Data Architect

Signant Health; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Signant Health is seeking a Data Architect to define enterprise data architecture and strategy, bringing data from diverse systems into Snowflake, the main enterprise platform. This individual contributor role reports to the Head of AI, blending strategic thinking with hands‑on data engineering to build scalable pipelines.

You will break down silos, enable data‑driven decision making and AI across the organization, partnering with teams to set standards for data ingestion, governance, and

Qualifications

• 10+ years in data engineering or software engineering, including 5+ years in data architecture and 3+ years delivering production Snowflake solutions.
• Deep experience integrating heterogeneous sources (SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, MongoDB, enterprise SaaS); expert SQL and data modeling skills; proficiency in Python and dbt.
• Proven AWS experience (S3, Glue, Lambda, Step Functions, IAM); experience with orchestration, CI/CD, and infrastructure-as-code (Airflow, Terraform, Git).
• Experience designing governance, security, and compliance controls for regulated data; ability to produce architecture artifacts and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the target‑state enterprise data architecture and multi‑year roadmap, with Snowflake as the central data platform.
• Document the current‑state data landscape across SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, MongoDB, and enterprise SaaS applications; perform gap analysis and develop a prioritized onboarding roadmap.
• Establish architectural principles, reference architectures, and standard patterns for data ingestion, storage, transformation, and consumption; evaluate and recommend tooling via build‑vs‑buy analysis.
• Design and build ingestion patterns — CDC, batch, streaming, and API-based — using AWS‑native and Snowflake‑native services (AWS DMS, Glue, Kinesis/MSK, Snowpipe, dbt) and establish engineering standards for pipelines, CI/CD, observability, and error handling.
• Develop source‑to‑target reconciliation and validation frameworks consistent with ALCOA+ data integrity principles; optimize Snowflake performance and cost as data volumes grow.
• Lead cross‑team architecture reviews, mentor engineers, and serve as the primary technical liaison with Snowflake and other data platform vendors.

Skills

SQL

Python

dbt

Snowflake

AWS

Data Modeling

Data Governance

CI/CD

Terraform

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or equivalent experience

Tools

Snowflake

AWS

Airflow

Terraform

dbt

Git

Job description

About Signant Health

At Signant Health, we help bring life‑changing treatments to patients faster. We are a global evidence generation company that supports clinical trials with smart technology, scientific expertise, and hands‑on operational support — so better data leads to better decisions in healthcare. We embrace AI and advanced technologies to enhance every aspect of what we do, from data analysis to operational efficiency.

Trusted by leading pharmaceutical companies and CROs, our platforms and services support studies across more than 90 countries and have contributed to hundreds of new drug approvals. If you are motivated by meaningful work, global impact, and innovation in clinical research and digital health, you will find purpose and opportunity at Signant Health.

About the Role

The Data Architect will define and lead the enterprise data architecture and strategy that brings data from Signant Health's diverse operational systems into Snowflake, our primary enterprise data platform. As an individual contributor reporting to the Head of AI, this role combines strategic architectural thinking with hands‑on data engineering — building the frameworks and reference pipelines that engineering teams adopt and scale. This is an opportunity to break down data silos, reduce redundant integrations, and enable data‑driven decision making and AI across the organization.

Key Accountabilities

Data Architecture & Strategy

• Define and maintain the target‑state enterprise data architecture and multi‑year roadmap, with Snowflake as the central data platform.
• Document the current‑state data landscape across SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, MongoDB, and enterprise SaaS applications; perform gap analysis and develop a prioritized onboarding roadmap.
• Establish architectural principles, reference architectures, and standard patterns for data ingestion, storage, transformation, and consumption; evaluate and recommend tooling via build‑vs‑.-buy analysis.

Data Integration & Engineering

• Design and build ingestion patterns — CDC, batch, streaming, and API-based — using AWS-native and Snowflake-native services (AWS DMS, Glue, Kinesis/MSK, Snowpipe, dbt) and establish engineering standards for pipelines, CI/CD, observability, and error handling.
• Develop source-to-target reconciliation and validation frameworks consistent with ALCOA+ data integrity principles; optimize Snowflake performance and cost as data volumes grow.

Data Modeling & Master Data

• Design enterprise and canonical data models and a layered Snowflake architecture (raw, conformed, and curated/medallion layers), including conformed business entities shared across products.
• Establish master and reference data management approaches; guide selection of dimensional, Data Vault, or other modeling techniques appropriate to each use case.

Data Governance, Quality & Compliance

• Define the enterprise data governance framework including ownership, stewardship, data contracts, quality monitoring, metadata management, and end-to-end data lineage.
• Design data protection controls (classification, RBAC, masking, tokenization of PII/PHI) and ensure the architecture supports GxP, 21 CFR Part 11, HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2 requirements.

Analytics, AI & Technical Leadership

• Partner with BI, analytics, and AI teams to deliver curated data products for reporting, self‑service analytics, and AI/ML use cases including RAG pipelines and Snowflake Cortex AI.
• Lead cross‑team architecture reviews, mentor engineers, and serve as the primary technical liaison with Snowflake and other data platform vendors.

Knowledge, Skills & Attributes

Required

• 10+ years in data engineering or software engineering, including 5+ years in data architecture and 3+ years delivering production Snowflake solutions.
• Deep experience integrating heterogeneous sources (SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, MongoDB, enterprise SaaS); expert SQL and data modeling skills; proficiency in Python and dbt.
• Proven AWS experience (S3, Glue, Lambda, Step Functions, IAM); experience with orchestration, CI/CD, and infrastructure-as‑code (Airflow, Terraform, Git).
• Experience designing governance, security, and compliance controls for regulated data; ability to produce architecture artifacts and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or equivalent experience.

Preferred

• Experience in pharmaceutical, clinical research, or another regulated industry (GxP, 21 CFR Part 11, HIPAA, GDPR, GAMP 5); familiarity with CDISC SDTM/ODM or HL7 FHIR.
• Advanced Snowflake experience (Snowpark, Dynamic Tables, Iceberg, Cortex AI, Secure Data Sharing); experience with AI/ML enablement, data catalog/observability tools, or data mesh patterns.
• SnowPro Advanced certification; AWS data or solutions architecture certifications a plus.

Why Signant Health?

At Signant Health, your work has real impact — helping advance clinical research and bring new treatments to patients faster. We offer a collaborative, global environment with opportunities to take ownership, drive meaningful innovation, and work alongside experts across clinical, technology, data, and operations. If you are looking for purpose‑driven work and the opportunity to help shape the future of clinical research and digital health, Signant Health is the place to do it.

At Signant Health, accepting difference isn't enough — we celebrate it, we support it, and we nurture it for the benefit of our team members, our clients, and our community.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and an affirmative action employer, committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or veteran status. Prior to their start date, all new hires are required to be verified through a thorough background check and identity verification to confirm eligibility for employment.