Principal Solutions Architect

Our Principal Solutions Architect plays a critical role in driving delivery excellence and ensuring customer success. As a key figure in strategic customer accounts, the Principal Solutions Architect also partners closely with Sales to drive account expansion and long-term value. We prioritize hiring not just brilliant engineers, but technical consultants who excel in both engineering and client engagement, thereby elevating the quality of our consulting services. In this role, you’ll manage multiple work streams, build executive relationships, and guide clients through complex data challenges, all while designing scalable solutions. 

This role goes beyond engineering—it's about creating value, fostering trust, building relationships, and positioning yourself as a strategic influencer in the evolving data landscape.

As a Principal Solutions Architect on our Data Engineering team, you are responsible for:

Technical Leadership and Delivery Excellence:

• Architect end-to-end data solutions, ensuring scalability, performance, and alignment with customer requirements and goals.
• Lead a team of data engineers to build data platforms, pipelines, and products that meet customer requirements and expectations.
• Communicate business value and ROI of data solutions to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Mentor team members on best practices in data architecture, modeling, and technology. Stay abreast of emerging technologies and methodologies in data to inform solution design and delivery.

Client Engagement and Account Growth

• Build relationships with client stakeholders to understand their long-term data engineering goals and design roadmaps that align with business objectives.
• Craft persuasive technical approaches and value propositions to drive client data initiatives forward
• Identify and drive account expansion opportunities by uncovering unmet client needs and where data can add value.
• Lead responses to RFIs and RFPs, crafting persuasive technical approaches and value propositions.

Required Experience:

• 10+ years as a hands-on Solutions Architect designing and implementing data solutions
• 2+ years previous Consulting leadership experience working with external customers with the ability to multitask, prioritize tasks, frequently change focus, and work across a variety of projects. 
• Technical Account Leadership, including developing a technology strategy and roadmap with the customer, leading delivery teams, and strong cross-collaboration with sales (and other internal teams).
• Ability to develop end-to-end technical solutions into production — and to help ensure performance, security, scalability, and robust data integration.
• Programming expertise in Java, Python and/or Scala, SQL, and core cloud data platforms including Snowflake, AWS, Azure, Databricks and GCP.
• Demonstrated expertise in effectively leading and managing a team comprising Solution Architects and Data Engineers, fostering internal growth through coaching, mentoring, and performance management.
• Proven track record of collaborating with client stakeholders, technology partners, and cross-functional sales and delivery team members across distributed global teams, ensuring seamless, successful project delivery outcomes.
• Create strong cross-practice relationships to drive customer success.
• Exhibits a strong sense of ownership in resolving challenges, committed to ensuring exceptional outcomes for all aspects of project execution.
• Client-facing written and verbal communication skills and experience
• Detailed solution documentation (e.g. including POCS and roadmaps, sequence diagrams, class hierarchies, logical system views, etc.) including creating and delivering detailed client presentations
• 4-year Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field preferred

Technical Background & Expertise in  any of the following: 

• Production experience in core data platforms: Snowflake, AWS, Azure, GCP, Hadoop, Databricks
• Cloud and Distributed Data Storage: S3, ADLS, HDFS, GCS, Kudu, ElasticSearch/Solr, Cassandra or other NoSQL storage systems
• Data integration technologies: Spark, Kafka, event/streaming, Streamsets, Matillion, Fivetran, NiFi, AWS Data Migration Services, Azure DataFactory, Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services (IICS), Google DataProc or other data integration technologies
• Multiple data sources: (e.g. queues, relational databases, files, search, API)
• Complete software development life cycle experience: including design, documentation, implementation, testing, and deployment
• Automated data transformation and data curation: dbt, Spark, Spark streaming, automated pipelines
• Workflow Management and Orchestration: Airflow, AWS Managed Airflow, Luigi, NiFi
• Methodologies: Agile Project Management, Data Modeling (e.g. Kimball, Data Vault)

Why phData? We offer:

• Remote-First Work Environment 
• Casual, award-winning small-business work environment
• Collaborative culture that prizes autonomy, creativity, and transparency
• Competitive comp, excellent benefits, 4 weeks PTO plan plus 10 Holidays (and other cool perks)
• Accelerated learning and professional development through advanced training and certifications