Lead Data Architect

Description

The company supports the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and is hiring a Lead Data Architect to act as trusted advisor to the Chief Data and AI Officer (BCDAO) and own the technical vision, strategy, roadmap and implementation of the DS data platform.

The platform runs on Microsoft Azure, with AWS expansion planned for the future.

You will turn BCDAO and DS data and AI priorities into a secure, scalable and cost-effective Azure data platform spanning ingestion, integration, storage, transformation and analytics. You will work with engineering, cloud, cybersecurity and mission teams to turn requirements into solutions that can be supported, and lead the data engineering team from design through operations across unclassified and classified environments.

Job category: Information Technology. Full time, regular employee. Up to 10% local travel. Minimum clearance to start: Secret.

Responsibilities

• Advise BCDAO and DS leadership on data architecture, technical options, risks and trade-offs.
• Own the technical vision, strategy, standards and roadmap for the DS data platform, covering data warehouse, data lake, lakehouse, analytics and AI/ML solutions.
• Direct the data engineering team's implementation through design reviews, proof-of-concept work and troubleshooting.
• Design secure data management and movement across unclassified, Secret and Top Secret domains, working with cybersecurity and cross-domain teams.
• Lead ETL/ELT and integration design across varied, disconnected source systems, and drive migration of legacy on-premises and IaaS workloads to Azure PaaS and SaaS.
• Set up data governance, quality, metadata, lineage and access control practices that standardize data across DS and prepare it for analytics and AI/ML.
• Build security and compliance into the architecture: identity, network isolation, encryption, auditability and automated compliance controls.
• Assess solutions for reliability, performance, scalability, resilience, maintainability and cost, and document key designs and decisions.

Requirements

• Active Secret clearance required to start.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, data management or another technical discipline.
• 10+ years in data architecture, data engineering, data warehousing, BI or data platform delivery, including 3+ years as an architect or technical lead.
• Extensive hands-on experience architecting and delivering Microsoft Azure data solutions, including Azure Data Factory, ADLS Gen2, Synapse Analytics, Databricks and Azure SQL.
• Expert knowledge of data architecture, integration, ETL/ELT, data modeling, data warehousing and data lifecycle management.
• Experience with classified or restricted environments and data management across Unclassified, Secret and Top Secret domains, including cross-domain solution (CDS) concepts.
• Proven record of owning a data platform roadmap, leading implementation and driving cloud migration or modernization.
• Demonstrated ability to advise senior executives and lead technical teams.
• Desired: experience supporting U.S. federal, law enforcement, diplomatic or national security missions, particularly in Azure Government or classified Azure environments.
• Desired: experience designing data platforms for AI/ML, advanced analytics or real-time data processing.
• Desired: experience with Microsoft Purview, Event Hubs, Cosmos DB, Power BI, Azure DevOps/CI/CD and infrastructure as code.
• Desired: experience with data platform monitoring, performance optimization, disaster recovery and cloud cost management.
• Desired: familiarity with AWS data services and multi-cloud architectures.
• Desired: relevant certifications such as Azure Solutions Architect Expert or DAMA CDMP.

Conditions

Full time, regular position with up to 10% local travel.

Work location and setup are not stated in the posting.

Salary range: $120,800 to $265,800. Final pay depends on factors such as geographic location, federal contract labor categories and wage rates, prior experience, specific skills, education and certifications.

Equal-opportunity statement: not provided beyond the pay factors above.

Benefits

• Flexible time off, which lets you take the time you need.
• Access to learning resources and continuing education.
• Comprehensive benefits including healthcare, wellness, financial, retirement, family support and time off.
• Competitive compensation and learning and development opportunities.