Senior Data Architect

Accion Labs Europe; España; On-site; PHP 7,552,000 - 13,216,000; Full time

Job summary

Accion Labs Europe seeks a seasoned Data Platform Architect to lead strategic data architecture and platform vision across Microsoft Fabric and Azure components, including lakehouse, data factory, and Power BI.

You will mentor a DevOps and data engineering team, define governance and patterns, design scalable multi-region architectures, and ensure secure, compliant data platforms across complex environments.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in data architecture, data engineering, or enterprise roles.
• 5+ years leading technical teams and architectural decisions.
• 5+ years hands-on with Azure/AWS/GCP.
• 3+ years with Microsoft Azure and Fabric, plus related data solutions.
• Experience designing enterprise-scale data architectures for mission-critical ops.
• Translate business requirements into scalable, secure technical solutions.
• CI/CD, Azure DevOps, IaC (Terraform/ARM), and security controls.
• Experience with data quality, metadata, and data governance.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic data architecture and platform vision aligned with objectives.
• Design medallion data architecture and data mesh patterns for domains.
• Set standards for ingestion, processing, storage, access controls, and quality.
• Develop a multi-region, multi-tenant architecture for real-time analytics.
• Mentor Data Platform DevOps and full-stack data engineering teams.
• Oversee RBAC, security models, and governance frameworks.
• Guide integration between enterprise systems and external data sources.
• Drive CI/CD and platform observability, incident response, and cost optimization.
• Lead technical interviews and hiring to build a cohesive team.

Skills

Data architecture

Data engineering

Enterprise architecture

Team leadership

Cloud platforms

ETL/ELT design

PySpark/ SQL

Power BI / Qlik/Tableau

Data mesh

Data governance

Security & IAM

CI/CD & IaC

Azure Fabric

Azure Synapse

Hadoop/Spark

Delta Lake

Kubernetes

Terraform

Data quality frameworks

Monitoring/Observability

Tools

Azure

Azure Fabric

OneLake

Lakehouses

Data Factory

Power BI

Azure Synapse

Terraform

ARM templates

Kubernetes (AKS/EKS/GKE)

CI/CD pipelines

Databricks / Spark

Purview

Microsoft Entra

Job description

• 5+ years of experience in data architecture, data engineering, or enterprise architecture roles
• 5+ years of experience leading technical teams, managing engineers, and driving architectural decisions in enterprise environments
• 5+ years of hands-on experience with modern cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP)
• 3+ years of experience with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Fabric or related Microsoft data solutions, including OneLake, Lakehouses, Warehouses, Data Factory, Power BI, Real-Time Intelligence, and Azure Synapse
• Proven track record designing and implementing enterprise-scale data architectures supporting complex, mission-critical operations
• Demonstrated ability to translate business requirements into scalable, secure technical solutions
• Understanding of CI/CD practices, Azure DevOps repos (repos (git) and pipelines) and pipelines, MMicrosoft Entra service principals, and IaC icrosoft Entra service principals, and IaC infrastructure automation (Terraform, ARM templates)
• Experience with data quality frameworks, testing standards, and metadata management
• Experience implementing self-service data platforms and data literacy programs
• Experience implementing data mesh architectures in large, complex organizations
• Proficiency in designing scalable ETL/ELT architectures and data pipeline orchestration strategies
• Experience developing data pipelines in PySpark and SQL
• Experience with Azure Function Apps and Kubernetes and cloud Kubernetes services (AKS, EKS, GKE)
• Experience with report development (Power BI or Tableau or similar products)
• Expert-level knowledge of big data systems (Hadoop and Spark), Delta Lake, Parquet, modern data formats
• Technical Excellence: Deep understanding of data lakehouse architecture, medallion patterns, and data mesh organizational frameworks
• Expertise in data security, encryption, identity and access management (IAM), and privacy controls (GDPR, HIPAA, row/column-level security)
• Knowledge of monitoring, observability, and alerting techniques for data platforms
• Familiarity with big data and SQL database design, optimization, and relational/non-relational data models
• Understanding of Microsoft Purview for data governance, cataloging, and lineage management
• Knowledge of real-time analytics, streaming architectures, and event-driven data processing
• Familiarity with machine learning operations (MLOps) and AI workload integration
• Familiarity with Data Vault and other data modelling techniques

