Data Architect

GreenStone Farm Credit Services; East Lansing (MI); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

GreenStone Farm Credit Services seeks a Data Architect to lead the enterprise data architecture vision, governance, and long‑term strategy across analytics, BI, and data platforms. This role operates within a SAFe Agile Release Train to align business priorities with technical execution.

You will collaborate with Product Owners, Data Leaders, and ART leadership to define standards, guide solution design, and ensure secure, compliant, scalable data solutions for the organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required (see education)
• 10+ years of experience in data engineering/architecture or related field
• 3+ years of experience using Databricks or similar platform
• 5+ years in a regulated industry preferred
• Strong data modeling and modern data architecture expertise
• Experience with Agile/SAFe environments

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the enterprise data architecture vision and multi-year roadmap
• Establish architectural direction for data platforms, integrations, analytics, and BI solutions
• Align data architecture with business priorities, regulatory requirements, and technology direction
• Partner with Product Owners and ART leadership to ensure architectural alignment with delivery plans
• Stay current with emerging data technologies and practices
• Communicate architectural decisions and tradeoffs clearly
• Mentor teams on architectural best practices without direct people management
• Drive continuous improvement through learning and evolution

Skills

Data modeling

SAFe/Agile experience

Enterprise data architecture

Data governance & security

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, math, economics, statistics, business, data engineering, information services or related field

Tools

Databricks

Job description

GreenStone Farm Credit Services is seeking a Data Architect to lead the vision, design, and governance of our enterprise data architecture. This role is instrumental in shaping the long ‑ term data strategy that supports scalable, secure, and compliant data platforms, analytics, and business intelligence capabilities across the organization.

Operating within a SAFe Agile Release Train (ART), the Data Architect provides architectural direction, establishes standards, and ensures alignment between business priorities, regulatory requirements, and technical execution. This position partners closely with Product Managers, Product Owners, Data Leaders, and ART leadership to guide solution design, manage dependencies, and maintain a sustainable architectural runway.

The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker with deep technical expertise, strong communication skills, and a passion for building data ecosystems that are interoperable, governed, and built for long ‑ term success. This role also plays a critical part in safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of enterprise ‑ sensitive data

Get to know GreenStone

Our $15 billion portfolio of customers, ranging from rural homeowners to global agriculture and food businesses, provides our employees with a unique opportunity to maintain a local presence while working for a top workplace. Our diverse business structure provides exciting opportunities for passionate, talented professionals in many areas. Additionally, many of our team members are highly respected in their area of expertise at both the state and national level making GreenStone one of the top Farm Credit associations in the country.

Culture

Core Four values steer everything we do at GreenStone. Customer First, Delivery Quality, Get involved, Do the right thing. Employees work as a team to create a company fueled by the desire to best serve each other and our customers every day. Greenstone culture promotes innovative thinking, professional development, health and wellness, and a relaxed work environment with flexible schedules.

What can we offer you?

GreenStone trusts the people we hire. We empower employees to make the best decisions for the customer and the company.

GreenStone has an outstanding Total Rewards package, which includes, but is not limited to:

• 15 vacation days, 12 sick days, and 12 paid holidays per year
• 401(k) plan – up to a 9% employer contribution/match
• $400/year Wellness Subsidy/Reimbursement & wellness programs
• $6,000 lifetime maximum Student Debt repayment program or tuition reimbursement
• Yearly bonus/incentive opportunity available to all benefit eligible employees

Key Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the enterprise data architecture vision and multi ‑ year roadmap
• Establish architectural direction for data platforms, integrations, analytics, and BI solutions
• Align data architecture strategy with business priorities, regulatory requirements, and enterprise technology direction
• Serve as a strategic partner to Product Owners and ART leadership to ensure architectural alignment with delivery plans
• Stay current with emerging data technologies, trends, and best practices

Planning & Execution Enablement

• Translate architectural strategy into executable initiatives in partnership with Data Platform, Analytics, and Insights leaders
• Participate in PI planning, backlog refinement, and architectural runway development
• Review and guide solution designs to ensure adherence to architectural standards and principles
• Identify and manage architectural dependencies and cross ‑ team impacts within the ART

Standards, Governance & Quality

• Define and maintain data architecture standards, patterns, and reference architectures
• Ensure solutions meet confidentiality, integrity, and availability requirements for sensitive data
• Collaborate with governance, security, and compliance teams to ensure architectural alignment
• Promote consistency, reuse, and long ‑ term sustainability of data solutions across the enterprise
• Serve as a trusted advisor to business and technology stakeholdersCommunicate architectural decisions, tradeoffs, and impacts in a clear and accessible manner
• Mentor teams on architectural best practices without direct people ‑ management responsibilities
• Drive continuous improvement through learning, feedback, and architectural evolution

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; Degree in computer science, math, economics, statistics, business, data engineering, information services or related field preferred
• 10+ years of experience in data engineering, data architecture, quantitative analytics, or a similar technical role is required
• 3+ years of experience using Databricks or similar platform is required
• 5+ years of experience in a regulated industry (e.g., banking, healthcare) is preferred
• Strong expertise in data modeling (conceptual, logical, physical, dimensional)
• Deep understanding of modern data architectures, including cloud platforms, lakehouse patterns, streaming, and integrations
• Familiarity with data governance, security, privacy, and regulatory frameworks
• Experience working in Agile or SAFe environments

GreenStone Farm Credit Services is an equal opportunity employer. It is our policy to provide equal employment opportunity to all persons regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. We comply with all federal, state and local equal employment opportunity regulations. We conduct all personnel decisions and processes relating to our employees and job applicants in an environment free of discrimination and harassment.