Managing Director, Data Platforms, Architecture, & Operations

FedEx; Plano (TX); Hybrid; USD 155,000 - 271,000; Full time

Job summary

FedEx in Plano, TX is seeking a highly experienced Managing Director of Data Platforms, Architecture & Operations to define the strategy, architecture, and operational excellence of our large-scale data ecosystems.

You will lead data engineers, platform architects, and operations teams to build, scale, and secure data platforms using GCP and Databricks, with a strong emphasis on Secure By Design and AI-first engineering.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a quantitative field or related discipline.
• Extensive experience leading data platforms and cloud migrations.
• Hands-on expertise with GCP and Databricks.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the data platform architecture strategy aligned to business goals.
• Lead large-scale migrations to GCP and modernization efforts.
• Oversee DataOps/MLOps, ensure high availability and performance.
• Manage cloud resources, costs, and vendor SLAs.
• Promote Secure By Design across all data platforms.

Skills

GCP & Databricks

Cloud Architecture

Security by Design

Data Platform Leadership

Executive Stakeholder Communication

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, or related field

Tools

IaC (Terraform)

DataOps / MLOps

Job description

Domicile Information

This is a hybrid position located in Plano, Texas. Candidates must live within 50 miles of the campus location. Employees will be required to work at the FedEx campus location several times per week.

Plan, organize, direct and control all efforts relative to the design, definition, development, implementation and maintenance of computer systems, applications, projects and programs.

Essential Functions

About the Role

We are seeking a highly experienced and strategic Managing Director of Data Platforms, Architecture & Operations to lead our enterprise data transformation journey based out of our Plano, TX location. In this critical leadership role, you will be responsible for defining the strategy, architecture, and operational excellence of our large-scale data ecosystems.

You will lead teams of data engineers, platform architects, and operations specialists to build, scale, and secure modern data platforms. The ideal candidate brings a wealth of expertise in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Databricks, coupled with a deep commitment to "Secure By Design" principles and a passion for modern data engineering tooling.

This is an opportunity to drive the technical strategy for a massive, global data footprint from our Plano, TX location.

A leadership role at the forefront of AI-first engineering and cloud modernization.

Essential Responsibilities

Data & Platform Architecture

• Strategic Vision: Define and execute the overarching data and platform architecture strategy, ensuring alignment with enterprise business objectives and technology transformation goals.
• Modernization & Migration: Lead large-scale data platform migrations and modernization efforts (e.g., migrating legacy or alternative cloud platforms to GCP).
• Scalable Design: Design robust, highly scalable, and distributed data architectures that support advanced analytics, AI-first engineering, and high-volume data processing.

Cloud Platforms & Operations (GCP & Databricks)

• Platform Leadership: Oversee the administration, optimization, and scaling of large enterprise cloud environments, with a primary focus on GCP and Databricks.
• Operational Excellence: Drive the Ops strategy (DataOps/MLOps), ensuring high availability, performance tuning, reliability, and proactive monitoring of critical data pipelines and platforms.
• Resource & Vendor Management: Manage cloud resource consumption, optimize costs, and oversee vendor performance and SLA adherence.

Secure By Design

• Proactive Security: Embed "Secure By Design" methodologies across all data platforms, architectures, and engineering lifecycles.
• Governance & Compliance: Establish and enforce robust data governance, access controls, and inherited control frameworks to ensure compliance with enterprise and regulatory standards.
• Risk Mitigation: Proactively identify and mitigate infrastructure and data security risks within cloud environments.

Data Engineering & Tooling

• Tooling Strategy: Evaluate, select, and implement best-in-class data engineering tools and frameworks to accelerate development and improve pipeline efficiency.
• Engineering Leadership: Guide the development of complex data pipelines, data ingestion frameworks, and structured data stores.
• Workforce Evolution: Champion the upskilling and continuous development of the engineering workforce, building high-performing PODs capable of delivering AI and data foundation initiatives.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Cloud Expertise: Proven, hands‑on architectural and operational expertise in GCP (Google Cloud Platform) and Databricks.
• Scale: Demonstrated success in managing, scaling, and migrating large-scale cloud data platforms and distributed systems.
• Security Acumen: Deep understanding of cloud security protocols, identity and access management (IAM), and data protection strategies (Secure By Design).
• Technical Breadth: Strong background in modern data engineering stacks, DataOps methodologies, infrastructure as code (IaC), and CI/CD pipelines.
• Leadership: Exceptional leadership and program management skills, with the ability to communicate complex technical roadmaps to executive stakeholders and manage cross‑functional, highly technical teams.

Minimum Education

Bachelor's Degree/equivalent in computer science, math or business or related field with emphasis in a quantitative discipline.

Minimum Experience

Extensive experience in systems development including design, development, implementation and maintenance of large batch or online transaction based systems. Experience in the majority of the following: mainframe, distributed systems, client server, relational systems, transaction and message systems, embedded systems, imaging and systems management and operation.

Pay

Pay: USA Pay: $13,862/monthly to $24,259/monthly

Federal Express Corporation is an Equal Opportunity Employer including, Vets/Disability.

Reasonable accommodations are available for qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application process. Applicants who require reasonable accommodations in the application or hiring process should contact [e-mail].

Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws:

• Know Your Rights
• Pay Transparency
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act

E-Verify Program Participant: Federal Express Corporation participates in the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ E-Verify program (For U.S. applicants and employees only). Please click below to learn more about the E-Verify program:

• E-Verify Notice (bilingual)
• Right to Work Notice (English) / (Spanish)