Data Lead / Associate Data Architect – AWS Data Lake & Lakehouse Migration

Photon; Singapore; On-site; SGD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Photon is seeking a Data Lead / Associate Data Architect to drive a large-scale AWS data lakehouse migration with hands-on data architecture, SQL modeling, and migration strategy. The role focuses on delivering scalable, quality data solutions in a complex environment.

You will lead the migration of 2,000+ source tables, define source-to-target mappings and data models, and design Raw/Silver/Gold layers. Collaboration with dbt and Trino will underpin the end-to-end data pipelines and governance.

Qualifications

• Experience with large-scale data migration projects.
• Hands-on data architecture and modeling experience.
• Migration strategy and governance knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Lead migration of 2,000+ source tables into AWS data lake/lakehouse architecture.
• Define and validate source-to-target mappings, data models and transformation rules.
• Design and implement Raw, Silver, and Gold data layers.
• Oversee dbt-based transformations, testing, and documentation.
• Provide technical leadership to data engineers and collaborate with business stakeholders.
• Review architecture and ensure compliance with enterprise data standards.

Skills

Data Lake/Lakehouse

dbt

Apache Iceberg

Trino

Data migration

Data modeling

Source-to-target

SQL transformations

Data quality

Technical leadership

Tools

dbt

Apache Iceberg

Trino

Job description

We are looking for a Data Lead / Associate Data Architect to lead a large-scale data lake and lakehouse migration on AWS. The role requires strong hands-on expertise in data architecture, SQL data modeling, migration strategy, and modern lakehouse technologies.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the migration of 2,000+ source tables into an AWS-based data lake/lakehouse architecture.
• Define and validate source-to-target mappings, data models, transformation rules, and migration strategy.
• Design and implement Raw, Silver, and Gold data layers.
• Define dimensional models and SCD Type 2 implementation using SQL.
• Design and implement Iceberg-based lakehouse structures and data pipelines.
• Work with dbt for SQL-based transformation, modeling, testing, and documentation.
• Build/oversee AWS-based data pipelines and integration with Trino for data processing and querying.
• Ensure data quality, reconciliation, lineage, performance, and scalability across migration and transformation pipelines.
• Provide technical leadership to data engineers and work closely with business/domain stakeholders.
• Review architecture and implementation decisions and ensure alignment with enterprise data standards.

Required Skills

• Strong experience in Data Lake / Data Lakehouse architecture and large-volume data environments.
• Practical experience with dbt.
• Strong understanding of Apache Iceberg and lakehouse architecture.
• Experience with Trino or similar distributed SQL query engines.
• Experience in large-scale data migration, preferably involving thousands of tables.
• Strong understanding of source-to-target mapping, data modeling, transformation, reconciliation, and data quality.
• Ability to work with SQL-based transformations rather than Spark-centric development.

Role Profile

This is primarily a Data Lead / Associate Data Architect position. The ideal candidate should be capable of making architecture and design decisions, driving migration workstreams, reviewing technical implementations, and providing technical direction—not merely performing data analysis or individual development tasks.

Preferred Experience

• Experience leading enterprise-scale data modernization or migration programs.
• Experience with metadata-driven migration and automated table onboarding.
• Experience working with multiple data domains and complex source-to-target mappings.