Enterprise Data Architect (Ref: 197756)

Forsyth Barnes Consultancy; Downers Grove (IL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Forsyth Barnes Consultancy seeks an Enterprise Data Architect to set the architectural direction for data across a multi-category industrial distribution and retail business. You will define how data is structured, governed and made available to support operations, commercial performance and long-term technology planning.

Working with business and technology stakeholders, you will translate requirements into coherent architectural outcomes, establish standards, and guide data solutions that

Qualifications

• Substantial experience shaping enterprise data architecture within a complex commercial, retail, distribution or similarly data-intensive environment.
• Demonstrated capability in enterprise data modelling, information architecture, data integration and modern data platform concepts.
• Practical knowledge of master data management, metadata, data lineage, data quality and governance operating models.
• Experience creating architecture principles, reference patterns, target states and implementation roadmaps that guide delivery teams.
• Ability to evaluate legacy and modern technologies objectively and recommend solutions based on business value, risk, scalability and total cost.
• Understanding of security, privacy, access control, resilience and regulatory considerations relevant to enterprise information management.
• Strong communication skills, with the confidence to explain architectural trade-offs to executives, technical specialists and operational stakeholders.
• Structured problem-solving ability and a record of influencing decisions across functions without relying solely on formal authority.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain an enterprise data architecture vision aligned with business strategy, technology priorities and measurable operational outcomes.
• Develop target-state architectures, capability roadmaps and transition plans for data platforms, information domains and integration patterns.
• Establish scalable principles for conceptual, logical and physical data modelling across product, inventory, customer, supplier, finance and operational information.
• Set architectural standards for data movement, interoperability, metadata, lineage, master data and information lifecycle management.
• Assess the existing data estate to identify duplication, quality risks, integration gaps, performance constraints and opportunities for simplification.
• Guide the design and delivery of data solutions, ensuring that proposed approaches are secure, resilient, maintainable and fit for enterprise use.
• Work with business leaders, product owners, engineers, analysts and governance stakeholders to translate requirements into coherent architectural outcomes.
• Support data governance by clarifying ownership, stewardship, quality expectations, access principles and decision rights for critical information assets.

Skills

Data architecture

Data modelling

Information governance

Data integration

Stakeholder communication

Structured problem-solving

Job description

About Us

Operating since 1979, our client supplies new and surplus equipment for industrial automation, MRO, pneumatic, motion, electronic, hydraulic, HVAC and electrical control applications. Serving plant-floor operations and facilities-maintenance environments, this organisation combines an extensive product range with the practical market knowledge required by industrial and hardware retail customers. Its headquarters are in Willingboro, New Jersey, while this role is based in Downers Grove, Illinois. The business operates across a product-rich, operationally complex environment where accurate information supports purchasing, merchandising, inventory, fulfilment and customer service. Enterprise data architecture will therefore play an important role in improving how information is structured, connected and used across the organisation.

Job Description

The Enterprise Data Architect will establish the architectural direction for information across a multi-category industrial distribution and retail business. This role will define how critical data is structured, governed, integrated and made available to support operational execution, commercial performance and long-term technology planning. Success will involve turning enterprise priorities into practical data architecture decisions, improving confidence in core information and creating scalable patterns for future initiatives. Working across business and technology stakeholders, you will provide the clarity, standards and roadmap needed to manage data as a strategic business asset. The position requires both strategic perspective and hands-on architectural judgement. You will evaluate the current data landscape, identify structural constraints, guide solution design and ensure that data-related investments produce measurable value across product, inventory, customer, supplier and business performance domains.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and maintain an enterprise data architecture vision aligned with business strategy, technology priorities and measurable operational outcomes.
• Develop target-state architectures, capability roadmaps and transition plans for data platforms, information domains and integration patterns.
• Establish scalable principles for conceptual, logical and physical data modelling across product, inventory, customer, supplier, finance and operational information.
• Set architectural standards for data movement, interoperability, metadata, lineage, master data and information lifecycle management.
• Assess the existing data estate to identify duplication, quality risks, integration gaps, performance constraints and opportunities for simplification.
• Guide the design and delivery of data solutions, ensuring that proposed approaches are secure, resilient, maintainable and fit for enterprise use.
• Work with business leaders, product owners, engineers, analysts and governance stakeholders to translate requirements into coherent architectural outcomes.
• Support data governance by clarifying ownership, stewardship, quality expectations, access principles and decision rights for critical information assets.

Requirements

• Substantial experience shaping enterprise data architecture within a complex commercial, retail, distribution or similarly data-intensive environment.
• Demonstrated capability in enterprise data modelling, information architecture, data integration and modern data platform concepts.
• Practical knowledge of master data management, metadata, data lineage, data quality and governance operating models.
• Experience creating architecture principles, reference patterns, target states and implementation roadmaps that guide delivery teams.
• Ability to evaluate legacy and modern technologies objectively and recommend solutions based on business value, risk, scalability and total cost.
• Understanding of security, privacy, access control, resilience and regulatory considerations relevant to enterprise information management.
• Strong communication skills, with the confidence to explain architectural trade-offs to executives, technical specialists and operational stakeholders.
• Structured problem-solving ability and a record of influencing decisions across functions without relying solely on formal authority.

Benefits

• Strategic ownership of the data architecture agenda within an established industrial distribution and retail operation.
• Visible influence over the information foundations supporting product, inventory, customer, supplier and commercial processes.
• Opportunity to shape practical standards and roadmaps across a broad, highly varied product and operational landscape.
• Direct exposure to senior stakeholders and cross-functional initiatives where architectural decisions can improve business performance.
• Scope to modernise data practices, strengthen information quality and create reusable capabilities for future growth.
• A role based in Downers Grove, Illinois, within a business with a long operating history and a national industrial supply focus.
• Professional growth through complex enterprise architecture work spanning retail, distribution, operations and technology transformation.

Other

This position is suited to an architect who can connect long-range data strategy with decisions that delivery teams can implement. The strongest candidate will bring enough technical depth to challenge designs constructively, alongside the commercial awareness needed to prioritise improvements in a busy product and distribution environment. Applicants should be prepared to demonstrate how they have improved data consistency, clarified ownership, enabled integration or influenced enterprise technology direction. Experience with industrial distribution, hardware retail, ecommerce or supply-chain information is valuable, although strong transferable experience from another complex data environment will also be considered.

Simon Wilkinson

Divisional Principal BDM, Technology

ETail Specialist

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