Data AI Architect

DATA AI ARCHITECTWHO IS SPR?SPR helps companies implement the right technology that helps them balance users’ expectations today while planning for tomorrow’s business demands. A technology modernization firm, SPR works together with clients to develop or modernize digital products and platforms.We’re 150+ strategists, developers, designers, architects, consultants, thinkers, and doers in Chicago and Milwaukee. We work with 100+ mid- to enterprise-size clients across industries like professional services and manufacturing. We think about the end users and rigorously apply the latest technologies and frameworks to address our clients’ needs. Specializing in custom software development, cloud, data, and user experience solutions, SPR promises to Deliver Beyond the Build by providing proactive advice, sharing knowledge, responding to change in an agile way, and investing time to deeply understand our clients’ business. We operate in a fun, casual work environment and have great benefits including competitive salary, bonuses, generous vacation time, big fitness incentives, and medical/dental/vision insurance. By joining the SPR team, you’ll be problem solving, working hard and making an impact through your projects – and you’ll be part of a unique culture and rewarded for it.WHAT IS THE POSITION?SPR is seeking an AI Data Architect to join our practice as a senior technical leader working for clients across our portfolio. This is a hands-on role for someone who can own data and AI architecture decisions, lead small teams of engineers, and translate complex client needs into scalable, production-grade solutions.The right candidate operates at the intersection of data architecture and AI platform engineering: designing the data layer that feeds generative and agentic AI systems, enforcing governance and quality standards, and building the pipelines and integrations that make AI solutions reliable in production. This is not a strategy-only role. SPR's architects write code, make and defend architecture decisions, and deliver alongside the teams they lead.This person will represent SPR at the client level, manage expectations with stakeholders up to the executive level, and contribute to SPR's internal practice through thought leadership, sales support, and candidate interviewing.RESPONSIBILITIES| Design and maintain sustainable data architecture| Work with business requirements and design innovative, repeatable solutions| Provide guidance for new application features| Collaborate with the data staff to create optimal data models for data ingestion and analytics| Develop, manage and maintain data models| Design implement and maintain database objects (tables, views, indexes, etc.) and database security| Maintain performance through tuning, parallelism, optimization, etc.| Ensure structure for existing data is effective| Design, implement and maintain database objects (tables, views, indexes, etc.) and database security| Architect/design and develop large complex ETL jobs| Ensure data quality through creation of audit controls, proactive monitoring and data cleansing techniques| Maintain the data warehouse performance by optimizing batch processing through parallelization, performance tuning etc.PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS| Motivated, self-starter with ability to learn quickly| Experienced with SQL, python skills (R is a strong plus)| Experience in architecting and engineering innovative data analysis solutions| Familiarity with architectural patterns for data-intensive solutions| Expertise in real-time streaming and migrating batch-style data processing to streaming and micro-batch solutions| Use of distributed messaging systems to rewrite systems in place| Knowledge of the RDBMS core principles; set up, tune, design, as well as newer unstructured data tools | Experience developing large scale, complex logical data models (along with physical implementations of the logical models)| Familiarity with consulting and traditional application design| Experience estimating technical solution builds and contributing to custom proposals| Excellent written and verbal communication skills| Display solid problem-solving abilities in the face of ambiguity| Must be a hands-on individual who is comfortable leading by example | Experience with Agile Methodology | Possess excellent interpersonal and organizational skills| Able to manage your own time and work well both independently and as part of a teamTECHNOLOGIES WE USERelational/SQL Databases (SQL Server, Postgres, Oracle, MySQL, etc.)Non-SQL Databases (MongoDB, Cassandra, ElasticSearch, Neo4j, etc.)Data Analytics Platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, Apache Spark, Google BigQuery, Azure Synapse, Amazon Redshift, etc.)Cloud AI Platforms (Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI)Familiarity with LLMs, RAG, and Prompt EngineeringProgramming Languages (Python, TypeScript, C#, Java)AI Productivity Tools (Claude, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Devin AI, etc.)EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE| Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in Data Science, Analytics, Computer Science, Engineering or Science / Technology-based disciplines| 10+ years in data engineering or data architecture| Hands-on experience designing and building scalable data pipelines (ETL/ELT) in a production cloud environment (Azure, GCP, or AWS)| Strong data modeling and governance experience: defining source of truth, data quality standards, and golden record definitions| Experience designing data layers that feed AI/ML or LLM-based systems, including structured data transformation for model consumption| Proficiency in Python and SQL for pipeline development and data transformation| Strong understanding of API design and consumption patterns: connecting data layers to middleware and downstream application consumers| Demonstrated ability to lead architecture decisions, document standards, and enforce them across a team| Active, daily use of AI coding and productivity tools (e.g. Claude, Claude Code, ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, or similar)| Familiarity with AI observability tooling (e.g. Langfuse or similar)| Experience with evaluation frameworks for AI/LLM outputs| Experience with cloud AI platforms (Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI)| Experience with data platforms such as Snowflake or DatabricksCOMPENSATION & BENEFITSSPR prides itself on helping employees thrive in their work and life. As a result, SPR invests in benefits that include vacation time starting at 3 weeks, 5 days of sick time, 8 paid holidays and 3 floating holidays, maternity, and parental leave, and 401(k) with a match. Employees (and their families) are offered health, dental, & vision coverage, group life and AD&D, short/long-term disability, and flexible spending accounts. Employees receive a $150 reimbursement account for any well-being-related expenses and a premium subscription to the Calm app.SPR is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. For this position, Data AI Architect, the base salary pay range is $150,000 to $185,000. In addition, individuals may be eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. Actual compensation will depend upon an individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, location, and other relevant factors. The salary pay range is subject to change and may be modified at any time.If this sounds like the kind of challenge you would be up for every day, we would love to hear from you. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and veteran.