Lead Platform Engineer

The Lead Platform Engineer will be responsible for configuring, maintaining, and optimizing cloud-based data platforms including Databricks and Snowflake on Microsoft Azure. This role is focused on platform performance, cost optimization, governance enforcement, and supporting high availability for mission-critical components. The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on expertise with RBAC, monitoring, cloud cost management, and platform security, and will work closely with engineering, governance, and leadership teams to ensure robust, secure, and efficient operations.

Key Responsibilities

Platform Configuration & Maintenance

• Configure and manage Databricks clusters, jobs, Unity Catalog, and Snowflake schemas, RBAC, and workload isolation.
• Evaluate and implement new platform features, ensuring systems stay current with Databricks/Snowflake upgrades.
  
  

Access Control & Governance

• Ensure proper implementation of RBAC, ACLs, and alignment with enterprise data governance policies.
• Automate governance enforcement, support audit logging, and maintain compliance dashboards.
  
  

Performance Optimization

• Monitor and optimize Databricks compute performance and Snowflake warehouse configurations.
• Use Azure Log Analytics to identify bottlenecks and propose performance tuning strategies.
  
  

Cost Optimization

• Work closely with teams to identify cost-effective configurations and minimize unnecessary cloud usage.
• Utilize Azure Cost Management, Cloudability, or similar tools to manage and reduce platform spending.
• Provide detailed cost analysis reports and make recommendations to leadership on cost savings.
  
  

Security & Compliance

• Collaborate with security teams to implement and enforce data security best practices.
• Ensure compliance with audit logging and regulatory standards across the platform stack.
  
  

Monitoring & Incident Response

• Implement logging, monitoring, and alerting to proactively manage platform health.
• Serve as first-line support for incident resolution and root cause analysis.
• Ensure failover and high availability strategies are in place for critical services.
  
  

Reporting & Collaboration

• Generate and deliver detailed reports on platform performance, usage trends, and optimization strategies.
• Partner with governance and leadership teams to define best practices and identify areas for operational improvement.
• Lead Proof of Concepts (PoCs) for new platform capabilities and assess their viability for enterprise use.
  
  

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in platform engineering or a related technical role.
• Deep experience managing and optimizing Databricks and Snowflake environments.
• Proficiency with Azure Log Analytics, cost management tools, and Azure infrastructure.
• Strong understanding of RBAC, ACLs, and enterprise data governance frameworks.
• Hands-on experience with performance tuning, platform reliability, and cost control.
• Solid knowledge of security enforcement and compliance standards in a cloud environment.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills for cross-functional collaboration.
  
  

Skills Summary

• Core Expertise: Databricks, Snowflake, Azure Cloud, platform engineering, cost optimization.
• Cloud & Tools: Azure Log Analytics, Azure Cost Management, Cloudability, Git, Terraform (preferred).
• Governance & Security: RBAC, ACLs, audit logging, compliance enforcement.
• Monitoring & Automation: Logging/Alerting (e.g., Azure Monitor), workload automation, incident response.
• Collaboration: Stakeholder communication, documentation, reporting, PoC leadership.
  
  

The pay range that the employer in good faith reasonably expects to pay for this position is $39.30/hour - $61.40/hour. Our benefits include medical, dental, vision and retirement benefits. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis. Tundra Technical Solutions is among North America’s leading providers of Staffing and Consulting Services. Our success and our clients’ success are built on a foundation of service excellence. We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable law, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Unincorporated LA County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: client provided property, including hardware (both of which may include data) entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all portable client computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon completion of the assignment, and; maintain the confidentiality of client proprietary, confidential, or non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected client information technology systems and related data security obligations.