Data Architect

Nexiva Inc; Tallahassee (FL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Nexiva Inc in Tallahassee, FL is seeking a Data Architect with 7+ years of experience to lead enterprise data architecture initiatives. You will define strategic data models, governance, and security frameworks while aligning with business goals and IT strategy.

This in-person role requires hands-on design of data flows, data quality, and metadata management, collaborating with stakeholders to deliver scalable, compliant data solutions for ERP and CRM platforms.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience with large and complex database management systems.
• Hands-on data architecting and data modeling for enterprise systems.
• Experience implementing enterprise data management processes and governance.
• Strong knowledge of relational data structures and metadata management.
• Experience with Azure SQL Database, Snowflake, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server, and Oracle databases.

Responsibilities

• Strategic planning and vision for data architecture.
• Develop and deliver long-term goals for data architecture aligned with department objectives.
• Create data management roadmaps to achieve strategic aims.
• Establish governance processes for metadata accuracy and validity.
• Track data quality, completeness, and redundancy; perform capacity planning and usage analysis.
• Design data security, backup, disaster recovery, and archiving strategies.
• Ensure regulatory compliance across data platforms.
• Support enterprise-level ERP/CRM/SCM deployments.
• Collaborate with vendors to select suitable products and services.
• Develop data governance and stewardship frameworks; promote data management standards.
• Oversee data source mapping, movement, interfaces, and analytics for quality and performance.
• Lead data management initiatives and provide training to development teams.

Skills

Data modeling

Metadata management

Data governance

SQL

Azure

Communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/IS

Tools

Azure

Snowflake

Power BI

SQL Server

Oracle

Job description

Job Overview

Job Title: Data Architect

Location: Tallahassee, Florida onsite

Experience: 7+ Years

Visa: GC&USC only ( need local)

MOI: In-person

Responsibilities

• Strategic Planning and Vision.
• Develop and deliver long-term goals for data architecture, aligning with department objectives.
• Create tactical solutions and a data management roadmap to achieve strategic aims.
• Establish governance processes for metadata, ensuring accuracy and validity.
• Set up methods for tracking data quality, completeness, redundancy, and improvement.
• Conduct capacity planning, lifecycle management, feasibility studies, and usage analysis.
• Design strategies for data security, backup, disaster recovery, business continuity, and archiving.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Acquisition and Deployment.
• Support enterprise-level application rollouts (ERP, CRM, SCM, SAP, PeopleSoft, etc).
• Liaise with vendors and service providers to select products/services that meet department goals.
• Operational Management.
• Assess and determine frameworks for data governance and stewardship.
• Develop and promote data management methodologies and standards.
• Select and implement tools, software, applications, and systems to support data technology goals.
• Oversee mapping of data sources, movement, interfaces, and analytics to ensure quality and performance.
• Collaborate with project managers and business unit leaders on projects involving enterprise data.
• Address data-related problems in systems integration, compatibility, and multi-platform integration.
• Lead and advocate for data management, including coaching and training with the development team.
• Develop and implement testing criteria to guarantee fidelity and performance of data architecture.
• Document the data architecture and environment for an accurate view of the data landscape.
• Identify and develop opportunities for data reuse, migration, or retirement.
• Produce documentation and contribute to Enterprise data management initiatives.