Responsibilities:

Strategic Data Architecture & Platform Vision

• Define and articulate the long-term data architecture vision aligned with business strategy and humanitarian objectives
• Design comprehensive enterprise data architecture leveraging a medallion architecture (bronze/silver/gold zones) for optimal data organization and governance
• Establish architectural standards, principles, and patterns for data ingestion, processing, storage, access controls, and quality management
• Design overall data architecture, architect data mesh patterns where appropriate, organizing data around business domains while maintaining centralized governance and platform standards
• Evaluate and recommend technology investments, infrastructure choices, and platform capabilities to support current and future organizational needs
• Develop a strategic data platform roadmap spanning 1-3 years with phased implementation, measurable milestones, and clear business value articulation
• Design scalable multi-region, multi-tenant platform architecture supporting diverse data domains, high-volume data processing, and real-time analytics
• Conduct regular architecture reviews and optimization, identifying opportunities for performance enhancement, cost reduction, and modernization.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the Data Platform DevOps Engineer and full-stack data engineering and report development team, fostering technical excellence and professional growth
• Establish clear role definitions, responsibilities, and expectations for team members, supporting career development pathways
• Provide technical leadership through data model and code reviews, architecture assessments, and knowledge sharing sessions on design patterns and best practices
• Create structured mentoring programs addressing both technical skill development and leadership competencies for high-potential team members
• Conduct technical interviews and participate in hiring to build a cohesive, skilled team aligned with architectural vision
• Foster a collaborative culture emphasizing continuous learning, innovation, quality, and adherence to architectural standards
• Balance hands-on technical work with leadership responsibilities, maintaining credibility while delegating appropriately
• Support the team with clear boundaries, autonomy, and creative problem-solving within governance frameworks
• Internal Lead end-to-end system design for complex data solutions across Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Azure platform components
• Make critical technology selection decisions regarding Fabric items (Lake houses, Warehouses, Data Factory, Power BI, Real-Time Intelligence), infrastructure, and tools
• Design role-based access control (RBAC), data security models, and governance frameworks
• Architect data quality frameworks, testing standards, and metadata management approaches ensuring consistency and reliability
• Guide implementation of complex data integration patterns between enterprise systems and external data sources
• Oversee system integration and ensure seamless communication between platform components, maintaining architectural coherence
• Establish patterns for scalability, performance optimization, disaster recovery, and business continuity

Data Architecture Strategy & Roadmap Development

• Contribute to overall organizational data strategy aligned with business objectives and humanitarian mission
• Define organizational capability building needs including platform enablement, team skill development, and process improvements
• Regularly reassess strategy based on evolving business needs, technological advancements, and lessons learned
• Internal monitor emerging technologies and industry trends in data platforms, architecture patterns, and analytics

Governance & Standards

• Support development and implementation of organizational data governance framework including policies, standards, and compliance requirements
• Work with data governance and compliance teams to establish architectural guardrails and ensure regulatory adherence
• Create comprehensive documentation standards for architecture decisions, technical designs, security controls, and operational procedures
• Define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for data platform quality, reliability, performance, and cost
• Establish change management and governance processes for architecture reviews, platform evolution, and technology decisions.

Platform Engineering & DevOps Leadership

• Oversee design and implementation of CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure automation, and deployment strategies for Microsoft Fabric
• Ensure platform engineering best practices including observability, monitoring, alerting, and incident response frameworks are implemented
• Guide the DevOps engineer in establishing platform maintenance procedures, capacity planning, and operational excellence
• Review and optimize platform infrastructure design, cost efficiency, and resource utilization strategies
• Ensure disaster recovery and business continuity strategies are designed, tested, and maintained