Architect, Technology I

AbbVie; North Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

AbbVie seeks an Architect, Technology I to own the architecture of the enterprise cloud data platform and lead a team of developers, including a large offshore team across multiple time zones.

You will set technical direction, standards, and roadmaps, applying advanced knowledge to complex initiatives while ensuring compliance in a regulated environment. Strong mentoring and communication are essential.

Qualifications

• Significant hands-on experience building and operationalizing enterprise-scale cloud big data platforms.
• Knowledge of modern data engineering architectures (Lakehouse, data mesh, data fabric).
• Experience with data quality, observability, lineage, and governance.
• Experience defining data contracts, schemas, ownership, and access policies.
• Experience with data security, privacy, and regulatory requirements.
• Experience with orchestration tools (dbt, Airflow, Dagster, Prefect) and cloud-native platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of developers, including a large offshore team across time zones.
• Set technical direction, standards, and roadmaps for enterprise cloud data platform.
• Review designs, enforce standards, and coordinate audits and governance.
• Collaborate with dev, infra, and security teams to validate integration points.
• Design scalable, reliable, secure data platforms with cost optimization.

Skills

Cloud big data platforms

Data governance

Data contracts

Data security

Mentoring engineers

Cross-functional leadership

Communication skills

Serverless architectures

Education

Bachelor’s Degree

Master’s Degree

PhD

Tools

dbt

Airflow

Dagster

Prefect

Kubernetes

AWS EKS

AWS Fargate

Iceberg/Delta Lake/Hudi

Job description

About AbbVie

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Company Description

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Job Description

The Architect, Technology I owns the architecture of the enterprise cloud data platform and leads a team of developers, working with limited supervision. The role also directs a very large offshore team across multiple time zones, setting technical direction, standards, and roadmaps so work stays consistent at scale. The architect applies advanced technical knowledge to complex assignments, independently leads technical components of larger initiatives, and supports business growth and technology integration in a regulated environment.

Responsibilities

• Perform technical and analytical tasks using established methods and tools; apply judgment to adapt approaches for less-routine problems, document methods and results, and elevate novel or ambiguous issues with suggested next steps.
• Lead and mentor a team of developers, and direct a large offshore team, setting priorities, coordinating handoffs across time zones, and holding delivery to quality and architecture standards.
• Review design artifacts and enforce standards through peer reviews, architecture principles, and documented compliance evidence. Support governance and compliance tracking by maintaining architecture repositories, updating standards documentation, and coordinating audit preparations.
• Collaborate with development, infrastructure, and security teams on implementation by providing architecture guidance, reviewing technical designs, and validating integration points.
• Define and evolve data platform architecture, including Lakehouse, data mesh and data fabric patterns, event-driven designs, and batch and real-time processing.
• Establish data contracts, data quality, observability, lineage, and metadata practices for reusable data products and platform services.
• Design for scalability, reliability, performance, disaster recovery, security, and cost optimization.
• Identify automation and process improvements by evaluating tooling options, implementing validation scripts, and streamlining documentation workflows.
• Maintain architecture documentation and guidelines by updating models, capturing design decisions, and keeping them accessible to project teams.
• Deliver reliable outputs for assigned and moderately complex projects; ensure acceptance criteria and compliance requirements are met, document methods, validations, and key assumptions, and keep project leads, stakeholders, and leadership informed of progress and issues.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s Degree 7 years of experience, or Master’s Degree 6 years of experience, or PhD 2 years of experience.
• Significant hands-on experience building and operationalizing enterprise-scale cloud big data platforms.
• Strong knowledge of modern data engineering architectures, including cloud-native data platforms, Lakehouse architecture, data mesh and data fabric concepts, event driven architectures, and batch and real-time data processing.
• Familiarity with open table formats and interoperable data ecosystems, such as Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, or Apache Hudi.
• Experience building reliable data pipelines, data products, and reusable platform services.
• Knowledge of data quality, observability, lineage, metadata management, and data governance.
• Experience defining and implementing data contracts covering schemas, semantics, quality expectations, ownership, and access policies.
• Understanding of data security, privacy, identity and access management, encryption, regulatory requirements, and responsible data use.
• Experience designing for scalability, reliability, performance, disaster recovery, and cost optimization.
• Familiarity with modern data development and orchestration tools, such as dbt, Airflow, Dagster, Prefect, or comparable technologies.
• Experience with serverless architectures including Kubernetes, AWS EKS, and AWS Fargate.
• Ability to mentor engineers and influence technical direction across teams.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor technical staff, lead cross-functional teams, and drive initiatives to completion.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to operate with high autonomy and minimal supervision, proactively managing stakeholder expectations and keeping leadership informed through clear, concise verbal and written communication.

Preferred

• Exposure to or experience with Cloudera Data Platform or another legacy big-data environment (a significant plus).
• Experience in the pharmaceutical industry or other highly regulated environments.
• Experience working with international development teams across multiple time zones.
• Exposure to graph databases and GraphQL.

Additional Information

• The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of thisposting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location,and we may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future.
• We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick), medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.
• This job is eligible to participate in our long-term incentive programs.

Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission,incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole and absolute discretion unless anduntil paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent with applicable law.

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled.

US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html

US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more: https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html