Senior Azure Data Architect

Cognizant; Wilmington (NC); Hybrid; USD 88,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance

Paid holidays + PTO

401(k) plan

Long-term/Short-term Disability

Paid Parental Leave

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking a senior data architecture leader to drive enterprise Azure data strategy across large programs. You will guide data modeling, governance, and security while coordinating onshore/offshore teams. Strong Life Sciences CTMS/EDC experience is highly valued.

You will mentor data architects, drive modernization to Azure, and articulate technical decisions to executive leadership in a hybrid work model based in Wilmington.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in data engineering/architecture with hands-on Azure data services.
• Experience in Life Sciences Clinical R&D projects (EDC/CTMS/eTMF), Veeva CTMS preferred.
• Proven ability to lead large, multi-disciplinary data programs and architecture reviews.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive enterprise data architecture roadmap across Azure.
• Architect high-volume data platforms for batch, real-time, and streaming pipelines.
• Lead data modeling across domains to support analytics and AI/ML use cases.
• Define data governance, lineage, and quality frameworks.
• Own security and compliance architecture including encryption and RBAC.
• Lead client architecture reviews and executive presentations.
• Mentor onshore/offshore data architects and engineers.
• Drive modernization/migration to Azure and multi-cloud strategies.
• Establish CI/CD and IaC practices; drive FinOps across data services.
• Perform architecture governance, risk assessments, and sign-offs.

Skills

Azure data architecture

Leadership & mentoring

Architecture governance

CI/CD & DevOps

Terraform/Bicep

Data modeling (3NF/Star/Snowflake/Data

Tools

Azure Data Factory

Azure Synapse Analytics

Azure Databricks

Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2

Azure SQL Database/Managed Instance

Cosmos DB

Microsoft Fabric

Purview/Collibra

Job description

About the Role

This is a senior, client-facing onshore role requiring deep technical expertise, strong leadership presence, and the ability to independently drive architecture decisions across large, complex programs while managing distributed (onshore/offshore) engineering teams. A very strong expertise in working on Life Sciences Clinical R&D specifically Veeva CTMS is an important aspect for this role.

In This Role, You Will:

• Own and drive the enterprise data architecture roadmap across Azure, aligning with business strategy and long-term scalability goals.
• Architect complex, high-volume data platforms spanning batch, real-time, and streaming pipelines using Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Factory, Azure Databricks, Event Hubs/Stream Analytics, and Data Lake Storage Gen2.
• Lead enterprise data modeling efforts (conceptual, logical, physical) across multiple domains — supporting analytics, BI, and AI/ML use cases.
• Define and enforce data governance, lineage, cataloging, and quality frameworks (Azure Purview or equivalent).
• Own the security and compliance architecture — encryption, RBAC, Private Endpoints, Key Vault, data masking, and regulatory alignment (GDPR, HIPAA, GxP).
• Serve as the primary technical authority in client architecture reviews, steering committees, and executive presentations.
• Lead and mentor a team of data architects and senior data engineers, both onshore and offshore.
• Drive modernization/migration initiatives — legacy on-prem warehouses to Azure, or multi-cloud to Azure consolidation.
• Establish and govern CI/CD, IaC (Terraform/Bicep), and DevOps practices for data platform delivery.
• Own cost optimization and FinOps practices across Azure data services.
• Conduct architecture governance reviews, risk assessments, and design authority sign-offs (HLD/LLD).
• Partner with enterprise architects, security teams, and business leadership to ensure alignment with overall IT strategy.
• Evaluate and pilot emerging Azure data/AI capabilities (e.g., Microsoft Fabric, AI Foundry integration) and recommend adoption.

Work Model

We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role's business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring 3 days per week in a client or Cognizant office in Wilmington, DE. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various wellbeing programs.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured, we will always be clear about role expectations.

What You Need to Have to Be Considered

• 10+ years in data engineering/architecture, with hands-on experience in Azure data services at an architect level.
• Deep, demonstrable expertise across:
  • Azure Data Factory / Synapse Pipelines
  • Azure Synapse Analytics (dedicated & serverless SQL pools)
  • Azure Databricks (PySpark, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog)
  • Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
  • Azure SQL Database / Managed Instance / Cosmos DB
  • Microsoft Fabric (working knowledge strongly preferred)
• At least one implementation of a Life Sciences Clinical R&D project, either EDC, CTMS or eTMF implementation is required. Veeva CTMS implementation is preferred.
• Proven experience architecting Lakehouse, Medallion architecture, and modern data mesh patterns.
• Strong command of data modeling (3NF, Star/Snowflake, Data Vault 2.0).
• Advanced proficiency in SQL, Python/PySpark, and Spark performance tuning.
• Deep knowledge of Azure security & networking (Managed Identity, Private Link, VNet integration, Azure Firewall).
• Hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform or Bicep) and Azure DevOps CI/CD.
• Strong background in MDM, data governance, and metadata management tools (Purview, Collibra, or similar).
• Track record of leading large-scale migrations (Teradata/Netezza/On-prem SQL → Azure).
• Excellent stakeholder management — able to independently lead C-level/VP-level architecture conversations.

Salary and Other Compensation

Applications will be accepted until October 14, 2026.

The annual salary for this position is between $88,000 - $160,000 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits: Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
• Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
• 401(k) plan and contributions
• Long-term/Short-term Disability
• Paid Parental Leave
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Disclaimer: The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.