Data Architect

Signant Health; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Signant Health is seeking a Data Architect to lead enterprise data architecture and strategy, bringing data from diverse systems into Snowflake, the central platform. This role blends strategic thinking with hands-on engineering to create scalable pipelines and reference architectures across the organization.

You will guide ingestion, modeling, governance, and AI enablement, while partnering with BI and analytics teams and mentoring engineers.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in data engineering or software engineering.
• 5+ years in data architecture; 3+ years delivering production Snowflake solutions.
• Experience integrating heterogeneous sources (SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, MongoDB, enterprise SaaS); expert SQL and data modeling.

Responsibilities

• Define target-state data architecture and multi-year roadmap with Snowflake at the center.
• Document current data landscape across SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, MongoDB; perform gap analysis and onboarding roadmap.
• Establish architectural patterns for ingestion, storage, transformation, and consumption; evaluate tooling via build-vs-buy analysis.
• Design ingestion patterns (CDC, batch, streaming, API) using AWS-native and Snowflake-native services; set CI/CD observability standards.
• Develop source-to-target reconciliation and validation frameworks; optimize Snowflake performance as data volumes grow.
• Design enterprise and canonical data models and layered Snowflake architecture (raw, conformed, curated/medallion).
• Define master/reference data management approaches; guide modeling techniques per use case.
• Define enterprise data governance framework including ownership, contracts, quality, metadata, and lineage.
• Lead analytics partnerships to deliver data products for reporting and AI/ML; mentor engineers and liaise with Snowflake and vendors.

Skills

Snowflake

Data modeling

Python

dbt

AWS

SQL

CI/CD

Stakeholder influence

Governance

Education

Bachelor's degree (CS/IS/Engineering)

Tools

Snowflake Cortex AI

Airflow

Terraform

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.