Principal Data Platform Architect: Cross-Cloud Governance

appnovation; New York (NY); On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Appnovation seeks a Principal Solutions Architect to define the architecture for a governed, zero-copy data platform. You will own end-to-end design across Databricks, Snowflake, and adjacent cloud sources, translating product vision into concrete specifications and build-versus‑buy decisions.

You will shape architecture standards, promote data governance and secure access patterns, and guide engineering toward scalable, reusable data capabilities while aligning with enterprise practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, with 10+ years of technology experience, including significant experience in solution, enterprise, or data architecture.
• Senior solutions or enterprise architect with demonstrated experience designing cross-cloud and multi-cloud data architectures.
• Proven application of zero-copy, data-mesh, and data-product principles, including domain-driven design.
• Deep expertise in data governance, including attribute- and role-based access control, data sensitivity and policy classification, and geolocation-based access requirements.
• Experience defining data-contract standards (e.g., the Linux Foundation / Open Data Contract Standard) and embedding governance metadata into platform workflows.
• Strong background in identity and access management for both users and machine/agent identities (OAuth/OIDC, service accounts).
• Excellent communication, stakeholder-management, and documentation skills, with the ability to explain complex technical trade-offs to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Prior experience in a consulting or client-facing delivery environment, working across multiple concurrent initiatives and priorities.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end solution architecture for a governed, zero-copy data platform across Databricks, Snowflake, and cloud data sources.
• Produce architecture artifacts and standards: decision records, reference architectures, diagrams, and build-versus-integrate guidance.
• Define and prioritize catalog and metadata integration across cloud and lakehouse environments.
• Design agent- and MCP-based access patterns exposing governed data products to enterprise AI tools and agent platforms.
• Establish future-state direction for data products and cross-source data composition.
• Ensure alignment with the organization's enterprise engineering practices guiding data consumption.

Skills

Cross-cloud data architecture

Data governance

IAM (OAuth/OIDC)

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering/IS

Tools

Databricks

Snowflake

AWS

Job description

Appnovation seeks a Principal Solutions Architect to define the architecture for a governed, zero-copy data platform. You will own end-to-end design across Databricks, Snowflake, and adjacent cloud sources, translating product vision into concrete specifications and build-versus‑buy decisions.

You will shape architecture standards, promote data governance and secure access patterns, and guide engineering toward scalable, reusable data capabilities while aligning with enterprise practices.