Lead Data Architect

At Imagine Believe Realize, LLC we are driven by innovation, transformation and a relentless pursuit of excellence. As an industry leader delivering impactful results, we thrive on solving complex technical challenges and developing cutting-edge solutions that empower our customers and advance critical missions.

IBR is a fast-growing company fueled by passion, curiosity, and innovative thinking – where every team member has the opportunity to continuously learn, unlock their full potential, and redefine what is possible in engineering and technology. If you are inspired by innovation, eager to make a difference, and ready to bring your creativity and expertise to a mission-focused team, we invite you to join us and together, we will shape the future. Let’s Make It Real!

The Data Architect must be able to meet the key criteria below:

Location: Must be able to be onsite in Suitland, MD for project execution.

Years’ Experience: 14+ years professional experience

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or similar field

Security Clearance: IBR is a federal contractor. Applicants must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust security clearance issued by the U.S. Census Bureau. This agency handles and adjudicates the security clearance process.

NOTE: United States Citizenship is required as part of the eligibility criteria to be able to obtain this type of security clearance.

Employment Type: Full Time

Work Schedules: IBR promotes work-life balance by offering flexible scheduling options. Standard business hours are aligned to the Eastern Time Zone.

Key Skills:

• 14+ years of IT experience focusing on enterprise data architecture and management
• Experience with Structured Streaming, Data and Delta Lake concepts
• Advanced level SQL experience (Joins, Aggregation, Windowing functions, Common Table Expressions, RDBMS schema design, Postgres performance optimization)
• Strong proficiency in Python or similar language and SQL for data preparation, analysis, and modeling

Position Overview

As a Data Architect at IBR, you will play a key role in designing and implementing secure, next-generation solutions that support critical missions. As a member of program team, you will collaborate with technical leaders, business stakeholders, and a multi-disciplinary team to ensure solutions are scalable, secure and forward-thinking, while remaining aligned with organizational and program goals. This position offers the opportunity to contribute to technical strategy within a dynamic, mission-driven, and customer focused environment.

Responsibilities

• Data Modeling: Develop conceptual, logical, and physical data models to define how data is stored, processed, and accessed.
• Enterprise Metadata Management: Identify the strategy, tooling, and governance for implementing a common Enterprise Metadata Repository.
• Database Design and Management: Create and maintain database architectures in alignment with business requirements, ensuring integrity, scalability, and performance.
• Data Integration: Design solutions to integrate data from multiple internal and external sources, enabling a unified view for business use.
• Data Governance and Standards: Establish policies, procedures, and standards for data quality, security, and regulatory compliance.
• Security and Compliance: Implement measures to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access and ensure regulatory compliance
• Collaboration: Work closely with data engineers, analysts, scientists, and business stakeholders to ensure data solutions meet organizational needs.
• System Migration and Optimization: Oversee migration from legacy systems, optimize existing data systems, and monitor performance, leveraging automation where possible.
• Documentation and Reporting: Prepare architecture reports and maintain documentation for management and technical teams.
• Collaborate with software developers, system architects, and business analysts to develop, verify, and optimize data science solutions, including AI/ML-based ones.
• Lead and mentor a team of data scientists and data engineers, providing technical guidance and support.

