Senior Principal Architect, EDT Data Architecture Strategy & Standards (Hybrid)

As a Senior Principal Architect, EDT Data Architecture Strategy & Standards, you will own the enterprise data and analytics architecture strategy, standards, and design patterns for the global Azure and Databricks Lakehouse ecosystem. You will partner directly with engineering teams, architecture forums, business leaders, Microsoft, and Databricks to define the target state, guide critical design decisions, and validate standards through working implementations.

What You Will Do:

Technical Responsibilities

• Define and own the enterprise reference architecture and multi-year roadmap across Azure Data Lake Storage, Databricks, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, medallion architecture, Power BI, Databricks Genie, and Microsoft Copilot experiences.
• Publish and maintain design standards and reusable blueprints for lakehouse zoning, Delta table design, ingestion, orchestration, semantic models, security, and access, supported by working reference implementations.
• Co-chair the architecture review board, exercise approval rights at defined design gates, maintain Architecture Decision Records, and manage waivers for justified deviations.
• Intervene in critical technical decisions and architectural drift through design sessions, code reviews, and hands-on guidance, serving as the escalation point for technical disputes.
• Design and build batch and streaming pipelines using change data capture, Delta Live Tables, Databricks Workflows, Auto Loader, Azure Data Factory, PySpark, and SQL medallion transformations.
• Review production code and pipeline designs, including Spark jobs, compute configurations, performance tuning, and Databricks Unit efficiency, and pair with engineers to refactor solutions toward approved patterns.
• Establish lifecycle standards for data quality, pipeline testing, continuous integration and delivery, observability, and lineage, and run proofs of concept, architecture spikes, and solution health assessments.
• Serve as the senior technical counterpart to Microsoft and Databricks by evaluating preview features, influencing roadmaps, and translating vendor direction into architectural implications.

Knowledge and Capabilities

• Assess complex platforms, identify patterns, troubleshoot issues, and guide teams toward practical architecture and process improvements.
• Explain technical concepts, recommendations, and tradeoffs clearly in executive forums and detailed technical design sessions.
• Partner with business representatives at all levels to identify needs, document requirements, and guide decisions toward effective solutions.

What You Need:

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Business, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in data engineering, data architecture, and analytics within large, global enterprises, including recent hands-on delivery using Azure and Databricks Lakehouse platforms.
• Experience personally architecting and implementing enterprise data platforms and batch or streaming pipelines.
• Experience with Azure, Azure Data Lake Storage, Databricks Spark, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Databricks Workflows or Delta Live Tables, modern data engineering practices, and Power BI.
• Experience defining and operationalizing enterprise architecture standards, reference architectures, and architecture review or design authority processes.
• Experience applying data security, privacy, and regulated-environment requirements, including GxP, HIPAA, and personally identifiable or protected health information controls.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Management Information Systems, Business Administration, or a related discipline.
• Azure analytics certification and experience with Databricks Genie and Microsoft Copilot.

United States of America Pay Ranges:

• USN: $155,900 - $259,700 USD Annual
• US10: $171,500 - $285,700 USD Annual
• US20: $187,100 - $311,600 USD Annual

View the U.S. work location and transparency guide to find the pay range for your location.