Data Architect

Role: Data Architect

Location: Atlanta, GA/ St. Lousi, MO/Arlington, VA (Hybrid)

Type: Contract

Role Overview:

• We are seeking a highly experienced Data Architect / Primary Architect - Data Platform to lead modern, secure, scalable enterprise data ecosystems.
• The role is the architectural authority across data initiatives and is embedded from requirement intake through production support, partnering with business stakeholders, technical architects, application owners, engineering teams, governance bodies, source-system SMEs, vendors, and leadership.

Day to Day Job Duties:

• Lead enterprise data architecture using Medallion Architecture (Bronze, Silver, Gold) to establish scalable, governed lakehouse and data-platform patterns.
• Define high-performance batch and streaming data pipelines, reusable architectural frameworks, design standards, and engineering best practices.
• Serve as the first architecture point of contact when projects or enhancements are initiated; lead early scoping, feasibility assessment, requirements clarification, and alignment with business expectations.
• Design secure cloud data solutions across AWS, Azure, and/or GCP, including RBAC, IAM, encryption at rest and in transit, zero-trust principles, secure data sharing, masking, and tokenization; partner with Information Security on cloud posture, controls, governance, and compliance.
• Lead Data Vault 2.0 implementation (Hubs, Links, Satellites); translate requirements into conceptual, logical, and physical models; and design optimized star/snowflake models with clear modeling standards and review practices.
• Architect governed data exposure and consumption through APIs, data sharing, semantic layers, BI integrations, and metadata services, with strategies for controlled access, democratization, lineage, observability, performance, and SLA adherence.
• Embed data governance and data-quality principles into platform design; define monitoring, catalog, lineage, and quality-control mechanisms.
• Maintain frequent cross-functional interaction with business stakeholders, technical architects, application owners, development users, engineering teams, and onshore source-system SMEs - including AXIS, MPS1, and Boarding/Servicing teams - to drive decisions and validate source-data requirements.
• Support analysis, triage, and research for production data issues during onshore hours, helping minimize outages, data inconsistencies, and business impact.
• Mentor engineering teams, provide architectural oversight, and work with vendors and system integrators to ensure implementation and design compliance.

Basic Qualifications:

• Minimum 8+ years Deep expertise in Medallion Architecture (Bronze, Silver, Gold), enterprise lakehouse design, Data Vault 2.0, and advanced conceptual, logical, and physical data modeling.
• Minimum 5+ years Strong understanding of enterprise data exposure and consumption strategies, including APIs, data sharing, semantic layers, and BI integration patterns.
• Minimum 5+ years Strong experience with AWS, Azure, and/or GCP, hands-on cloud security architecture, and modern lakehouse/analytical platforms such as Databricks, Snowflake, BigQuery, and/or Redshift.
• Minimum 8+ years Strong SQL and distributed data processing knowledge, with experience designing both batch and streaming architectures and working with orchestration tooling.
• Nice to have Minimum 2+ years Knowledge of IAM, RBAC, masking, tokenization, encryption, secure sharing, and zero-trust principles, with experience embedding governance, metadata, lineage, observability, data quality, and compliance controls.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate architecture clearly, influence cross-functional teams, and work onshore in Atlanta with a minimum of 3 days per week in the office.
• Availability during core U.S. business hours for workshops, ad-hoc discussions, source-system coordination, and production issue triage.

Nice to Have; (But not a must)

• 12+ years of experience in Data Architecture and/or Enterprise Data Engineering, with experience leading large-scale enterprise data transformation programs.
• Cloud Architect certification in AWS, Azure, and/or GCP.
• Data Vault 2.0 certification.
• TOGAF or equivalent architecture certification.
• Experience in regulated industries.

Leadership & Behavioral Competencies

• Strong architectural thinking and systems-design capability.
• Excellent stakeholder communication and facilitation skills.
• Strategic mindset with strong execution orientation.
• Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive architecture decisions.
• Mentorship and team-development experience.

Success Criteria

• Establish a scalable, secure Medallion-based data architecture with clear Bronze, Silver, and Gold design patterns.
• Successfully implement Data Vault modeling at enterprise scale.
• Establish secure, governed, performant data exposure frameworks for downstream consumers.
• Drive adoption of standardized data modeling, security, governance, metadata, lineage, and data-quality practices.
• Enable real-time collaboration with onshore stakeholders and rapid response to production and operational issues.