Data Platform Principal Architect

Airwallex; Singapore; On-site; SGD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Airwallex is seeking a Principal Architect based in Singapore. This role involves architecting the data layers that empower analytics, AI, and real-time decision-making across the business.

The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of experience in data systems architecture, particularly within the Databricks ecosystem. Responsibilities include designing structured datasets, semantic layer architecture, and ensuring compliance with regional data regulations.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience designing large-scale data systems.
• Hands-on experience with the Databricks ecosystem.
• Experience implementing semantic layers for reporting.

Responsibilities

• Design governed structured datasets for analytics.
• Architect a semantic layer for meaningful data interpretation.
• Define operationalized capabilities that act on data.

Skills

Data architecture

AI systems knowledge

API development

Cloud technology

Tools

Databricks

Delta Lake

Unity Catalog

Job description

What You'll Do

We are looking for a Principal Architect who operates at the intersection of platform architecture, customer-facing data products, and AI enablement. This is not a traditional infrastructure role. Your mandate is to architect the governed, reusable data, knowledge, and skill layer that powers analytics, AI agents, and real‑time decision systems across the business.

Responsibilities

• Data Layer: Design the patterns for governed, well‑modeled structured datasets—from transactional records and event streams to dimensional models and feature tables. Ensure high quality, strong lineage, and regional compliance are baked in to the foundation, keeping it clean, trusted, and queryable.
• Knowledge Layer: Architect the semantic layer that makes data meaningful to both humans and machines. Includes business metric definitions, entity relationships, and contextual documentation. Ensure an analyst or an AI agent can ask 'what is our net revenue retention in SEA?' and receive a consistent, trustworthy answer.
• Skills Layer: Define the architecture for operationalized capabilities that act on data and knowledge. Includes reusable analytical workflows, agent‑callable tools, automated pipelines, and transformation primitives – building blocks that allow AI agents and internal teams to reason and act reliably.
• Own the technical execution of regional and global data localisation strategies within the Databricks environment.
• Design scalable patterns that satisfy strict regulatory requirements while maintaining a unified global data model across priority markets.
• Reconcile local compliance constraints with global consistency in definitions, metrics, and knowledge artifacts.
• Partner with Data Science, AI Engineering, Product, and Risk teams to ensure the platform supports experimentation and high‑quality decision‑making.
• Lead global data modelling efforts, creating unified schemas that accommodate regional variance.
• Define and implement "Agent Interfaces" – APIs and tools that enable AI agents to interact with Knowledge and Skills layers.
• Implement Governance‑as‑Code, ensuring automated data lineage and quality controls are embedded directly into the data platform.

This role is based in Singapore.

Who You Are?

We're looking for people to meet the minimum qualifications for this role. Preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory.

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience designing and building large‑scale data systems with strong architectural fundamentals.
• Hands‑on experience with the Databricks ecosystem, including Unity Catalog and Delta Lake.
• Experience implementing semantic layers or metric stores to enable consistent reporting and analytics.
• Solid understanding of how AI/agent‑based systems consume data, with experience building APIs or data services to support them.
• Experience designing data solutions that meet regional data residency and compliance requirements.
• Demonstrated senior‑level individual contributor experience, including leading design reviews and mentoring engineers.

Equal Opportunity

Airwallex is proud to be an equal‑opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.