Cloud Architect

Cloud Architect

Tempe, AZ (Candidates need to either be located in or around the surrounding Charlotte, NC area or willing to relocate in the future to work a hybrid schedule onsite.)

6+ month contract but will be further extended and possibly convert the person full-time.

Required Skills:

• Designing, building, and maintaining platforms and solutions on Azure using Databricks and Snowflake.
• Designing and architecting solutions that comply with data security industry standards and regulations, including RBAC, data encryption, identity management, etc.
• Drive the automation of platform deployments using CI/CD pipelines and IaC frameworks (Terraform or Azure DevOps).
• Working experience with Microsoft Power BI platform and integrations with Azure-based platforms.

Additional Skills

• Snowflake and/or Databricks certification
• Managing Apache Airflow.
• Agile mindset with strong communication skills
• Ability to mentor and provide leadership to team members on Azure platform usage, including best practices for architecture, cost optimization, and performance tuning.

Job Description:

Client is transforming their Data Engineering and BI platform to match business needs and deliver modern and efficient solutions with the use of cutting-edge technologies. We are looking for an experienced Data Platform Architect to join to be responsible for the Circle K Data Platform in Azure.

As a Data Platform Architect, you will be responsible for designing, building, and maintaining robust data platforms and solutions on Azure. Your work will focus on optimizing data delivery and ensuring the architecture aligns with business objectives, supporting new initiatives, and enhancing existing data capabilities. You will lead architectural decisions, establish governance standards, and collaborate across teams to ensure seamless data flows and scalable solutions.

Responsibilities:

• Working with Azure Cloud data platforms, providing subject matter expertise in designing, architecting and maintaining these solutions.
• Driving the adoption and usage of Azure Databricks, Snowflake, Microsoft Fabric, and Power BI in the data platform.
• Performing architectural assessments and define solutions to produce detailed design documents addressing complex data needs.
• Working with the team to define and drive platform governance initiatives.
• Contributing and collaborating with other architects within the Enterprise Architecture team to get required approval from Architecture Review Board for new initiatives.
• Providing technical direction on Azure platform services, including best practices for system configurations, integration patterns, and leveraging platform features to meet business requirements.
• Providing platform standards to support the broader team of Data Engineering and Data Science Teams (establishing standards & best practices, efficient usage of Azure service, efficient ETL design patterns).
• Mentoring of Data Engineering and Data Science teams on, for example, leveraging Azure platform capabilities, such as configuring SPNs for system connections, enabling monitoring/logging for pipelines, and implementing security protocols.
• Providing technical support for platform performance tuning and optimization activities.
• Participating in the creation and maintenance of technical roadmaps.
• Participating in PoCs and evaluations of new technologies to identify opportunities for improving data platform capabilities and integration.
• Working with Information Security Architect to develop and implement application or solution information security architectures.
• Collaborating with Information Security teams to design and implement security strategies, including identity management, access control, and data encryption within the Azure platform.
• Collaborating with product owners, business analysts, and developers to translate business requirements into scalable platform solutions.
• Defining and implementing monitoring frameworks for data pipelines and platform services to ensure high availability and proactive issue resolution.
• Driving automation of platform deployments using CI/CD pipelines and Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) frameworks such as Terraform or Azure DevOps.

Required Skills and Experience:

• 7+ years of professional experience in designing & architecting Data & Analytics solutions, with a focus on Azure-based platforms and enterprise-scale systems.
• Working experience in designing and architecting solutions that leverage Databricks and Snowflake.
• Hands-on experience with Azure Cloud services (Azure Synapse/SQL Server, ADF or close equivalents).
• Working experience with Microsoft Power BI (Power BI Platform, AAS/Tabular) integration with Azure-based Platforms.
• Expert understanding of relational databases, Data Warehouse & Data Lake modeling techniques & concepts, ETL/ELT processing patterns, and Big Data technologies.
• Practical experience in designing systems to handle large data volumes.
• Practical experience in designing systems for large-scale data processing with a focus on Azure performance optimization and cost management.
• Working knowledge of Python, PySpark, SQL & T-SQL.
• Working experience in designing and architecting solutions that comply with data security industry standards and regulations, including RBAC, data encryption (GDPR, PCI, etc.), and monitoring.
• Microsoft Azure Certification required

Soft Skills:

• Ability to understand complex business requirements and translate those into effective technical solutions, strategic and tactical directions.
• Ability to mentor and provide leadership to team members on Azure platform usage, including best practices for architecture, cost optimization, and performance tuning.
• Ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with IT teams and business stakeholders, including facilitating discussions between technical and business staff.
• Agile mindset and willingness to learn new tools

Nice to have:

• Snowflake and Databricks certification.
• Experience in managing Apache Airflow.
• Experience with CI/CD tools (preferably GitHub and Azure DevOps).