay for performance philosophy. Inclusive of annual incentive compensation opportunity, the total estimated compensation range for this job is $174,000 - $204,000. The job is also eligible to participate in Huron’s benefit plans which include medical, dental and vision coverage and other wellness programs. The salary range information provided is in accordance with applicable state and local laws regarding salary transparency that are currently in effect and may be implemented in the future. Position Level Manager Country United States of America

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