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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Senior Snowflake Platform Architect - **Company:** Intuitive Surgical, Inc. - **Location:** Sunnyvale, CA, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Query Performance, Artificial Intelligence, Airflow, Amazon Web Services, ARM Architecture, Computer Networks, Databases, Data Governance, Data Infrastructure, Data Integration, Information Leak Prevention, Data Mart, Data Warehousing, Dimensional Modeling, Disaster Recovery, Identity and Access Management, Python (Programming Language), Network Security, PostgreSQL, Liquibase, Microsoft SQL Server, Network Planning and Design, OAuth, Oracle (Applications), Performance Tuning, Systems Development Life Cycle, Role-Based Access Control, Prometheus, Zero Trust Network Access, Azure Machine Learning, Next.js, Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), Single Sign-On, SQL Databases, Data Streaming, Systems Integration, Tableau (Software), Teradata SQL, Management of Software Versions, Web Analytics, AI Infrastructure, Enterprise Data Management, Datadog, Transport Layer Security, Data Classification, Feature Engineering, Okta, ReactJS, Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Large Language Models, Snowflake, Grafana, IT Architecture, Multi-Cloud, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Git, Pandas, AI Platforms, Git Flow, Debezium, Kubernetes, Infrastructure Automation Frameworks, Information Technology, Collibra, Performance Monitor, Apache Kafka, Machine Learning Operations, Video Streaming, CIS Benchmarks, Artificial Intelligence Governance, Streamlit Framework, Terraform, Splunk, Intelligent Document Processing - **Published:** November 7, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.juju.com/job/28_25303_f00a64854f55ed03993dce0cf92d7c07 ## About the Role * 8+ years in data platform engineering or infrastructure architecture; 5+ Snowflake with 2+ in an architect/lead role * Expert SQL - CTEs, window functions, VARIANT/ARRAY, QUALIFY, LATERAL FLATTEN, MERGE, and query profile diagnosis * 5+ years Python - Snowflake connector/Snowpark, pandas, and scheduled automation (Airflow/Tasks) * Terraform, Git-based CI/CD, and AWS/GCP (storage integrations, IAM, KMS, PrivateLink) * Hands-on Okta/SAML SSO, OAuth 2.0, and network security architecture - VPC/VNet design, PrivateLink, and segmentation for enterprise integrations * Regulated industry experience (healthcare, medical device) with SOX/HITRUST/HIPAA compliance * Dimensional modeling (star/snowflake schema, SCDs) and TB-scale performance optimization * AI/ML platform infrastructure experience or governed self-service AI environments * Experience managing vendor relationships and contract/renewal cycles for enterprise data platform tooling, * SnowPro Architect certification (strongly preferred), Administrator, or Core * Snowflake Postgres, pg_lake/Iceberg integration, catalog-linked databases * dbt, Streamlit, React/Next.js (App Runtime), Kubernetes (SPCS) * Streaming technologies (Kafka, Kinesis, Snowpipe Streaming) * Cortex AI - AI functions, Cortex Search, Cortex Agents, Document AI, LLM/RAG architecture * Cortex AI governance - AI observability/monitoring, agent RBAC design, data protection for RAG/search pipelines * Data catalog/lineage tools (Collibra, Alation, Atlan) and observability platforms (Datadog, Prometheus/Grafana, Splunk), * Bachelor's in Computer Science or equivalent; Master's a plus * Strong systems-thinking, architectural design, and communication skills * Security-first mindset with deep understanding of SAML, OAuth 2.0, SCIM, network security, and data protection * Comfortable at the intersection of hands-on technical work and strategic platform decisions ## Description We are seeking a Senior Snowflake Platform Architect to join our EA Data Integrations and EDW Platform Team at Intuitive Surgical. This senior technical lead role owns the architectural vision, operational excellence, and security posture of our enterprise Snowflake platform - supporting terabyte-scale workloads., 1. Architecture, Performance & Scale * Own the Snowflake platform architecture - account topology, database/schema design, warehouse strategy, replication, disaster recovery, and multi-environment governance * Maintain 99.9%+ availability through proactive monitoring, resource monitors, defined SLOs/error budgets, and incident response * Optimize performance and cost at scale - clustering keys, search optimization and query acceleration service, multi-cluster warehouse scaling, workload isolation, materialized views/dynamic tables, and result/query caching * Apply zero-copy cloning, Time Travel, and cross-region/cross-cloud replication for DR, dev/test provisioning, and business continuity at terabyte-scale * Design Snowflake Task graphs and evaluate new capabilities (dynamic tables, Iceberg tables, SPCS, Cortex AI) for production readiness 2. Security, Network, Governance & Compliance * Design the RBAC architecture - role hierarchies, least-privilege patterns, tag-based governance, masking policies, and row-level security at scale * Architect Okta SSO (SAML 2.0/SCIM) and OAuth 2.0 - federation, MFA enforcement, authentication and session policies * Design network topology and network policies for secure integrations - PrivateLink/Private Service Connect, VPC/VNet peering, IP allowlisting, and traffic segmentation across hybrid and multi-cloud environments; apply zero-trust patterns when connecting partner networks, on-prem systems, and cross-account services to Snowflake * Run ongoing network policy operations - login IP auditing by user/geography, gap remediation for offshore and international users, and iterative policy tuning against real traffic patterns * Operationalize Snowflake Trust Center - security scanners, CIS benchmarks, and detection patterns (login anomalies, privilege escalation, exfiltration indicators) * Enforce data classification and protection - PII/PHI handling, encryption, tokenization, retention/purge automation, and SOX/HITRUST compliance * Govern service account security and change management workflows across the platform * Integrate enterprise data catalog and lineage tooling (Collibra, Alation, or Atlan) for metadata harvesting and column-level lineage * Govern the Cortex AI platform - RBAC and least-privilege scoping for Cortex Agents/Search/Analyst, AI observability and quality monitoring (agent health, latency, error rate), guardrails against data leakage and prompt injection, and audit trails for agent/tool activity * Design and operate the agent observability and evaluation program - tracing, golden-dataset evaluation, LLM-judge scoring, and drift detection to ensure production agent quality * Manage the MCP Server lifecycle - tool-level access scoping, OAuth security integrations for external AI clients, and per-domain grant governance * Govern Cortex Code (AI coding assistant) usage - account/user-level credit limit policy, tiered access enforcement, and consumption monitoring across CLI/Desktop/Snowsight surfaces * Architect the AI environment SDLC - sandbox-to-production promotion model (dev/QA/prod), schema-level RBAC per environment, TTL-based data governance, and business-to-platform-team handoff process 3. SQL, Python & Platform Automation * Write expert-level analytical SQL against Account Usage views for dashboards, cost attribution, and incident root-cause analysis * Build Python-based admin tooling - automated provisioning, role audits, compliance evidence generation, and anomaly detection * Orchestrate workflows using Apache Airflow, Snowflake Tasks/Streams, and dbt for event-driven and incremental processing * Build CI/CD pipelines for schema and object changes using Terraform, schemachange/Liquibase, and Git-based workflows * Automate cost governance - budgets, resource monitors, tagging, and chargeback/showback dashboards 4. Applications, Containers & AI Infrastructure * Govern Streamlit-in-Snowflake and Snowflake App Runtime (Next.js/React) - deployment standards, RBAC, and environment promotion * Manage Snowpark Container Services (SPCS) - compute pools, image registry, GPU provisioning, and egress controls * Architect the Cortex AI platform - search services, Cortex Agents, semantic views, AI guardrails, and AI cost monitoring * Enable ML feature engineering at scale via Snowpark, and provide architectural guidance on RAG patterns and emerging Cortex features 5. Platform Analytics * Architect a semantic/metrics layer (Cortex Analyst, semantic views) for consistent business definitions across all BI tools * Integrate and govern Tableau with workload isolation and elastic scale-out to hold latency targets under high concurrency * Design analytics-optimized data marts and medallion (bronze/silver/gold) patterns for governed, self-service reporting * Architect near-real-time and time-series/IoT analytics pipelines using Snowpipe Streaming and dynamic tables * Define contract-first data products - schema versioning and reliability SLAs - for BI, analytics, and ML consumers * Establish analytics data quality and observability - dbt tests, freshness SLAs, and anomaly detection on key metrics 6. Snowflake Postgres * Provision and manage Snowflake Postgres instances - sizing, security (SSL, key-pair auth, credential rotation), and network policy assignment * Configure pg_lake/Iceberg integration for cross-engine querying and hybrid Postgres/Snowflake workload patterns * Monitor Postgres health - cache hits, connections, locks, and replication 7. Migration & Modernization * Lead legacy platform migrations (Teradata, Oracle, SQL Server) to Snowflake - schema conversion, validation, and cutover planning * Evaluate CDC/ELT connector strategy (Fivetran, HVR, Debezium) and establish enterprise data modeling standards 8. Platform CoE, Technical Leadership & Vendor Management * Lead the Snowflake Platform CoE - best practices, reference architectures, reusable templates, and a platform knowledge base (ADRs, onboarding guides) * Drive platform adoption - architecture reviews, guardrails, enablement sessions, and consultative support for teams building on Snowflake * Track platform health KPIs - adoption, cost efficiency, security posture, and query performance baselines * Serve as the senior technical escalation point and mentor team members * Own the primary Snowflake vendor relationship - commercial terms, capacity commitments, support escalations, and roadmap/EA program participation * Lead vendor evaluation and selection for adjacent platform tooling (catalog/lineage, CDC/ELT, observability) - RFP support, POC design, and total-cost-of-ownership analysis * Manage ongoing vendor performance - SLA tracking, issue escalation, and renewal/negotiation cycles in partnership with procurement * Serve as technical point of contact for Snowflake Professional Services or partner-led engagements (migrations, architecture reviews)