DevOps / MLOps Engineer

THE ROLE

The DevOps / MLOps Engineer owns the Databricks platform that our data team builds on: infrastructure, deployment pipelines, access controls, and ML operations. You will help keep the platform secure, repeatable, and cost-efficient so data and ML engineers can deliver faster without hand-built environments or time-consuming manual permission updates. A key focus of this role is access control. You will translate business and compliance requirements into enforced, auditable access policies, then automate those policies to ensure grants are consistent and reviewable. While AI tools can accelerate data product development, access decisions will remain governed by defined policy and human approval.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Platform Administration and Access Control

• Administer Databricks workspaces, Unity Catalog, clusters, SQL warehouses, and service principals.
• Translate access rules into table-, column-, and row-level controls (grants, row filters, column masks, dynamic views) and manage them as code.
• Integrate Databricks with the enterprise identity provider (Entra ID, Okta) using SSO, SCIM, and conditional access in partnership with Enterprise Technology.
• Perform periodic access reviews and provide audit evidence for CMMC and other assessments.

Infrastructure and DevOps

• Manage cloud and Databricks infrastructure as code (Terraform, Databricks Asset Bundles).
• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines for dbt models, notebooks, jobs, and related data workflows across dev, test, and prod.
• Set up monitoring, logging, alerting, and cost reporting; tune compute to balance performance and cost.

MLOps

• Operate the ML lifecycle using tools such as MLflow for experiment tracking and model registry.
• Support feature pipelines, model serving, and monitoring for drift and performance.
• Partner with ML Engineers to move models and AI applications from prototype to production.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• 4+ years of experience in DevOps, platform engineering, data platform administration, or MLOps.
• Hands-on Databricks administration experience, including Unity Catalog permissions.
• Infrastructure as code (Terraform or equivalent) and CI/CD experience (GitHub Actions or equivalent).
• Working knowledge of a major cloud (Azure or AWS), networking fundamentals, and identity integration (SSO, SCIM, service principals).
• Strong Python and SQL scripting skills.
• U.S. based and able to work with government contract data.

Preferred

• Experience with MLflow, model serving, and production ML monitoring.
• Experience implementing access controls in regulated environments (CMMC, NIST SP 800-171, FedRAMP, ITAR).
• Experience with Entra ID conditional access and/or Okta.
• Databricks platform administrator experience and/or relevant cloud certifications.

Principal Mineral is an equal opportunity employer.

At Principal Mineral, technology is more than infrastructure - it’s the catalyst for industrial innovation. Our mission is simple: secure the materials needed to build the future. From artificial intelligence and advanced electronics to energy and national defense, the world depends on critical materials. Principal Mineral helps strengthen domestic industrial capacity and supports the critical materials supply chain for generations to come. Technology is central to how we operate. We’re building an integrated global manufacturing platform by acquiring and expanding industry-leading businesses, including Camden Copper, Isola Group, and Conductive Group. As we grow, we use technology to connect manufacturing, the supply chain, commercial operations, and data into a scalable enterprise platform. That means faster decision-making, stronger performance, and a workplace where you can drive real impact every day.