Senior Data Architect

Company: CGL
Department: IT
Employment Type: Regular Full-Time
Work Model: Hybrid
Language: This role operates in English.
Additional Information: This/these role(s) is/are currently vacant

We are a leading Canadian financial services co-operative committed to being a catalyst for a sustainable and resilient society and our team is essential to deliver on this strategy.  That's why we prioritize our people, to ensure we provide a strong culture and development opportunities which enables our team to thrive and to live our purpose.  The best part is that you will work with people that care passionately about you, our clients and our communities.

Our Information Technology team aspires to be a leader in applying technology to power business strategies. We connect concepts with solutions to create value and efficiencies for our clients, employees, and communities. Our success is driven by our skilled and diverse team who are passionate about excellence, innovation, and agility.

The Data Architect is a senior technical leadership role responsible for designing and maintaining the overall structure of data systems, ensuring they are scalable, resilient, and aligned with the target state architecture to support both current and future business needs. This role involves collaborating with stakeholders to understand data, functional, and non-functional requirements and translating them into scalable solutions. The Sr Data Architect will lead and guide standards for data modeling, integration, and system performance, ensuring that technology choices and system design align with the target state architecture patterns and technology stack. The role also includes balancing flexibility with structure, managing technical debt, and ensuring visibility into how data is used across teams. This senior role provides a higher degree of leadership and consultation on more complex architectures requiring additional expertise.

• Lead, define and maintain the enterprise data architecture framework and patterns, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and the technology stack, in reference to the target state architecture.
• Establish and promote data modeling, integration, and system performance standards to ensure consistency and scalability across the organization.
• Accountability to ensure solutions are sustainable, secure, and aligned with enterprise data governance, quality, and access standards.
• Design scalable, governed data solutions that align with data strategy, target state architecture standards, and data governance tools.
• Leverage experience to provide solutions requiring complexity in support of strategic outcomes.
• Lead the development of end-to-end data solutions, either with the hybrid or target state approach, ensuring proper data quality and integration with existing systems.
• Translate business (functional and non-functional) requirements into clear, workable designs that guide development and ensure data flows and system integrations are thoughtfully planned and documented.
• Ensure that technology choices (Azure-first) and data application design align with long-term business goals and architecture principles.
• Provide data architectural leadership and guidance aligning with the target state architecture to data architects and data engineers.
• Lead data architecture for legal entity domains and corresponding initiatives, ensuring solutions are viable and sustainable.
• Lead and facilitate discussions, make decisions, and influence senior stakeholders to ensure alignment with corporate data strategies and promote the adoption of target state architecture and solution design artifacts.

• 10+ years of experience in data architecture with experience in building modern data platforms and data products.  
• 10+ years of experience designing and implementing scalable, cloud-based data solutions (Azure preferred).
• Deep understanding of data modeling, ETL processes, data warehousing concepts, and best practices in data engineering and analytics.
• Knowledge of cloud security and networking is an asset.
• Hands-on experience with the following Azure services is an asset: Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS), Azure Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Factory (ADF), Azure Synapse, Event Hub, API Management (APIM), Azure Key Vault, Azure SQL, and Purview. Have a good understanding of the backup, disaster recovery, and data recovery strategy and execution with the above services.
• Hands-on experience with machine learning / Gen AI architecture patterns is an asset.
• Excellent project management knowledge with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with experience presenting to large and small audiences.

• You build trusting relationships and provide feedback to enable the successful development of your team and colleagues.
• You foster innovation and continuous improvement with a focus on client experience.
• You facilitate the adoption of change and create a high-performance culture through alignment of your team's work with organizational goals.
• You successfully convey messages and demonstrate openness to exploring alternative points of view.
• You use critical thinking to guide decision making and apply a strategic mindset to adjust business plans based on shifting priorities. 

• You will be subject to a Background check as a condition of employment, in the event you are the successful candidate.