Staff Data Architect

The opportunity 

NetDocuments is the world’s #1 trusted cloud content management and productivity platform for legal professionals, and the data beneath it is becoming our most strategic asset. We are looking for a Data Architect to set the north-star data strategy for the company and lead the re-architecture of our data platforms for a cloud-native, AWS-centered future. 

This is a defining, high-visibility role. You will own the blueprint for how billions of legal documents and the metadata around them are stored, governed, moved, and surfaced, and you will translate that architecture into measurable business outcomes: faster product velocity, lower run-rate cost, new data-driven and AI-powered capabilities, and the trust that lets the world’s leading law firms and corporate legal teams build on us. You will operate at the intersection of cloud transformation, large-scale distributed systems, data governance, and emerging AI, partnering directly with Engineering, Product, Security, and senior leadership. 

If you want your architectural decisions to directly shape a market-leading SaaS platform and the revenue it generates, this is that role. 

What you’ll do 

• Set the north-star data strategy. Define a clear, multi-year vision for NetDocuments’ data architecture and turn it into a pragmatic, sequenced roadmap that leadership, engineering, and product teams rally behind. 
• Lead the AWS re-architecture of data platforms. Drive the strategy for re-platforming and re-architecting large-scale, on-premises and legacy data systems into cloud-native AWS architectures, defining migration patterns, data-residency strategies, and low-risk cutover plans that minimize downtime. 
• Own our NoSQL data platforms. Lead the architecture of our large-scale NoSQL systems—with deep, hands-on ownership of Couchbase and DynamoDB—including data modeling, partitioning and indexing strategies, consistency and access patterns, and tuning for performance, reliability, and cost at scale. Extend that ownership to event streaming (Kafka) and our Snowflake-based analytics platform, ensuring a coherent design across the full data estate. 
• Build event-driven data systems. Architect reliable, observable, real-time data infrastructure using technologies such as Kafka, SQS, and SNS, and define standards for event schema design, topic management, consumer patterns, and end-to-end data lineage. Partner with principal engineers and delivery teams to shape enterprise-wide eventing strategy and drive its adoption across product domains. 
• Drive data governance and security. Establish and enforce standards for classification, access control, encryption, retention, and auditability, ensuring alignment with frameworks such as SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA, and partner with Security on threat modeling and risk mitigation. 
• Make data AI-ready. Shape the data foundations that power analytics and emerging AI/ML and GenAI capabilities across the product, so NetDocuments can move quickly and responsibly as the market evolves. 
• Prototype and incubate new technology. Lead proofs of concept and proofs of technology for new data systems and approaches, build production-quality prototypes, and pilot promising solutions before handing them to delivery and data engineering teams to drive to completion—including the observability and production-hardening needed for a clean handoff. 
• Evaluate technology and guide build-vs-buy. Assess emerging tools, databases, and vendors against our needs, run structured comparisons, and make clear, defensible build-versus-buy recommendations. 
• Influence strategy and execution. Lead architectural reviews, RFC processes, and documentation standards; influence roadmap prioritization with data-driven insight; and represent the data platform in cross-functional planning and executive-level discussions. 

What you’ll need to be successful 

• 10+ years in data architecture, data engineering, or database engineering, with a track record of owning architecture at scale. 
• Deep, hands-on expertise designing cloud-native data platforms on AWS, including leading complex on-premises-to-cloud migration and re-architecture initiatives. 
• Staff-to-Principal-level software engineering skills, with the ability to independently build production-quality code and prototypes. C# is preferred; strong experience in other modern languages is welcome. 
• Expert-level, hands-on experience designing and scaling large-scale NoSQL databases, with deep specialization in Couchbase and DynamoDB—data modeling, partitioning and indexing, consistency tradeoffs, and performance and cost tuning at scale. 
• Hands-on experience with event-driven architectures using Kafka, SQS, SNS, or comparable technologies. 
• Experience with modern data platforms such as Snowflake or comparable warehouses and lakes. 
• A strong grasp of distributed systems, scalability, and performance optimization, and the judgment to evaluate complex architectural tradeoffs and make sound, defensible decisions. 
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts for both engineers and executives, and to build alignment across teams. A track record of acting as a force multiplier—mentoring engineers and raising the technical bar for delivery and data engineering teams. 
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience. 

What will make you stand out 

• Experience in legal technology, SaaS, or other regulated, security-sensitive industries. 
• AWS certifications such as Solutions Architect Professional or Database Specialty. 
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform or CDK. 
• A FinOps mindset for NoSQL at scale—e.g., DynamoDB capacity modeling and Couchbase cluster sizing—and a record of materially reducing run-rate cost. 
• A proven record designing enterprise-scale data governance and compliance frameworks. 
• Exposure to building data foundations for analytics, ML, or GenAI use cases at scale. 

Why NetDocuments 

NetDocuments helps legal professionals do their best work, and we win together through passionate hard work, curiosity, and the belief that every interaction matters. We are a hybrid, remote-friendly company, repeatedly recognized as a top workplace, including multiple appearances on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies and five-time recognition as a Top Workplace in the U.S. by the Salt Lake Tribune. 

What You’ll Love About NetDocuments   

• The People!   

• HSA company contribution   

• 401K match at 4%    

• Flexible PTO (typically 3 to 4 weeks a year)   

• 10 paid holidays   

• Monthly contributions for life activities & wellness   

• Access to LinkedIn learning with monthly dedicated time to explore  

Compensation Transparency  

The compensation range for this position is: $210,000 - $230,000 

The posted cash compensation for this position includes on target earnings. Some roles may qualify for overtime pay. Individual compensation packages are determined based on various factors specific to each candidate, such as career level, skills, experience, geographic location, qualifications, and other job-related considerations.