Qualifications

• 14+ years of IT experience focusing on enterprise data architecture and management
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust security clearance
• Bachelor’s degree required
• Experience in Conceptual/Logical/Physical Data Modeling to define how data is stored, processed, and accessed.
• Expertise in Relational and Dimensional Data Modeling
  • OLTP and OLAP workloads
  • noSQL Databases
  • Time-Series Databases
  • Graph Databases
• Strong experience with data extraction, cleaning, and transformation (ETL) processes.
• Expertise in statistical modeling, machine learning algorithms, and data mining techniques.
• Experience with Data processing frameworks, Orchestration, Structured Streaming, Data and Delta Lake concepts, and Delta Live Tables.
• Expertise in Spark/Python/Databricks, Data Lake and SQL
• Experience leading and architecting enterprise-wide initiatives specifically system integration, data migration, transformation, data warehouse build, data mart build, and data lake implementation / support.
  • Advanced level understanding of streaming data pipelines and how they differ from batch systems
  • Formalize concepts of how to handle late data, defining windows, and data freshness
  • Advanced understanding of ETL and ELT and ETL/ELT tools such as SSIS, Pentaho, Data Migration Service etc.
  • Understanding of concepts and implementation strategies for different incremental data loads such as tumbling window, sliding window, high watermark, etc.
  • Familiarity and/or expertise with Great Expectations or other data quality/data validation frameworks
  • Understanding of streaming data pipelines and batch systems
  • Familiarity with concepts such as late data, defining windows, and how window definitions impact data freshness
  • Experience with data lineage (technical, business, operational) and observability
  • Experience developing open archive solutions based using Parquet.
• Advanced level SQL experience (Joins, Aggregation, Windowing functions, Common Table Expressions, RDBMS schema design, Postgres performance optimization, and caching)
  • Indexing and partitioning strategy experience.
• Experience with large-scale, high-performance enterprise big data application deployment and solutioning.
• Understanding how to create DAGs to define workflows
• Experience working with JSON and defining JSON Schemas
• Experience setting up and management Confluent/Kafka topics and ensuring performance using Kafka
  • Familiarity with Schema Registry, message formats and data storage options such as Avro, ORC, Parquet etc.
  • Table Formats and Lakehouse technologies experience utilizing Apache Iceberg (schema evolution, large-scale analytics, and ACID), Delta Lakes, and Apache Hudi
  • Understanding how to manage ksqlDB SQL files and migrations and Kafka Streams
• Experience with incremental ingestion of data using Batch Ingestion Patterns, Streaming & Event-Driven Architecture, Change Data Capture (CDC), and API-Based Integration.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and pipeline orchestration tools such as Airflow, Prefect, etc., but not required.
• Architecture experience in AWS environment a bonus
  • Familiarity working with Kinesis and/or Lambda specifically with how to push and pull data, how to use AWS tools to view data in Kinesis streams, and for processing massive data at scale a bonus
  • Experience with Docker, Jenkins/GitLab, and CloudWatch
  • Ability to write and maintain Jenkins files for supporting CI/CD pipelines
  • Experience working with AWS Lambdas for configuration and optimization
  • Experience working with DynamoDB to query and write data
  • Experience with S3
• Knowledge of Python (Python 3 desired) for CI/CD pipelines a bonus
  • Familiarity with Pytest and Unittest a bonus
• Experience in data governance, security, compliance, metadata management, and data cataloging.
• Ability to thrive in a team-based environment
• Experience briefing the benefits and constraints of technology solutions to technology partners, stakeholders, team members, and senior level of management

Application Deadline:

Applications will be reviewed as received and accepted on a continuous basis until the position is filled. Early application is strongly encouraged.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

This role primarily involves sedentary work, in a workplace and/or home office environment. There are some physical demands associated with the role, including:

• Extended periods of sitting and working at a computer workstation.
• Occasional lifting and carrying of equipment or materials weighing up to 20 pounds.
• Occasional travel to client sites or meetings may be required.
• Work may need to be performed in a fast-paced environment requiring quick decision making.
• Flexible work arrangements may be available based on business needs.
• Will be exposed to a wide variety of clients in differing functions, personalities, and abilities.

Benefits and Compensation Information
Imagine Believe Realize, LLC (IBR) is focused on delivering software and systems engineering solutions to government and commercial clients. Our talent acquisition strategy is designed for career-minded professionals that value continuous learning and growth. We strive to enhance our team members’ ability to thrive in the workplace by creating a proper work/life balance and first-class benefits package that includes:

• Nationwide medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 3 weeks of Paid Time Off and 11 Paid Federal Holidays
• 401k matching
• Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability, and Long-Term Disability at no cost to our employees
• Supplemental insurance options
• Flexible spending accounts and Dependent Care spending accounts
• Wellness incentives
• Reimbursement for professional development and certifications
• Access to training assistance opportunities to support career growth and progression
• Hybrid and Remote work opportunities to support work-life balance

The expected salary range for this position is $145,000 - $170,000 USD annually. This is a good-faith estimate and not a salary guarantee as compensation may vary based on factors such as experience, education, skills, associated role responsibilities, applicable contractual requirements, and geographic location.

Apply Today

If you are ready to grow your career and make an impact, then we encourage you to apply today by submitting an application. We welcome you to explore additional job opportunities listed on our careers page

Applicants who require alternative assistance with the application or interview process may request reasonable accommodations by contacting us using the contact information provided below:

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Compliance and Regulatory Statements

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Statement

Imagine Believe Realize, LLC is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to legally protected characteristics such as race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, creed, age, national origin, disability (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, veteran status, or any other applicable legally protected class in accordance with federal, state, and local laws.

Affirmative Action

As a federal contractor, Imagine Believe Realize, LLC takes affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified minorities, women, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities.

Individuals with Disabilities

Imagine Believe Realize, LLC is committed to providing equal opportunity to qualified individuals with disabilities and to making reasonable accommodations to enable them to apply for positions and perform their jobs. If you require an accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact Human Resources at View email address on click.appcast.io.

Protected Veterans (VEVRAA)

Imagine Believe Realize, LLC actively seeks to employ and advance qualified protected veterans in compliance with the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA).

Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision

Imagine Believe Realize, LLC will not discharge or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action (including an investigation conducted by the employer), or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

Right to Work / Employment Eligibility

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form (Form I-9).