Information Architect

001 The Northern Trust Company; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 137,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

The Northern Trust Company is seeking a seasoned Data Architect to lead data modelling, semantic modelling, and enterprise data governance in Chicago, IL. You will define canonical data entities, lineage, and semantic standards across Snowflake and Databricks, collaborating with engineering and business teams.

You will help build agentic-AI enabled data products, ensure data quality, uphold architectural guardrails, and mentor a team of architects and engineers in a global, regulated financial

Qualifications

• Proven experience in data architecture, data engineering, or information management.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science, Engineering, or related.
• Proven enterprise data modelling at conceptual, logical, and physical levels.
• Hands-on SqlDBM experience or equivalent tools.
• Proven experience with dbt Labs.
• Good Python skills, API integration, automation.
• Snowflake and Databricks experience including Cortex AI and Genie.
• Working knowledge of OWL, RDF, SPARQL and enterprise ontology design.
• Experience with agentic AI frameworks like GitHub Copilot.

Responsibilities

• Lead and contribute to data modelling across conceptual, logical, and physical layers.
• Govern and maintain enterprise data model libraries with standards and versioning.
• Define semantic models to support agentic-AI capabilities and data discovery.
• Design data product schemas across Snowflake and Databricks with delta lake patterns.
• Embed data contracts and quality frameworks in pipelines and governance.
• Guide architectural design with security, performance, and cost considerations.
• Engage stakeholders and mentor junior architects and engineers.

Skills

Data architecture

Data engineering

Python

Snowflake

Databricks

dbt

API integration

Ontology/OWL/RDF

GitHub Copilot

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IS/Data Science/Engineering

Tools

SqlDBM

dbt Labs

Snowflake

Databricks

Cortex AI

Genie

GitHub Copilot

OWL/RDF/SPARQL

Job description

About Northern Trust As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions. Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide. With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Data Modelling & Architecture

Lead and contribute with conceptual, logical, and physical data model design aligned to the firm's data mesh and medallion architectures

Govern and maintain the enterprise data model library in SqlDBM, enforcing naming conventions, domain standards, and versioning

Define and steward canonical data entities and lineage across source, integration, and consumption layers

Help with the translation of business requirements into rigorous data structures in collaboration with engineering and domain teams

Guide teams on the design and effective use of semantic data models, including their application to agentic AI solutions

Semantic & Knowledge Modelling

Integrate semantic layers with business glossaries, data catalogues, and lineage tooling

Design and maintain semantic models to support agentic-AI capabilities

Help develop ontologies, taxonomies, and controlled vocabularies underpinning enterprise metadata and search

Define semantic modelling standards and patterns to ensure consistent meaning, interoperability, and AI readiness across data products

Guide and control the creation of data domains that align with the banks underlying capabilities

Data Engineering & Platforms

Design data product schemas across Snowflake and Databricks, including Delta Lake structures and access patterns

Define and enforce architectural guardrails for data product design, including performance, scalability, security, and cost efficiency

Set design standards and review transformation/pipelines for compliance

Embed data contract standards and data quality frameworks across pipeline outputs

Agentic AI & AI-Assisted Development

Leverage Snowflake Cortex / Databricks Genie (or similar) to help engineering teams deliver natural language query and LLM-augmented data products

Utilize GitHub Copilot (or similar) to accelerate modelling, documentation, and pipeline development

Design and define a set of agentic skills that can be provided to implementation teams

Contribute to the firm's AI Champion network, evaluating emerging capabilities and advising on adoption

Enterprise Architecture & Design Assurance

Act as a design authority for data architecture across teams and data domains

Partner with enterprise, security, and risk architecture to ensure data solutions align with broader technology and regulatory standards

Provide early-stage architectural input to initiative discovery and solution design to reduce delivery risk

Governance & Stakeholder Engagement

Present architecture decisions to senior stakeholders, architecture review boards, and regulatory audiences

Support regulatory compliance through robust lineage, metadata management, and data quality evidence

Mentor junior architects and engineers within the Information Architecture community of practice

Essential Requirements

Proven experience in data architecture, data engineering, or information management

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science, Engineering, or a related discipline

Proven enterprise data modelling experience at conceptual, logical, and physical levels

Hands-on SqlDBM experience (or equivalent modern toolset)

Proven experience with dbt Labs

Good Python skills, API integration, automation

Practical Snowflake and Databricks experience including Cortex AI and Genie

Working knowledge of OWL, RDF, SPARQL and enterprise ontology design

Experience with at least one agentic AI framework GitHub Copilot or equivalent AI coding assistant experience in a professional setting

Financial services background preferred; BCBS 239 awareness advantageous

Desirable

Data Vault 2.1 alongside Kimball/Star-schema modelling

Data mesh, data product ownership and federated governance

Knowledge graph platforms (Neo4j, Neptune) or knowledge of OWL, RDF and exposure to and build of ontologies

Published thought leadership or community contributions in data or AI

Salary Range

$137,400 - 240,400 USD

Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay.

Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits.

Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.

Work Authorization

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future.

Northern Trust will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, F-1, J-1, OPT, CPT or any other employment-based visa).

Working with Us

As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve.

Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust's history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.

Reasonable Accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at [e-mail], or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.

Terms and Conditions

Candidate Privacy Notice

California Applicant Privacy Notice

Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision (U.S)

Transparency in Coverage Disclosure – North America

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center or call 1-800-807-0302 (North America), [phone] (Asia Pacific), 1800-425-0333 (India), [phone] (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

EEO Statements

It is the policy and practice of Northern Trust to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants.

Northern Trust does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion or belief, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or age. All employment decisions will be made in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with our obligations under the law and codes of practice.

This includes human resources’ decisions relating to recruitment, terms and conditions of employment, transfers, promotions and access to learning and development.

Canada EEO STATEMENT Northern Trust is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Hiring and other employment decisions at Northern Trust are made without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, ancestry, national origin, ethnic origin, age, disability, citizenship, veteran status, sexual orientation, record of offences, marital status, family status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, provincial, or local law, regulation, or ordinance.

EMEA EEO STATEMENT It is the policy and practice of Northern Trust to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. Northern Trust does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion or belief, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or age. All employment decisions will be made in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with our obligations under the law and codes of practice. This includes human resources’ decisions relating to recruitment, terms and conditions of employment, transfers, promotions and access to learning and development.

USA EEO STATEMENT It is the policy of The Northern Trust Company to afford equal opportunity in all phases of employment without regard to an individual's age, race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic tests and information, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status or any other legally protected status.

EEO Know Your Rights (U.S.)