Principal Data Architect

• About the Company
• IPG Photonics is revolutionizing the laser industry as the pioneering developer and leading producer of fiber lasers and amplifiers. Headquartered in Marlborough, MA, IPG has over 4,800 employees in more than 30 locations around the world. We aspire to work together with our employees and customers to apply light in ways that improve life.

Our mission is to develop innovative laser solutions to make the world a better place. To accomplish this mission, we are committed to attracting and retaining the best talent and an engaged and thriving workforce that drives a sustainable future for our company and society.

• About the Role
• IPG Photonics is seeking a Principal Data Architect to define and advance data architecture across our global manufacturing business. This senior individual contributor will connect Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM, manufacturing execution systems (MES), product lifecycle management (PLM), and other critical applications with a scalable enterprise data platform for analytics, business intelligence, automation, and AI.
• This role combines strategic architecture ownership with hands-on technical leadership. You will establish practical standards, guide major transformation programs, and partner with business leaders, technology teams, and implementation partners to deliver secure, scalable, and trusted data solutions.

• Key Responsibilities
• Enterprise Data Architecture & Strategy
• Define the target-state enterprise data architecture and multi-year roadmap across operational systems, data platforms, analytics, and AI.
• Establish architecture principles, reference models, decision frameworks, and reusable patterns.
• Serve as the senior data architecture authority for major programs, translating technical trade-offs into business implications related to cost, risk, scalability, and time-to-value.
• ERP, CRM, MES & PLM Data Architecture
• Lead end-to-end data architecture across Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM, MES, PLM, and adjacent enterprise applications.
• Define common data models for critical domains such as product, customer, supplier, finance, orders, inventory, and manufacturing.
• Guide data migration, harmonization, reconciliation, and cutover strategies for global system implementations while ensuring downstream analytics and AI needs are addressed.
• Integration & Interoperability
• Design scalable integration patterns using APIs, events, ETL/ELT, data sharing, virtualization, and batch or streaming approaches.
• Architect cross-system data flows supporting processes such as order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, plan-to-produce, and record-to-report.
• Reduce point-to-point integrations and data silos through shared services, reusable standards, data contracts, and strong lineage and observability.
• Enterprise Data Platform, Analytics & Data Products
• Align operational data with IPG’s enterprise data platform, including warehouse, lakehouse, and Microsoft Azure or Fabric capabilities.
• Define governed data products, semantic standards, and trusted metrics for operational reporting, Power BI, advanced analytics, and machine learning.
• Establish clear ownership, quality, freshness, versioning, and certification expectations for enterprise data products.
• Master Data, Governance, Security & Quality
• Advance master data management, metadata, lineage, stewardship, lifecycle management, and measurable data quality across priority domains.
• Embed security, privacy, access, retention, residency, sovereignty, and regulatory requirements into architecture and design decisions.
• Partner with business and control functions to establish accountability for critical data elements.
• AI Data Readiness
• Define secure, reusable architecture patterns that make structured and unstructured data trusted and ready for AI use cases.
• Support machine learning, generative AI, retrieval-augmented generation, knowledge repositories, and intelligent automation with governed data and transparent lineage.
• Evaluate emerging technologies based on business value, interoperability, security, scalability, and total cost of ownership.
• Technical Leadership & Partner Management
• Provide technical direction to internal teams, systems integrators, consultants, and contingent resources through architecture reviews, design gates, and model reviews.
• Define technical requirements and acceptance criteria for partner statements of work, and assess deliverables against IPG standards.
• Lead and coordinate consultant teams—typically 6 to 12 resources—while remaining accountable for architectural coherence and quality.
• Help govern significant external services investments by clarifying scope, deliverables, dependencies, and value realization.
• Mentor architects and engineers and strengthen enterprise data architecture and modeling practices.
• Business Partnership & Global Collaboration
• Partner with leaders across manufacturing, supply chain, finance, commercial, service, engineering, and technology functions to define needs and co-create solutions.
• Facilitate architecture workshops and decision forums with global business units, regional teams, and implementation partners.
• Communicate recommendations, risks, trade-offs, and investment implications clearly to executive and non-technical audiences.
• Influence decisions and drive enterprise outcomes without relying on formal authority.

Qualifications

• Required
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in data architecture, data engineering, enterprise architecture, or enterprise data management.
• Demonstrated success designing enterprise-scale data architectures and leading complex, cross-functional transformation initiatives.
• Strong experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM, including Finance & Operations, Dataverse, and associated business data models.
• Deep expertise in data modeling and enterprise integration patterns, including APIs, event-driven architecture, ETL/ELT, and batch or streaming processing.
• Experience with Microsoft Azure data capabilities such as Data Factory, Data Lake, Synapse Analytics, Fabric, Integration Services, Event Grid, or Service Bus.
• Strong knowledge of master data management, metadata, lineage, data quality, security, privacy, and governance.
• Ability to operate as a hands-on senior individual contributor, influence without direct authority, and communicate effectively with technical and executive stakeholders.
• Preferred
• Experience in global manufacturing, industrial technology, or a complex product and supply chain environment.
• Experience integrating Dynamics 365 with MES, PLM, warehouse, quality, or manufacturing systems.
• Familiarity with Dynamics 365 capabilities such as Dual-write, Bring Your Own Database, and Common Data Model.
• Experience with Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, lakehouse architecture, semantic layers, governed data products, MDM technologies, or AI-ready data foundations.
• Relevant Microsoft, data management, architecture, or governance certifications.

• Work Model & Travel
• This is a U.S.-based hybrid role, with approximately two to three days per week on-site depending on location and business needs. The position collaborates closely with global stakeholders and requires periodic travel to IPG locations, including sites in Europe and Asia. Anticipated travel is approximately 15%–20%.

• Wage Information
• MA: $130K-$175K

Pay Range:

The pay range on this posting applies to the role in the primary location specified. If the candidate would ultimately work outside of the primary location posted, the applicable range could differ. Actual starting pay is determined by a number of factors including relevant skills, qualifications, and experience.

• Other Compensation: Employees in this role are eligible for additional rewards which could include:
• Annual Discretionary Bonus or Sales Bonus as Applicable

Benefits Provided: All Regular* US employees receive:

• Paid vacation time accrued based on years of service
• Paid sick time
• 12 (twelve) Paid Holidays Each Calendar Year

Additional Benefits Offered: IPG also offers access to:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans with options for HSA/FSA
• Dependent Care FSA
• Paid Basic Life and AD&D Insurance
• Short-term and Long-term Disability insurance
• 401(k) plan with Company matching
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Tuition Reimbursement Program
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Adoption Assistance
• Pet Insurance
• Parental Bonding Leave
• Bright Horizons Backup Care
• Bright Horizons College Coach