JOB TITLE: Senior Data & AI Architecture Consultant (Databricks & MLOps)
CLIENT: EPAM Systems (end client: life sciences, not disclosed)
CLIENT CONTACT: Dunja Jankovic, Lead Recruiter (Belgrade), +381 69 807 6952
PPR#: 835188663 / 1118825176 / 1124362035 (third TBC, confirm whether 3 headcount)
OWNER: Max Binnie
DATE RECEIVED: 03/11/2026
STATUS: Live, sourcing
CONTRACT TYPE: B2B contract, full-time
START: ASAP
END: 29/05/2027

ROLE BRIEF
EPAM needs a senior, hands-on architecture consultant for a life sciences client to define the end-to-end MLOps and Databricks delivery approach. The role covers assessing current ML implementations, setting standards and the operating model, and turning architecture into playbooks for engineering teams. The consultant then validates the approach on live ML products. It’s a mix of hands-on technical credibility and operating model and documentation work. The consultant works alongside enterprise architects and platform SMEs. The client has a Denmark and India footprint.

RATES (charge rate to EPAM / max pay to contractor, 115% margin cap per MSA, 8h day)
Western Europe: €97.30/hr (€778/day) / €84.60/hr (€675/day). Margin ~€103/day
Denmark: DKK 697.20/hr (DKK 5,578/day) / DKK 606/hr (DKK 4,850/day). Margin ~DKK 728/day
Poland: €62.30/hr (€498/day) / €54.17/hr (€433/day). Margin ~€65/day
Eastern Europe: €58.10/hr (€465/day) / €50.52/hr (€404/day). Margin ~€61/day
Some flex above cap per Dunja; share strong profiles slightly over.
Est. GP per head (Western, ~140 days): ~€14.5k

LOCATIONS
Open: Denmark, Poland, Eastern Europe, Western Europe
Excluded: Ukraine, Hungary
Sourcing focus: Portugal, Spain, Greece (Western rate goes furthest)

OFFICE / TRAVEL
Denmark-based: office every two weeks
All other locations: office and travel on request, to be agreed with the client. Candidates must be open to travel.

MUST-HAVES

  • AI & ML strategy, Databricks, ML architecture
  • Hands-on Databricks delivery in an architecture or technical consulting role
  • MLOps: MLflow (tracking, registry), Unity Catalog, Delta Lake, model serving and batch scoring, monitoring, retraining
  • CI/CD and environment promotion for data and ML (Databricks Asset Bundles, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions)
  • Data engineering, architecture governance, data governance, data quality
  • Ability to translate architecture into standards, playbooks and engineering guidance

NICE-TO-HAVES

  • Snowflake (Snowpark, Cortex, dbt)
  • LLMOps, AgentOps, RAG
  • Pharma, life sciences or regulated industry (GxP, IT audit)

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Define the MLOps lifecycle, from feature prep to deployment, monitoring, retraining and rollback
  • Build the Databricks delivery operating model and Snowflake and Databricks interoperability patterns
  • Rationalise platform documentation (keep, update, merge, retire, create)
  • Produce reference patterns, decision guides and playbooks with mandatory controls
  • Run SME interviews and working sessions on the target operating model
  • Support governance: stage gates, ADRs, production readiness, PII and data contracts
  • Build role-based onboarding paths and knowledge management

EPAM SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

  • Send submissions to WFACVSubmissionsEMEA@epam.com with the PPR# in the subject line
  • Complete the PPR_Epam.docx submission table for every candidate
  • No logos on the CV, max 5 pages, at least 2 years of employers listed
  • Confirm whether past roles were as an employee or a contractor, and any previous EPAM projects or interviews
  • Ltd company only in Germany and Switzerland
  • £1m PI and cyber insurance
  • Rate transparency: contractor rate plus the all-in charge rate