Job Title: Senior Data Architect
Location: Sarasota, FL (Remote)
Job Type: Contract

Job Summary
We are seeking a Senior Data Architect to provide an independent third-party perspective on an ongoing enterprise Data Modernization program. This role focuses on architecture assurance, risk mitigation, and accelerating platform adoption while ensuring alignment with enterprise-scale best practices and long-term strategic goals.
The architect will collaborate with client stakeholders and multiple vendor teams to validate decisions, challenge assumptions, and guide the program toward a scalable, secure, and future-ready Databricks lakehouse architecture.
Key Responsibilities
Architecture Advisory & Independent Review
Provide objective third-party evaluation of the current data platform architecture, design choices, and implementation approach
Review and validate lakehouse architecture across ingestion, transformation, storage, and consumption layers
Identify design gaps, risks, and anti-patterns
Recommend alternative approaches aligned to enterprise standards
Data Modernization Strategy Alignment
Assess alignment to modern data platform paradigms (Lakehouse, ELT, Medallion architecture)
Validate architectural decisions including:
Data ingestion patterns (batch, streaming, unstructured data integration)
Data modeling and transformation strategies
Analytics and AI/ML readiness
Ensure compliance with governance, security, and performance requirements
Risk Identification & Mitigation
Identify technical, architectural, and operational risks
Conduct design reviews and provide mitigation strategies
Highlight dependencies, constraints, and long-term implications
Support leadership with risk summaries and recommendations
Multi-Vendor Stakeholder Engagement
Collaborate with:
Customer architects and SMEs
Internal delivery teams
Third-party vendors
Facilitate architecture discussions and governance reviews
Act as a neutral technical authority to resolve conflicts and drive consensus
Best Practices & Governance
Define and enforce architecture standards and guardrails
Ensure adherence to:
Databricks and Spark best practices
Data governance frameworks (cataloging, access control, auditing)
Performance, scalability, and cost optimization standards
Provide guidance on DataOps, DevOps, and observability frameworks
Acceleration Program Support
Identify opportunities to accelerate delivery and remove bottlenecks
Guide prioritization of architectural decisions
Support roadmap refinement for phased platform evolution
Required Skills
Deep expertise in:
Databricks platform architecture
AWS cloud services
Apache Spark, PySpark, SQL
Delta Lake and lakehouse design patterns
Strong understanding of:
Data ingestion and ELT frameworks
Data governance and cataloging approaches
Performance optimization and distributed systems
Ability to operate independently as a trusted advisor
Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills
Proven ability to challenge designs constructively and drive consensus
Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities
Preferred Skills
Experience in insurance or regulated industries
Exposure to BI/analytics transformation tools
Prior experience in architecture governance boards or advisory roles
Qualifications
14+ years of experience in data engineering, data architecture, or analytics platform engineering
Proven experience in enterprise data modernization or cloud migration programs
Strong background in scalable Databricks-based lakehouse implementations
Key Differentiators
Focus on independent assurance rather than delivery ownership
Emphasis on risk mitigation, decision validation, and cross-team alignment
Ability to influence outcomes without direct team ownership
Mandatory Skills
Databricks
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
https://www.e-verify.gov/sites/default/files/everify/posters/IER_RighttoWorkPoster.pdf

Data Architect

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