Data Architect

The Role

Specifically, the successful jobholder will be required to:

• Design logical and physical data models that support enterprise-wide information requirements, ensuring alignment between data structures, business processes, and emerging analytical needs.
• Architect data pipelines, storage solutions and frameworks to handle large volumes of data efficiently. 
• Define and maintain the enterprise data architecture, including the selection, integration, and governance of data technologies across big data platforms. 
• Architect and optimize data lake and data lake house environments, capturing data transitions and historical snapshots to support high-performance analytics and advanced reporting.
• Develop and maintain metadata architecture, governing how metadata is created, cataloged, integrated, and accessed across the data analytics platforms. Establish enterprise taxonomies, data dictionaries, and namespaces to ensure consistency and discoverability of data assets.
• Define conceptual and long-term data architecture strategies to meet current and future enterprise data requirements, ensuring adaptability to emerging technologies and business priorities.
• Analyze and document enterprise information needs from operational, analytical, compliance, and regulatory perspectives, ensuring data solutions meet all governing standards.
• Promote architectural best practices, sharing lessons learned, and continuously updating the enterprise data architecture based on evolving big data technologies, market trends, cloud capabilities, and vendor solutions.
• Support strategic decision-making by integrating insights from multiple data sources, applying analytical guidelines, and determining how information can best support business priorities.
• Drive outcomes and ensure quality delivery, managing tasks through completion, prioritizing effectively, and seeking feedback to improve solution quality. 
• Support strong working relationships by collaborating with cross-functional teams, business stakeholders, and technology partners, remaining responsive to changing needs and expectations.
• Demonstrate personal drive and integrity, taking ownership of objectives, showing initiative, and maintaining high levels of motivation to achieve architectural goals.
• Support design and implementation of data privacy by design through the data lifecycle.

Skills, Competencies and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in information technology, engineering or related discipline.
• Expert knowledge across multiple technology platforms, business processes and enterprise architecture.
• At least 5 years’ experience in enterprise infrastructure or data design and planning and similar experience in application development or architectural design of enterprise application using key development tools and frameworks (Java, .net, PHP, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, UML, etc.) 
• Expert knowledge in SQL/PLSQL and data modelling.
• TOGAF certification will be an added advantage. 
• Demonstrated experience in working with or leading a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) integration environment.
• Strong background in understanding organizational resources, priorities, needs and policies, and use of the same in developing IT strategies and solutions.
• Excellent presentation, communication and negotiation skills. Communicates with influence, confidently presenting communications in a clear, concise and articulate manner, focusing on key points and using appropriate, unambiguous language, selecting the most appropriate medium for conveying information, and structuring written and oral communication to ensure clarity.
• Analytical with good project management and team leadership skills. 
• Knowledge in the use of notable data management tools.