Principal Data & Process Architect

Principal Data & Process Architect Department: Information Systems Reports to: CIDO FLSA Status: Exempt The anticipated salary for this position starts at $136,500+. The final pay will be determined based on several factors, including qualifications, experience, education, and years within the job or industry, with a strong emphasis on maintaining internal equity. Who we are and what we’re about: KU Endowment is an independent, nonprofit organization and the official fundraising foundation for the University of Kansas. We partner with donors in providing philanthropic support to build a greater KU. As an employee of KU Endowment, you’ll witness firsthand the power of our donors’ generosity. You will join a talented and fun group of people who are inspired to help KU through the support of loyal alumni and friends. This support fuels excellence, enabling students and faculty to develop innovative programs and research that distinguish the university. We connect the philanthropic passions of donors with the needs of students, faculty and programs - and everyone benefits. People are engaged. Purpose is ignited. Lives are changed. What we are looking for: As a Principal Data & Process Architect, you’ll play a vital role in KU Endowment’s overall IS team. We are a data as mission critical organization looking for a proactive individual that can help us solve, build and operate environments including Salesforce CRM, marketing, and financial systems. This position will be a part of our information systems team to research, recommend, implement and support multiple system and data projects. The role will be a collaborative process architect who can work with teammates and stakeholders at all levels of the organization to optimize our use of data towards the mission of KU Endowment. The individual in this position is expected to embrace KU Endowment’s stated core values - passion for KU, partnership with donors, perpetual support for KU, and a people-centered approach - and demonstrate support for them through professional interactions and activities. Hybrid Work Environment: Following the initial training period, this position offers a hybrid work schedule, with the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. However, the role requires multiple days per week on-site at our Lawrence, KS office to ensure effective collaboration, team engagement, and alignment with organizational goals. What’s a typical day look like?

• Technical Architect: Researches, evaluates and recommends technical solutions to KU Endowment. Works with business partners to understand technical application needs to identify and proactively recommend new solutions. Reviews submissions for new applications/systems. Identifies conflicts, or areas of overlap, observability opportunities and recommends technical process improvements. Champions automation and helps lead KU Endowment into artificial intelligence.
• Integration Developer: Support existing integrations and assist in development of new integrations, automations, or datasets.
• Subject Matter Expert: Serve as expert on KU Endowment technology, tools, business process, and functional areas.
• Process Evaluation: Works with internal partners and campus affiliates to identify process gaps ahead of technology deployments and coordinates the right stakeholders to solve.
• Data Expert: Understands how the data flows between systems and partners to ensure best practices and works with security team members to ensure data is protected.
• Regular and reliable attendance is essential for this position.
• Performs other duties as may be assigned.

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• 8-12 years of experience working in a combination of data warehouse deployments, ERP and CRM Migrations, as well as analytics engineering roles.
• Demonstrated knowledge and ability to work in cloud platforms such as GCP, AWS, or Azure

What separates the best from the rest?

• Conceptual & Logical Modeling: Proven ability to design complex data models (relational and non-relational) that align with business entities and functional requirements.
• Data Lineage & Dictionary Management: Experience establishing enterprise-wide data dictionaries, business glossaries, and end-to-end data lineage.
• Semantic Layer Design: Expertise in designing semantic layers that bridge the gap between raw technical data and business-friendly reporting structures.
• Entity-Relationship Mapping: Deep experience in mapping data elements between disparate source systems (e.g., CRM to ERP) to ensure structural integrity during integration.
• Advanced Data Orchestration: Mastery of self-service ETL/ELT tools such as KNIME or Alteryx to automate complex, multi-step data preparation workflows.
• Cloud Data Warehousing: Hands-on experience architecting and managing scalable data solutions within cloud environments (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery, or Redshift).
• Cloud Infrastructure Proficiency: Functional knowledge of cloud service providers (AWS, Azure, or GCP), specifically regarding storage, compute, and data ingestion services.
• Transformation Logic & Version Control: Proficiency in SQL for complex transformations.
• Business Process Modeling (BPM): Expertise in mapping “as-is” and “to-be” business processes using standards like BPMN 2.0 to identify inefficiencies and data gaps.
• Systems Implementation (ERP/CRM): Proven track record in the lifecycle of ERP (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite) and CRM (e.g., Salesforce, Dynamics 365) deployments, specifically regarding data migration and configuration.
• Gap Analysis: Ability to perform rigorous gap analysis between existing business workflows and system capabilities to drive functional requirements.
• Cross-Functional Translation: Ability to translate high-level business requirements from non-technical stakeholders into technical functional specifications for engineering teams.
• Integrated Data/Process Logic: Ability to visualize how a change in a business process (e.g., a new sales workflow) impacts downstream data structures and analytics reporting.
• Data Integrity & Governance Frameworks: Experience implementing data quality checks and governance protocols within automated pipelines to ensure process-driven data accuracy.
• Scalability Planning: Ability to design data and process architectures that are not just functional for current needs, but scalable for organizational growth and increasing data volumes.

Physical Requirements:

• A valid driver’s license.
• Must have access to reliable transportation to travel between multiple locations for training, donor meetings, networking, events and/or work-related activities.
• Must be able to respond quickly and effectively to directions and safety hazards.
• This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office productivity machinery such as computers, keyboards and a mouse, laptops, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.
• The ability to observe details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Must be able to communicate with others effectively.
• Physical effort/lifting: medium-up to 50 pounds

KU Endowment offers a competitive salary with an excellent benefit package including:

• 100% employer-paid pension plan
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) and Roth 401(k) matching program
• Section 125 flexible benefits
• Generous paid leave including holidays, personal and sick leave
• Volunteer and community engagement opportunities
• Paid Parental Leave
• Life, AD&D, short- and long-term disability insurance
• Legal & ID Theft protection
• Critical Illness
• Accident and Hospital Indemnity insurance
• KU education assistance
• Free parking

Sounds good, right? What’s next?