Data Architect

Discovered MENA; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 300,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

Discovered MENA is seeking an experienced Data Architect for a leading financial services organization in Abu Dhabi. You will design and implement scalable data architectures and pipelines supporting both operational and analytical use cases in a fast-moving environment.

You will collaborate with software and AI/ML teams to ensure data governance, security, quality and metadata documentation, while continuously improving pipelines and enabling enterprise-scale analytics.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in data engineering or data architecture.
• Significant and proven Databricks experience and AI use cases.
• Experience building and operating automated data pipelines with Airflow, dbt and related tools.
• Strong understanding of big data architectures and pipeline performance optimization.
• Advanced SQL skills for data manipulation and querying.
• Proficiency in Python and at least one other language (Scala/Java).
• Hands-on experience with cloud-based data platforms.
• Strong analytical and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain scalable ETL/ELT pipelines ingesting data from diverse sources.
• Collaborate with software engineering and AI/ML teams to ensure governance, security and quality.
• Document data architectures, lineage, and metadata for transparency and scalability.

Skills

Databricks

Airflow

dbt

SQL

Python

Scala/Java

Cloud platforms

Data governance

Problem solving

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering/related

Tools

Databricks

Airflow

dbt

Job description

Our client, a leading financial services organization in Abu Dhabi, are seeking an experienced Data Architect to join their AI function, working on large-scale, enterprise data platforms. This role offers the opportunity to design and build robust data architectures and pipelines that support both operational and advanced analytical use cases in a complex, fast-moving environment.

The Role:

You will be responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining scalable ETL/ELT pipelines that ingest, cleanse, and transform data from a wide range of sources. Working with complex, high-volume datasets, you will ensure data is reliable, accessible, and optimised for business and analytical needs.

You will collaborate closely with software engineering and AI/ML teams, applying best practices across data governance, security, and quality. A key part of the role involves continuously improving data pipelines, proactively identifying issues, and documenting data architectures, lineage, and metadata to support transparency and long-term scalability.

Requirements:

• 5+ years’ experience in data engineering, and/or data architecture.
• Significant and proven experience of working on Databricks (or similar), and building AI use cases using these technologies
• Proven experience building and operating automated data pipelines using modern orchestration and transformation tools, such as Airflow, Luigi and dbt.
• Strong understanding of big data architectures and pipeline performance optimisation
• Advanced SQL skills for data manipulation and querying
• Proficiency in Python and at least one additional programming language (e.g. Scala or Java)
• Hands-on experience with cloud-based data platforms
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline