We are seeking a highly experienced and strategic Data Architect to take full ownership of our enterprise data platform's design, modernization, and governance.

This critical role involves defining the future state of our data ecosystem, leading the migration to AWS cloud services, and ensuring the platform meets high standards for scalability, security, and performance.

This is a hands-on leadership role responsible for driving the technical architecture and setting best practices, while mentoring a small team of data engineers and BI developers.

The Architect will collaborate closely with executive business and analytics stakeholders to deliver timely, accurate, and secure business insights, with a strong focus on the lending domain.

Key Responsibilities :

Data Architecture Strategy & Modernization :

- Design and own the multi-year roadmap for the cloud-native data architecture, including strategic migration planning from legacy systems to AWS data services.

- Define and implement scalable data models optimized for performance and cost on AWS data warehouses and data lakes.

- Establish the foundational standards for data governance, including lineage, quality monitoring, and adherence to security policies.

- Serve as the top-tier technical expert for all data architecture decisions and trade-offs.

AWS Data Engineering & Cloud Implementation :

- Design, build, and optimize high-volume ETL/ELT data pipelines using serverless AWS tools like AWS Glue (PySpark), Lambda, Step Functions, and EventBridge.

- Implement data ingestion, storage, and processing solutions leveraging Amazon S3 (data lake).

- Ensure optimal design, cost management, and performance tuning for the core data warehouse/database services, specifically Amazon Redshift and Amazon Aurora/RDS.

Data Governance & Compliance :

- Define and enforce data consistency, security, and auditability across all data platform layers, utilizing AWS services like Lake Formation, IAM, and KMS.

- Ensure the data infrastructure aligns strictly with the stringent security and regulatory compliance standards required within the lending and financial services domain.

Team Leadership & BI Oversight :

- Manage, mentor, and set technical direction for a team of 3-4 developers/engineers, driving adoption of cloud best practices and modern development techniques.

- Oversee the end-to-end reporting strategy, including Power BI dataset design, gateway configuration, and optimization for dashboards connected to AWS sources.

- Communicate architectural strategies and project risks clearly to both technical teams and business leadership.

Required Skills & Experience :

- 10+ years of progressive experience in data engineering, BI, and architecture roles.

- Expert-level, hands-on experience with core AWS Data Services in a production environment :

- Data Lakes & ETL/ELT : Amazon S3, AWS Glue (deep proficiency in PySpark), AWS Lambda, and Step Functions.

- Data Warehousing : Amazon Redshift (design, administration, workload management, Spectrum).

- Databases : Amazon RDS (MySQL/PostgreSQL) and/or Aurora.

- Security : Practical experience with AWS Lake Formation and data encryption/security controls.

- Strong proficiency in SQL and advanced data modeling techniques (Dimensional, Data Vault).

- Hands-on experience with Power BI (data modelling, gateway configuration, connecting to cloud data sources).

- Mandatory experience in the lending or financial services domain, including familiarity with critical business data and compliance needs.

- Proven ability to define technical strategy, lead complex cloud migration projects, and mentor technical staff.

- Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills