Data Architect in San Diego

The Data Architect is a hands-on technical leader responsible for shaping and modernizing the organization’s enterprise data architecture across on-premises and cloud platforms. The role defines scalable data models, cloud- integration patterns, and architectural standards that enable analytics, reporting, digital banking, and other mission-critical applications. Working closely with engineering, analytics, and business teams, this leader ensures secure, resilient, and high-performing data environments while providing architectural direction for the Data Lake, Data Warehouse, Operational Data Store, and emerging cloud platforms. The position combines strategic architectural vision with deep, practical experience in designing, implementing, and optimizing modern data systems across structured, semi-structured, and unstructured workloads.

Supervisory responsibilities

• Reports directly to the Director, Cloud & Data for strategic direction, coaching, and performance evaluation.

• Provides architectural leadership and technical guidance to Data Engineers, Data Analysts, and cross-functional development teams.

NATURE & SCOPE

This role shapes enterprise data strategy, mentors teams on modern architecture and governance, and ensures alignment on scalable design principles across cloud and on-prem data platforms.

Enterprise Data Architecture & Modeling

• Define and maintain enterprise data models, canonical schemas, and integration patterns supporting analytics, reporting, and digital banking.
• Architect and govern the Data Lake, Data Warehouse, ODS, and cloud data platforms, ensuring consistency, scalability, and alignment with business needs.
• Establish standards for structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data across SQL, NoSQL, and cloud- systems.
• Lead the design of golden-record strategies, SSOT frameworks, and member-data standardization initiatives.

Data Governance, Quality & Metadata Management

• Develop and enforce policies for data quality, lineage, cataloging, and metadata management.
• Partner with business and engineering teams to implement governance frameworks that ensure accuracy, consistency, and regulatory compliance.
• Oversee data validation, profiling, and quality automation across ingestion and transformation pipelines.

Integration Architecture & Pipeline Design

• Architect enterprise-grade data ingestion, transformation, and integration pipelines using modern tools such as ADF, Airflow, Informatica, SSIS, and cloud- services.
• Define standards for API-driven data exchange, event-based integrations, and real-time data flows supporting ODS and transactional reporting.
• Guide engineering teams on best practices for ETL/ELT design, orchestration, and automation.

Database & Platform Architecture

• Provide architectural oversight for SQL Server, Azure SQL, Snowflake, MySQL, MongoDB Atlas, Cosmos DB, and other enterprise data platforms.
• Define strategies for high availability, disaster recovery, performance tuning, and secure connectivity.
• Lead modernization efforts including cloud migration, platform consolidation, and adoption of emerging data technologies.

Analytics & BI Enablement

• Architect semantic models, curated datasets, and analytics-ready structures for BI platforms such as Power BI and Tableau.
• Partner with analytics teams to ensure data structures support advanced reporting, machine learning, and enterprise dashboards.
• Govern KPI definitions, metric consistency, and analytical data standards.

Collaboration & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Work closely with engineering, product, security, and business teams to align data architecture with organizational strategy.
• Provide architectural guidance for enterprise projects, digital platform initiatives, and system conversions.
• Communicate complex data concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders through documentation, diagrams, and presentations., * Define and maintain the enterprise data architecture roadmap.
• Ensure data platforms meet performance, security, and compliance standards.
• Lead architectural design for enterprise data initiatives such as golden records, and 360-member view.
• Provide architectural oversight for Data Warehouse, Data Lake, ODS, and analytics/BI platforms.
• Partner with engineering teams to ensure high-quality implementation of architectural designs.
• Support enterprise projects with architectural guidance and technical leadership.
• Ensure member service and satisfaction remain central to all data-related initiatives.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

• Work is primarily performed within a cubicle office setting. Subject to conversational noise found in an office environment.

Note: Staff are expected to perform various tasks, projects and administrative duties as assigned.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, or related field.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in data architecture, data engineering, database design, and enterprise data platforms.
• Proven leadership experience guiding engineering teams and influencing enterprise data strategy.

Technical Expertise

• Mastery of enterprise data modeling (conceptual, logical, physical) and metadata management.
• Deep experience with cloud databases as a service such as Snowflake, Azure Synapse, Azure SQL, SQL Server, MongoDB Atlas, Cosmos DB, and cloud- data services.
• Advanced SQL, Python, and scripting capabilities for architectural prototyping and troubleshooting.
• Expertise in ETL/ELT frameworks such as SSIS, Informatica IDMC, Airflow, Dbt Cloud, ADF.
• Strong understanding of ODS architecture, real-time data flows, and transactional reporting needs supported by responsibilities such as Configures and maintaining the organization’s Operation Data Store (ODS).
• Experience with data quality frameworks, governance tools, and lineage/cataloging platforms.
• Hands-on experience with BI tools such as Power BI, Tableau and semantic modeling.
• Knowledge of cloud security, encryption, RBAC, and compliance standards for financial institutions.

Leadership & Soft Skills

• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ability to translate business requirements into scalable architectural designs.
• Demonstrated mentorship, collaboration, and cross-team leadership.
• Commitment to operational excellence, documentation, and continuous improvement.