Principal Azure Cloud Platform Engineer - Databricks & CI/CD Pipelines

Syneos Health® is a leading fully-integrated life sciences services organization built to accelerate customer success. We partner with innovators at every point across the drug development and commercialization continuum, helping them navigate complexity, anticipate change and accelerate progress.
 
Every day we perform better because of how we work together, as one team, each the best at what we do. We bring together talented experts across a broad spectrum of business critical corporate functions. Every role plays an essential part in enabling our customers to achieve their goals. Our teams are agile, collaborative, and committed to delivering—for each other, for our customers, and ultimately for the people who rely on the services we support.
Discover what your 25,000 future colleagues already know:
 
Why Syneos Health
• We are passionate about developing our people, through career development and progression; supportive and engaged line management; technical and therapeutic area training; peer recognition and total rewards program.
• We are committed to building an inclusive culture – where you can authentically be yourself. Central to this is our purpose – Driven to Deliver – which captures the passion of our colleagues to show up each day and shape solutions that have the ability to dramatically impact someone’s life. 
• We are continuously building the company we all want to work for and our customers want to work with. Why? Because we know that when we bring together smart colleagues from across the world, we can shape the future of healthcare, driving impact for customers and defining the pace of patient progress. 

Job Responsibilities

Position Overview:

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Azure Lead Cloud Engineer to lead the design, implementation, and optimization of Azure-based cloud solutions, with a focus on data solutions, infrastructure automation, and migration. The ideal candidate will possess a strong technical background in cloud architecture, especially in building Infrastructure as Code (IaC), designing scalable Azure Data Lake and database solutions, and driving migration strategies. As a technical leader, you will guide cross-functional teams to ensure that our cloud architecture aligns with business goals, follows best practices, and optimizes performance, security, and compliance.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Technical Leadership & Strategic Guidance:
o Provide technical leadership and mentorship to cross-functional teams (cloud engineers, data engineers, business stakeholders) to architect robust Azure-based data solutions.
o Ensure alignment of cloud solutions with business objectives, considering current and future growth.
o Stay updated with the latest Azure innovations, trends, and best practices to recommend the best solutions for complex business needs.

2. Azure Data Lake and Database Solutions:
o Design and deploy scalable and high-performance Azure Data Lake storage solutions to handle large volumes of unstructured and structured data.
o Architect, configure, and manage Azure SQL Database, Cosmos DB, and other database offerings to ensure high availability, disaster recovery, and optimized performance.

3. Databricks Administration & Integration:
o Manage, configure, and administer Azure Databricks environments, ensuring optimal performance, scalability, and security of data processing workloads.
o Collaborate with data scientists, data engineers, and analysts to integrate Azure Databricks with other Azure services (e.g., Azure Data Lake, Azure Synapse) to build scalable data processing and analytics solutions.
o Implement best practices for managing Databricks clusters, notebooks, libraries, and jobs to ensure efficiency and cost optimization.
o Perform regular monitoring, troubleshooting, and performance tuning of Databricks workloads, ensuring high reliability and uptime.

4. Cloud Migration Strategy & Execution:
o Develop and implement comprehensive strategies for migrating on-premises data and applications to Azure with minimal disruption to business operations.
o Use Azure-native tools (e.g., Azure Migrate, Data Migration Assistant) to facilitate seamless migration of data assets to the cloud.

5. Azure Data Factory (ADF) Expertise:
o Design, implement, and maintain efficient data pipelines using Azure Data Factory(ADF) to orchestrate and automate ETL workflows across various data sources and destinations.
o Optimize pipeline performance, manage dependencies, and ensure seamless data movement across hybrid cloud environments.

6. Database Services Optimization:
o Administer and optimize Azure Database offerings such as Azure SQL Database, SQL Managed Instances, and other relational/non-relational databases.
o Design high-availability, fault-tolerant architectures, and ensure efficient data replication, backup, and recovery.

7. Performance Tuning & Optimization:
o Identify and address performance bottlenecks within Azure-based data solutions, applying performance tuning strategies to maximize system efficiency.
o Ensure that systems are optimized for cost efficiency, scalability, and reliability by monitoring usage patterns and implementing proactive optimization strategies.

8. Security & Compliance:
o Implement strong security measures across Azure data solutions to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data.
o Leverage Azure's security features, including encryption, role-based access control(RBAC), firewalls, and auditing tools to meet compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR,HIPAA, SOC 2).
o Conduct regular security assessments and work with teams to enforce security best practices across all cloud solutions.

9. Collaboration & Communication:
o Engage with stakeholders from business units, IT, and data engineering to understand business requirements, design appropriate solutions, and ensure smooth project delivery.
o Present project updates, technical challenges, and solutions to executive leadership and other stakeholders, ensuring transparency and alignment with organizational goals.
o Facilitate collaborative decision-making and knowledge sharing among cross-functional teams to achieve optimal solutions.

10. Infrastructure as Code (IaC):
o Lead the design and implementation of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions using tools like Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates, Terraform, or Azure Bicep to automate infrastructure provisioning and management.
o Ensure that IaC practices are embedded in the development lifecycle for consistent, repeatable, and scalable cloud deployments.

Qualifications:

• Experience: 8+ years in cloud architecture, with at least 5 years focused on Azure cloud solutions and architecture design.

• Technical Skills:
o Expertise in Azure Data Lake, Azure SQL Database, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and related Azure data services.
o Strong proficiency in Azure Data Factory (ADF) for data pipeline orchestration and ETL process design.
o Databricks administration and optimization experience, including clustermanagement, job execution, and integration with Azure services.
o Solid experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools like Terraform, ARM templates, or Azure Bicep.
o Familiarity with Azure Databricks, and other advanced data processing services.
o Deep understanding of cloud security best practices, including access control, data encryption, and compliance standards.
o Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automation tools to manage cloud infrastructure and application deployments.

• Soft Skills:
o Leadership experience, with a track record of successfully mentoring teams and driving technical initiatives to completion.

Get to know Syneos Health

Over the past 5 years, we have worked with 94% of all Novel FDA Approved Drugs, 95% of EMA Authorized Products and over 200 Studies across 73,000 Sites and 675,000+ Trial patients.

No matter what your role is, you’ll take the initiative and challenge the status quo with us in a highly competitive and ever-changing environment. Learn more about Syneos Health.
 

http://www.syneoshealth.com

Additional Information

Tasks, duties, and responsibilities as listed in this job description are not exhaustive.  The Company, at its sole discretion and with no prior notice, may assign other tasks, duties, and job responsibilities. Equivalent experience, skills, and/or education will also be considered so qualifications of incumbents may differ from those listed in the Job Description. The Company, at its sole discretion, will determine what constitutes as equivalent to the qualifications described above.   Further, nothing contained herein should be construed to create an employment contract.  Occasionally, required skills/experiences for jobs are expressed in brief terms. Any language contained herein is intended to fully comply with all obligations imposed by the legislation of each country in which it operates, including the implementation of the EU Equality Directive, in relation to the recruitment and employment of its employees.  The Company is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, including the provision of reasonable accommodations, when appropriate, to assist employees or applicants to perform the essential functions of the job.