Enterprise Data Architect

Position Overview

We are seeking a seasoned and visionary Enterprise Data Architect to lead the design, governance, and evolution of our cutting-edge Data Lakehouse architecture in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This pivotal role demands a strategic thinker with deep technical expertise in modern data platforms, regulatory compliance, and enterprise-scale transformations. You will be responsible for defining the architectural vision, ensuring seamless integration across diverse technologies, and driving alignment with enterprise standards and governance frameworks. The ideal candidate will possess a proven track record in large-scale data platform initiatives within the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector, coupled with exceptional leadership and stakeholder management capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

Architecture Ownership & Governance

As the steward of our Data Lakehouse architecture, you will:

• Define and govern the end-to-end architecture, ensuring consistency across data ingestion, storage, processing, consumption, and governance layers.
• Establish and validate the target state Medallion Architecture (Bronze, Silver, Gold) in strict alignment with enterprise architecture principles and industry best practices.
• Design robust architectural patterns to support batch, near real-time, and historical data processing requirements.
• Own the architectural assessment of Phase 1 deliverables, including data pipelines, logical and physical data models, and Gold layer aggregations in Teradata, identifying gaps, anti-patterns, and misalignments.
• Develop remediation and rebuild strategies to address architectural deficiencies and ensure alignment with the target state.

Platform & Technology Alignment

You will ensure architectural consistency and seamless integration across our core data platforms and technologies:

• Cloudera Data Platform (CDP) – HDFS, Spark, Hive, Kafka
• Teradata Enterprise Data Warehouse – Vantage platform
• Informatica Suite – ETL, Data Quality, Metadata Management, Power Exchange (CDC)
• Denodo – Data Virtualization and consumption layer
• Review and approve low-level designs, data flows, and integration patterns to ensure adherence to architectural standards.

Enterprise Data Modeling & Standards

Your expertise will drive the governance and implementation of enterprise-wide data models and standards:

• Align logical and physical data models with industry reference models such as FSLDM (Financial Services Logical Data Model) and FSAS aggregation standards.
• Ensure correctness, consistency, and reusability of enterprise and subject-area data models.
• Validate aggregation logic, hierarchies, and reporting readiness to support business intelligence and regulatory requirements.

Governance, Compliance & Security

You will oversee the alignment of our data architecture with regulatory and compliance frameworks:

• Ensure compliance with NDMO (National Data Management Office) and NDI (National Data Index) standards.
• Implement data classification, privacy, and security controls to safeguard sensitive information.
• Oversee metadata management, lineage tracking, data quality frameworks, and auditability to ensure traceability and regulatory reporting readiness.
• Design architecture to support reconciliation requirements and audit trails for regulatory submissions.

Performance, Scalability & Resilience

Your role will include defining architecture patterns that ensure high performance, scalability, and resilience:

• Design for high availability with ≥99.9% uptime targets.
• Enable horizontal scalability to accommodate growing data volumes and user demands.
• Implement disaster recovery and point-in-time restore capabilities to ensure business continuity.
• Guide performance tuning strategies for ingestion, transformation, and reporting workloads to optimize efficiency and reduce latency.

Stakeholder & Governance Engagement

You will serve as the primary architectural interface across IT, Data Governance, Security, and Business teams:

• Engage in architecture review boards, design walkthroughs, and governance forums to ensure alignment and transparency.
• Articulate architectural decisions, trade-offs, and impacts to senior stakeholders, fostering informed decision-making.
• Lead cross-vendor and cross-functional technical discussions to drive consensus and resolve architectural challenges.

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Expertise

• Enterprise Data Architecture: Extensive experience in designing and governing large-scale data platforms, including EDW modernization and Data Lake/Lakehouse architectures.
• Medallion Architecture: Hands-on experience with Bronze, Silver, Gold patterns and their implementation in production environments.
• BFSI Domain Knowledge: Deep understanding of financial services data domains and enterprise reference models, particularly FSLDM and FSAS.
• Technology Proficiency: Proven expertise with Cloudera CDP (HDFS, Spark, Hive, Kafka), Teradata Vantage, Informatica (ETL, Data Quality, Metadata, Power Exchange for CDC), and Denodo (Data Virtualization).

Governance & Compliance

• Data Governance: Experience designing metadata management, lineage tracking, and data quality frameworks.
• Security & Compliance: Strong understanding of data classification, privacy, encryption, and regulatory requirements (e.g., NDMO, NDI).

Non-Functional Design

• Performance Optimization: Expertise in workload optimization, query tuning, and performance benchmarking.
• Scalability & Resilience: Proven ability to design for high availability, disaster recovery, and capacity planning in large-scale environments.

Soft Skills & Leadership

• Communication & Stakeholder Management: Exceptional ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences and influence senior leadership.
• Governance Mindset: Pragmatic approach to balancing architectural rigor with delivery timelines and business objectives.
• Collaboration: Experience working in hybrid delivery models with onsite and offshore teams, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Qualifications & Experience

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field. Advanced degrees or certifications in data architecture, cloud platforms, or enterprise architecture are highly desirable.
• Experience: Minimum of 15 years in data architecture roles, with a strong preference for candidates with experience in large BFSI organizations or similar regulated industries.
• Track Record: Demonstrated success in leading large-scale data platform transformation programs, including end-to-end architecture design, implementation, and governance.