Data Architect

Confidential; Abu Dhabi Emirate; On-site; AED 300,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential in the United Arab Emirates is building a digital-first, AI-enabled financial services organisation from the ground up. Join at an early stage to shape technology, data, and AI foundations of a business with institutional backing and long-term ambition.

As Data Architect, you will define the bank's data strategy, target-state architecture, data products, and an AI-ready data ecosystem. You will collaborate with Data Engineering, Data Governance, AI Engineering, Enterprise

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in Data Architecture within banking, financial services, or other highly regulated environments.
• Proven experience designing enterprise data platforms that support AI, ML, and analytics workloads.
• Strong expertise in cloud-based data architectures, lakehouse platforms, streaming architectures, and governed data services.
• Experience defining data products, semantic models, metadata architectures, and enterprise data standards.
• Strong knowledge of banking regulatory requirements including BCBS 239, data governance, and data protection frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the bank's enterprise data strategy, target-state architecture, and data models across all business domains.
• Design AI-ready data foundations, including feature pipelines, vector-ready architectures, semantic layers, and end-to-end lineage.
• Establish the bank's data product architecture, operating model, data contracts, and interoperability standards.
• Design data-sharing architectures and ecosystem exchange patterns across internal and external stakeholders.
• Define metadata, semantic, ontology, and master data management frameworks across the organisation.
• Provide architectural leadership, challenge vendor designs, and ensure the target architecture is adopted across delivery teams.

Skills

Data Architecture

AI/ML data platforms

Cloud data architectures

Data products & semantic models

Regulatory knowledge (BCBS 239)

Job description

We're excited to be partnering with a leading institution in the UAE that is building a digital-first, AI-enabled financial services organisation from the ground up. This is a unique opportunity to join at an early stage and help shape the technology, data, and AI foundations of a business with significant institutional backing and long-term ambition. If you're passionate about data architecture, AI-ready platforms, and creating enterprise-wide data strategies, we'd love to hear from you.

As Data Architect, you will be responsible for defining the bank's data strategy, target-state architecture, data products, and AI-ready data ecosystem. Working closely with Data Engineering, Data Governance, AI Engineering, Enterprise Architecture, and business stakeholders, you'll help establish the trusted data foundation that powers analytics, AI, regulatory reporting, and ecosystem-wide data sharing from day one.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the bank's enterprise data strategy, target-state architecture, and data models across all business domains.
• Design AI-ready data foundations, including feature pipelines, vector-ready architectures, semantic layers, and end-to-end lineage.
• Establish the bank's data product architecture, operating model, data contracts, and interoperability standards.
• Design data-sharing architectures and ecosystem exchange patterns across internal and external stakeholders.
• Define metadata, semantic, ontology, and master data management frameworks across the organisation.
• Provide architectural leadership, challenge vendor designs, and ensure the target architecture is adopted across delivery teams.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in Data Architecture within banking, financial services, or another highly regulated environment.
• Proven experience designing enterprise data platforms that support AI, machine learning, and analytics workloads.
• Strong expertise in cloud-based data architectures, lakehouse platforms, streaming architectures, and governed data services.
• Experience defining data products, semantic models, metadata architectures, and enterprise data standards.
• Strong knowledge of banking regulatory requirements including BCBS 239, data governance, and data protection frameworks.