Senior Data Architect

Data Architect – Microsoft Azure Cloud & Enterprise Data Location: Remote Duration: Long Term Certifications: Required: Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert Required: Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate Preferred: Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate or Azure AI Engineer Associate Job Description: Lead the design and implementation of enterprise-grade cloud and data architectures leveraging Microsoft Azure technologies. Translate complex business needs into scalable, secure, and high-performance data and analytics ecosystems. Partner with stakeholders across engineering, product, and business domains to architect cloud-native, data-driven platforms that enable AI, analytics, and digital modernization. Define and enforce cloud governance, data management, and security frameworks that ensure compliance, resilience, and operational excellence. Provide technical leadership across engagements, guiding teams on best practices for data integration, migration, pipeline orchestration, and infrastructure automation. Collaborate with client leadership to develop cloud strategy roadmaps, modernization blueprints, and target operating models. Evaluate and recommend emerging Azure capabilities (e.g., Fabric, Synapse, Purview, Databricks, OpenAI Services) to enhance performance and innovation. Ensure architecture aligns with cost, performance, and sustainability goals through FinOps and right-sizing practices. Partner with delivery teams to oversee implementation quality, technical risk management, and knowledge transfer. Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience). Experience: 10+ years in technology roles such as developer, systems analyst, or data engineer. 5+ years as a Solution or Enterprise Architect designing cloud and data platforms at scale. Proven success delivering multi-cloud or hybrid data strategies in complex enterprise environments. Technical Expertise: Deep, hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure architecture, data services, and infrastructure components. Expertise in data modeling, ingestion, transformation, and pipeline orchestration using Azure Data Factory, Synapse, Databricks, and related tools. Experience designing secure, compliant, and resilient cloud data architectures, including data encryption, identity, and access management (IAM), and zero-trust principles. Proficiency with SQL and NoSQL databases, serverless and container-based architectures, and microservices. Familiarity with Big Data, Advanced Analytics, and Machine Learning use cases (MLOps, feature stores, model serving). Working knowledge of Data Governance, Data Catalogs, and lineage tracking (Azure Purview, Fabric, etc.). Experience with DevOps/MLOps practices and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Bicep, ARM). Understanding of data platform economics (performance optimization, scaling, pay-per-use, and cost governance).