We are seeking a strategic and hands-on Senior Data Architect to lead the design, development, and evolution of our enterprise data architecture. Reporting to the Director of Engineering, this role will define data standards, drive scalable data platform solutions, and ensure our data ecosystem supports analytics, product innovation, and business growth. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strong leadership skills and the ability to translate complex business requirements into robust data solutions.
Key Responsibilities
Data Architecture & Strategy
- Define and maintain the enterprise data architecture roadmap aligned with business and technology strategy.
- Design scalable, secure, and high-performance data models, pipelines, and storage solutions.
- Establish data standards, governance frameworks, and best practices across engineering teams.
- Evaluate and recommend modern data technologies, tools, and platforms.
Platform & Engineering Collaboration
- Partner with engineering leadership to design and implement cloud-native data platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).
- Lead architecture for data warehousing, data lakes, lakehouse architectures, and real-time streaming systems.
- Ensure seamless integration between operational systems, APIs, and analytics environments.
- Guide teams on performance tuning, data optimization, and cost efficiency.
Governance, Security & Compliance
- Define policies for data security, privacy, access controls, and regulatory compliance (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA where applicable).
- Implement data quality frameworks, monitoring, and observability solutions.
- Establish metadata management and lineage tracking standards.
Leadership & Influence
- Serve as technical authority for data-related initiatives.
- Mentor data engineers and architects, promoting engineering excellence.
- Collaborate with Product, Analytics, Security, and DevOps teams to align data initiatives.
- Present architecture decisions and trade-offs to executive stakeholders.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field (Master’s preferred).
- 8+ years of experience in data engineering, architecture, or related roles.
- 3+ years in a senior or lead architecture position.
- Deep expertise in:
- Data modeling (dimensional, normalized, Data Vault)
- SQL and NoSQL databases
- Cloud data platforms (AWS Redshift, Snowflake, BigQuery, Azure Synapse, etc.)
- ETL/ELT frameworks and orchestration tools (Airflow, dbt, etc.)
- Streaming technologies (Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub)
- Experience designing large-scale distributed data systems.
- Strong understanding of CI/CD, DevOps, and Infrastructure as Code principles.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with machine learning data pipelines and feature stores.
- Familiarity with data mesh or domain-driven data architecture concepts.
- Knowledge of data cataloging and governance tools.
- Industry experience in SaaS, fintech, healthcare, or high-growth environments.
Core Competencies
- Strategic thinking with strong execution capability
- Excellent stakeholder communication skills
- Ability to balance innovation with operational stability
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Collaborative leadership style