Principal Data Architect

Job Description Summary

The Principal Data Architect is a senior enterprise architecture and strategy leader within the Enterprise Data & Analytics Architecture team. This role defines and advances the enterprise data architecture vision, target-state patterns, data platform strategy, and adoption roadmap across on-premises and cloud environments. The Principal Data Architect partners with senior technology leaders, data engineering teams, enterprise data management, analytics consumers, security, risk, compliance, and business stakeholders to deliver scalable, secure, reusable, and business-aligned data capabilities.

Job Description

Responsibilities

• Data Lakehouse and Warehouse Architecture: Own reference architectures and design patterns for enterprise data Lakehouse and warehouse platforms, including AWS Redshift, Apache Iceberg, Oracle Exadata, S3, Glue, Lake Formation, Athena, EMR, Presto, Airflow, and related ecosystem capabilities.

• Data Modeling and Design Leadership: Lead the design of logical, conceptual, and physical data models using ER Studio or similar tools. Establish modeling standards across normalized, dimensional, Data Vault, star, snowflake, and denormalized approaches. Resolve complex modeling issues that span multiple systems and business domains.

• Architecture Standards and Reuse: Create and maintain data architecture principles, design standards, reusable patterns, architecture decision records, reference implementations, and best-practice guidance that can be adopted across programs.

• Data Access and Consumption Strategy: Define enterprise data access patterns, consumption models, and fit-for-purpose tool guidance for BI, advanced analytics, operational reporting, AI/ML, data products, APIs, and self-service use cases. Recommend appropriate access controls, semantic layers, and data sharing mechanisms.

• Platform and Technology Strategy: Evaluate, rationalize, and guide selection of data tools, storage formats, integration technologies, metadata platforms, quality tooling, lineage capabilities, and cloud-native services. Balance innovation, cost, complexity, security, vendor risk, and operational maturity.

• Real-Time and Batch Data Architecture: Define patterns for both batch and real-time data movement, including Kafka schemas, event-driven design, data contracts, schema governance, replication, CDC, ETL/ELT, medallion architecture layers, and data quality controls across pipelines.

• Thought Leadership and Innovation: Monitor emerging trends in cloud data platforms, lakehouse architectures, data mesh, data products, AI-ready data, metadata automation, data observability, and financial services data architecture. Recommend pragmatic adoption paths that strengthen enterprise capabilities.

• Governance, Metadata, Lineage, and Data Quality: Partner with Enterprise Data Management and governance teams to embed metadata, lineage, data quality, cataloging, ownership, privacy classification, retention, and stewardship expectations into platform and solution architecture.

Skills

• Must have deep, hands-on experience in wealth management, asset management, brokerage, private client services, or closely related financial services domains.

• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders, guide complex architectural decisions, mentor architects or senior engineers, and lead through ambiguity.

• Expert level knowledge of Data Architecture, Data Modeling, Data Lake house and data warehouse design methodologies (star schema, snowflake schema, normalization, denormalization).

• Proficient with database technologies: Oracle (including RAC, Exadata), SQL Server, AWS Redshift, and replication tools like Oracle Golden Gate and AWS DMS.

• Advanced SQL, PL/SQL development, and database performance tuning skills.

• Deep expertise in AWS Data Ecosystem—Athena, Iceberg, Lake Formation, Glue, EMR, Sagemaker, S3, Airflow, Aurora, Presto.

• Skilled in scripting and automation (Shell, Python).

• Data integration architecture: Ability to architect ETL/ELT, streaming, event-driven, API-based, file-based, and replication-based data flows, including data contracts, schema evolution, lineage, quality checks, and operational monitoring.

• Data Lakehouse & Data Marketplace Architecture: Proven experience designing and operationalizing enterprise-scale data lake, Lakehouse, or data marketplace platforms, including governed data onboarding, metadata management, data product publishing.

• AI Data Readiness & Semantic Data Enablement: Demonstrated ability to assess, structure, and curate enterprise data for AI, advanced analytics, and GenAI use cases, including defining semantic models, ontologies, knowledge graphs.

Education/Previous Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, MIS, or related field.

• 10+ years of progressive experience in data architecture, data engineering, database architecture, enterprise architecture, or large-scale data platform delivery.

Licenses/Certifications:

• AWS or relevant cloud certification highly preferred.

Education

Bachelor’s: Computer and Information Science (Required), Bachelor’s: Computer Engineering

Work Experience

General Experience – 10 to 15 years

Certifications

Travel

Less than 25%

Workstyle

Hybrid

The total compensation for this position includes base salary or wages, and may include components such as additional compensation (cash or equity), discretionary bonuses, or commissions. This position is eligible for a benefits package that may include medical, dental, and vision; life insurance; critical illness insurance and accident insurance; disability benefits; retirement savings; paid time off (including vacation, holidays, and sick leave); and parental leave.  Eligibility for benefits and specific offerings may vary based on position and employment status. To view more details of the benefits offered, visit Myrjbenefits.com.

At Raymond James our associates use five guiding behaviors (Develop, Collaborate, Decide, Deliver, Improve) to deliver on the firm's core values of client-first, integrity, independence and a conservative, long-term view. 
We expect our associates at all levels to:
•  Grow professionally and inspire others to do the same
•  Work with and through others to achieve desired outcomes
•  Make prompt, pragmatic choices and act with the client in mind
•  Take ownership and hold themselves and others accountable for delivering results that matter
•  Contribute to the continuous evolution of the firm

At Raymond James – as part of our people-first culture, we honor, value, and respect the uniqueness, experiences, and backgrounds of all of our Associates.  When associates bring their best authentic selves, our organization, clients, and communities thrive. The Company is an equal opportunity employer and makes all employment decisions on the basis of merit and business needs. 

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