AI-Enabled Data Architecture Consultant

As an AI-Enabled Data Architecture Consultant , you will make an impact by designing and implementing modern data and AI platforms that help organizations accelerate digital transformation, unlock business insights, and operationalize enterprise AI solutions. You will be a valued member of the Data & AI Consulting team and work collaboratively with business stakeholders, enterprise architects, data engineers, cloud platform teams, and AI practitioners to deliver scalable and innovative solutions.

In this role, you will:

• Design and implement AI-enabled data platforms, lakehouse architectures, and cloud-native data ecosystems.
• Develop and operationalize Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions and enterprise AI applications.
• Build AI agents and intelligent automation solutions utilizing Claude and modern orchestration frameworks.
• Architect scalable batch and streaming data pipelines to support AI, machine learning, analytics, and business intelligence workloads.
• Lead data modernization initiatives by integrating legacy systems, ERP platforms, and operational applications into modern cloud architectures.

Work model:

At Cognizant, we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible, and we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various well-being programs. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is an onsite position requiring 5 days per week in a client or Cognizant office in Cleveland, Ohio .

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

• 8+ years of experience in Data Engineering, Data Architecture, Cloud Data Platforms, and AI/Generative AI solution delivery.
• Hands-on experience developing enterprise AI solutions using Claude, LLM integrations, prompt engineering, Agentic AI, and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG).
• Strong expertise with vector databases such as Pinecone, Weaviate, or pgvector, and orchestration frameworks including LangChain.
• Proven experience designing and implementing modern data architectures utilizing Spark, Kafka or Flink, Airflow, dbt, and Delta Lake or Apache Iceberg.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure and platform engineering tools including Terraform, Kubernetes, Docker, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC).
• Strong knowledge of enterprise data integration patterns including CDC, Debezium, GoldenGate, Fivetran, and ERP or mainframe integrations.
• Experience establishing data governance frameworks, metadata management, data cataloging, lineage, and access controls using platforms such as Unity Catalog, Collibra, DataHub, or OpenMetadata.
• Demonstrated experience optimizing cloud environments through FinOps best practices, cost allocation strategies, tagging frameworks, and AI workload cost modeling.
• Strong stakeholder management, consulting, and communication skills with the ability to define AI and data modernization roadmaps.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

These will help you stand out:

• Experience with Azure Databricks and Azure OpenAI services.
• Experience working with Anthropic Claude in enterprise environments.
• Knowledge of multi-agent AI architectures and autonomous AI systems.
• Experience designing and implementing knowledge graph solutions.
• Expertise supporting healthcare data platforms and healthcare industry use cases.
• Experience leading large-scale enterprise data modernization and cloud transformation programs.
• Relevant cloud, AI, data engineering, or architecture certifications.

We’re excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Don’t hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum requirements listed. Think about your transferable experiences and unique skills that make you stand out as someone who can bring new and exciting things to this role.

The annual salary for this position is between $ 130,000 - $ 150,000 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits: Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:

Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance

Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off

401(k) plan and contributions

Long-term/Short-term Disability

Paid Parental Leave

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Disclaimer: The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.