Principal Architect - AI and Data Platforms

Sportchek; Mississauga; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Sportchek is seeking a Principal Architect – AI & Data Platforms to lead the Enterprise AI and Emerging Technology team in shaping strategy across AI, data platforms, and governance. You will define end-to-end architecture vision, drive scalable AI/data solutions, and guide large-scale transformation initiatives with strong collaboration across business and technology stakeholders.

You will mentor teams, evolve governance standards, and advance platform capabilities using Azure-based ecosystems,

Qualifications

• 5–10+ years of experience in enterprise architecture, data platforms, or AI/ML solutions.
• Proven record delivering large-scale AI and data platform solutions across ecosystems.
• Agentic AI experience (Tool Usage, Agentic Orchestration Frameworks, LLMs, Testing and Evaluation).

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the AI and Data Platform architecture strategy and roadmap.
• Lead enterprise-wide solution blueprints covering data platforms, AI pipelines, BI, and governance.
• Partner with stakeholders to translate requirements into architecture solutions and lead reviews.

Skills

AI Architecture

Data Platforms

Enterprise Architecture

GenAI

LLMs

MLOps

Cloud platforms

Leadership

Stakeholder Engagement

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science/Engineering

Tools

Azure

Databricks

Synapse

Terraform

Docker

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Job description

**What you'll do**As a Principal Architect – AI & Data Platforms, you will play a pivotal leadership role within the Enterprise AI and Emerging Technology team, responsible for shaping and executing the organization’s strategy across AI, Data Platforms, and Data Governance (DG).You will define and drive the end-to-end architecture vision, ensuring alignment between business strategy, enterprise architecture standards, and modern platform capabilities. This includes leading the design and implementation of scalable AI and data solutions, establishing governance and standards, and guiding large-scale transformation initiatives.You will work closely with stakeholders across business and technology teams to build future-ready AI and data ecosystems, while leading architectural practices and mentoring teams.**Strategy & Architecture Leadership*** Define and evolve the AI and Data Platform architecture strategy and roadmap, aligned with enterprise business priorities* Establish future-state architecture vision across AI, data, analytics, and governance domains* Develop and maintain architecture models, standards, and roadmaps that guide technology investments and delivery* Lead enterprise-wide solution blueprints covering data platforms, AI pipelines, BI, and governance capabilities**Platform & Technology Leadership*** Design and evolve modern data platforms (e.g., Lakehouse architectures, data engineering pipelines, BI/reporting ecosystems)* Architect scalable AI/ML systems leveraging cloud platforms such as Azure (preferred), or GCP* Lead adoption of event-driven, streaming, and integration architectures across enterprise systems* Evaluate emerging technologies and guide build vs. buy and innovation decisions**Governance, Standards & Compliance*** Enforce AI, data, and architecture governance standards in collaboration with enterprise governance functions* Ensure solutions align with architecture principles, security standards, and compliance requirements* Contribute to the evolution of enterprise architecture frameworks, practices, and processes* Lead architecture reviews and govern solution design through project lifecycle gates**Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement*** Partner with business and technology stakeholders to translate requirements into architecture solutions* Drive cross-functional alignment across data engineers, data scientists, BI teams, and platform teams* Present architectural strategies and solutions to senior leadership and executive stakeholders* Advocate for enterprise architecture practices and promote technology standardization and reuse**Leadership & Practice Development*** Lead and mentor architecture team members and contribute to capability growth (including direct reports where applicable)* Drive continuous improvement in engineering practices, performance optimization, and solution quality* Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence across AI and data domains**What you bring*** 5–10+ years of experience in enterprise architecture, data platforms, or AI/ML solutions* Proven experience delivering large-scale, complex solutions across AI and data ecosystems* Agentic AI experience (Tool Usage, Agentic Orchestration Frameworks, LLMs, Testing and Evaluation, AgentOps)* GenAI (LLMs, Monitoring, Testing and Evaluation, LLMOps, Observability, RAG)* Data platforms & lakehouse architectures (e.g., ADLS Gen2, Databricks, Synapse, ETL/ELT, Unity Catalog)* MLOps technologies (ML, NLP)* Cloud platforms (Azure preferred; AWS/GCP knowledge beneficial)* Big data technologies (e.g., Spark, Hadoop)* DevOps & CI/CD practices, Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, etc.)* Containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)**Leadership Skills*** Strong strategic thinking and enterprise architecture leadership capabilities* Excellent communication and storytelling skills, with ability to engage executive audiences* Ability to operate effectively in complex, evolving environments* Collaborative mindset with a focus on value delivery, standardization, and scalability**Education*** Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (PhD considered an asset)