Contract Deliverables

• Contract Deliverables. Contractor's Data Architect shall perform the tasks listed in Section 4.3., above. The Contractor shall invoice these tasks to the Department in one-hour increments, at the fixed hourly rate specified in the Attachment A Price Sheet attached to this RFQ. The Contractor shall provide evidence of performance by submitting the required documentation detailed in the list below, as assigned by the Contract Manager or Project Manager. Documentation shall be submitted in a format compatible with MS Office 2013, or newer. All deliverable documentation must be satisfactorily completed within the response time specified within this RFQ or by project plan and accepted by the Department's Contract Manager.
• Solution Architecture Document (SAD): The primary blueprint detailing the end-to-end data platform architecture, service selection rationales, data flows, and system boundaries.
• Architecture Decision Records (ADRs): Short, structured documents capturing key technical decisions (e.g., choosing Azure Databricks over Synapse Spark), including context, considered alternatives, and consequences.
• Target State Architecture Blueprint: Visual diagrams created in tools like Visio or Lucidchart illustrating landing zones, compute layers, data lakes, and consumption endpoints using official Azure architecture icons.
• Data Model Diagrams (ERDs): Conceptual, logical, and physical entity-relationship diagrams covering relational warehouses (Star/Snowflake schemas) and NoSQL collections.
• Database DDL Scripts: Production-ready SQL scripts or Schema Definitions (JSON/Parquet/Delta) defining tables, indexes, constraints, and distribution strategies.
• Data Lake Taxonomy & Directory Specification: A document defining the folder structures, file formats, compression standards, and partitioning strategies across ADLS Gen2 landing, staging, and curated zones.
• Source-to-Target Mapping (STTM) Matrix: A granular spreadsheet detailing source systems, target tables, column-level transformations, business logic, data types, and refresh frequencies.
• Pipeline Design Templates: Standardized design specs or code templates for Azure Data Factory (ADF) pipelines, Change Data Capture (CDC) frameworks, and error-handling/logging modules.
• Interface Control Documents (ICD): Specifications outlining API endpoints, streaming topic schemas (Event Hubs/Kafka), and file exchange formats for third-party integrations.
• Data Security & Privacy Matrix: A detailed document mapping Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Object-Level Security (OLS), and Row-Level Security (RLS) policies to Entra ID user groups.
• Data Protection & Encryption Specification: Documentation detailing Key Vault integrations, secret management procedures, Customer-Managed Key (CMK) configurations, and network isolation specs (Private Endpoints).
• Compliance & Data Lifecycle Policy: Policy documentation defining data retention schedules, automated ADLS Gen2 lifecycle rules (Hot to Archive tiering), and masking requirements for PII/sensitive data.
• Microsoft Purview Configuration & Lineage Map: An active, populated Purview data catalog featuring registered data sources, automated scan schedules, custom data classifications, and end-to-end data lineage diagrams.
• Enterprise Data Dictionary & Business Glossary: Standardized business definitions, metadata tags, sensitivity labels, and data ownership matrices assigned within the governance platform.
• Data Quality Framework & SLA Specs: Formal definitions of data quality rules, validation thresholds, alert thresholds, and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for critical data assets.
• Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) Templates: Bicep, ARM, or Terraform scripts stored in version control for automated deployment of all data infrastructure across Dev, Test, and Prod.
• FinOps & Cost Management Plan: A resource estimation report establishing tagging strategies, cluster auto-scaling limits, serverless thresholds, and projected monthly Azure burn rates.
• Operational Readiness & Runbook Document: Handover documentation detailing deployment guides, CI/CD pipeline structures, monitoring dashboards (Azure Monitor/Log Analytics), and incident triage workflows for DataOps and Support teams.
• Time Reports: A report detailing the tasks worked each day and the hours spent on each task. The Contractor shall submit this report to the Department's Contract Manager no later than the 5th day of the month that follows the month for which the total hours worked are being submitted via a mutually agreed upon timesheet.

Project Related Deliverables

Project artifacts as assigned to the Data Architect per the project plan. This can include, as an example, technical documentation, system instructions, process and procedure documentation. The Project Related Deliverable documentation must be satisfactorily completed within the response time specified by project plan and accepted by the Department's Contract Manager.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DATA ARCHITECT

• Minimum qualifications and experience:
• Minimum of 7 years of experience with large and complex database management systems.
• Hands‑on experience with data architecting, data mining, large-scale data modeling, and business requirements gathering/analysis.
• Direct experience in implementing enterprise data management processes, procedures, and decision support.
• Strong understanding of relational data structures, theories, principles, and practices.
• Strong familiarity with metadata management and associated processes.
• Hands‑on knowledge of enterprise repository tools, data modeling tools, data mapping tools, and data profiling tools.
• Demonstrated experience with repository creation and data information system life cycle methodologies.
• Experience with business requirements analysis, entity relationship planning, database design, and reporting structures.
• Ability to manage data and metadata migration.
• Experience with database platforms, including Microsoft Azure SQL Database, Snowflake, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and Oracle Database.
• Understanding of Web Services (SOAP, XML, UDDI, WSDL).
• Objector-oriented programming experience (e.g. using Java, J2EE, EJB, .NET, Websphere, etc).
• Excellent client/user interaction skills to determine requirements.
• Power BI Platform services
• Experience with data processing flowcharting techniques.
• On‑site availability at the Department's location 4040 Esplanade Way, Tallahassee, Florida is required. Remote work may be considered on an occasional, ad‑hoc basis, subject to prior written approval from the Contract Manager. This arrangement is intended for intermittent use only and does not constitute a permanent or hybrid remote work schedule. Travel costs will not be reimbursed.
• Educational and Work Experience Requirements. The Contractor Data Architect, and any subsequent Contractor Data Architect provided by the Contractor, must possess, the following:
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in computer science, Information Systems, or other related fields, or equivalent work experience.
• A minimum of 7 years of experience with large and complex database management systems.
• Expertise in technical writing and documentation.
• Competency in document version control and collaborative document management.

Preferred qualifications and experience:

• Experience with Florida State Agency IT Projects.
• FLAIR (Florida Accounting Information Resource) data transfers and transformation for internal Department accounting systems.
• 5.2.2. PALM (Planning, Accounting, and Ledger Management) data transfers and transformation for internal Department accounting systems.
• Snowflake pipeline creation
• TeamDynamix iPaaS
• Power BI platform services