Sr. Data Architect - USA Remote (United States)

S27a; Northern (KY); Remote; USD 165,000 - 185,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Annual bonus program

Employer Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)

Yearly team building experiences

Mentorship and sponsorship

Job summary

Cognify Analytics is seeking a Senior Data Architect contractor to rapidly accelerate data initiatives and architect the foundational capabilities for the Data Platform across hybrid environments, including on‑prem, colocation, and cloud.

The role emphasizes external modernization experience, speed, and reusable assets, with collaboration across product managers and the Lead Data Platform Architect to ensure high‑quality implementation and timely delivery.

Qualifications

• 9-12 years of experience in data architecture and related domains.
• Broad understanding of IT systems and data management across applications, storage, security, and networks.

Responsibilities

• Architect end-to-end data solutions and provide implementation oversight.
• Rapidly assess data landscape to identify gaps and opportunities for modernization.
• Deliver architecture artifacts, data models, integration patterns, and platform designs.
• Enhance data capabilities such as ingestion pipelines, metadata frameworks, and data quality structures.
• Define scalable architecture patterns for adoption by engineering teams.
• Collaborate with architects, engineers, and business stakeholders to translate requirements into designs.
• Provide hands-on architectural leadership for high-priority initiatives.
• Introduce external best practices across cloud, data mesh, and AI/ML-enabled solutions.
• Advise on platform/tooling selections and modernization pathways.
• Produce clear documentation and transition materials for handoff to full-time teams.

Skills

Data architecture

Data modeling

Cloud data platforms

Data governance

API design

Big data technologies

Data mesh

Enterprise architecture

Stakeholder collaboration

Fault-tolerant systems

Tools

Spark

Kafka

Snowflake

Databricks

Glue

Airflow

MuleSoft

Job description

Summary

We are seeking a high-impact Senior Data Architect (contractor) who will rapidly accelerate our data initiatives, bring proven external experience and perspective, and architect the foundational capabilities required to advance our long-term data strategy.

This role will shape and guide the architecture of the Data Platform and its suite of data and information services, will collaborate closely with product managers and the Lead Data Platform Architect to define architectural direction and ensure high-quality implementation across a hybrid environment (on-premises, colocation facilities, and cloud, with cloud as the strategic destination).

This is an advanced contributor role with no direct reports. Looking for a Sr. Data Architect who can:

• Ramp up quickly with minimal guidance.
• Deliver architecture outcomes at speed.
• Bring external modernization experience.
• Provide short-term acceleration and leave behind long-term reusable assets.

Principal Duties & Responsibilities

• Architect end-to-end data solutions and provide implementation oversight in alignment with enterprise architecture standards.
• Rapidly assess the current data landscape and identify gaps, risks, and opportunities to accelerate modernization.
• Deliver actionable architecture artifacts, including data models, integration patterns, and platform designs, under compressed timelines.
• Enhance foundational data capabilities such as ingestion pipelines, domain models, metadata frameworks, and data quality structures.
• Define, document, and promote scalable architecture patterns for immediate adoption by engineering teams.
• Partner closely with architects, engineers, and business stakeholders to translate requirements into actionable designs that fit enterprise standards.
• Provide hands-on architectural leadership for high-priority initiatives, ensuring solutions are modern, scalable, and aligned with enterprise principles while enabling speed.
• Introduce external best practices across cloud, data mesh, event-driven architectures, and AI/ML-enabled solutions.
• Advise on platform/tooling selections and modernization pathways grounded in real industry experience and time-to-value.
• Produce clear documentation, decision records, and transition materials to enable seamless handoff to full-time teams.

Knowledge & Skills

• 9-12 years of experience.
• Broad understanding of IT systems and how business processes interact with applications, databases, storage platforms, security, and networks.
• Deep experience with relational and non-relational databases, including but not limited to DynamoDB and Neptune.
• Strong experience designing and implementing Data APIs using cloud technologies; MuleSoft experience is a plus.
• Expertise in data movement, data quality enforcement, and cloud-based data processing.
• Prior experience architecting fault-tolerant, self-healing, highly scalable, or multi-tenant data systems.
• Strong understanding of data management patterns and best practices.
• Familiarity with enterprise and service design patterns, including practical application of Data Mesh and Data Product paradigms.
• Ability to design flexible systems and adopt new or emerging technologies as appropriate.
• Comfortable operating with minimal supervision in a complex hybrid environment.
• Brings industry knowledge from working across multiple organizations or modern data-intensive transformations.
• Recommends best practices based on cloud adoption patterns, analytics needs, and AI/ML readiness.
• Able to challenge existing approaches and introduce new, reusable patterns.
• Capable of producing high-clarity architecture artifacts (decision records, diagrams, standards) that can be adopted immediately.
• Understanding of modern data ingestion and transformation patterns (streaming, batch, CDC).
• Familiarity with data pipeline frameworks, orchestration tools, and platform services (Spark, Kafka, Snowflake, Databricks, Glue, Airflow, etc.).
• Ability to quickly assess complex data ecosystems and recommend modernization paths.
• Strong understanding of cloud-based data architectures (AWS), Data Mesh patterns, and modern data stack components.

Why Join Cognify Analytics?

• Join a team of industry veterans from Google, Meta, and top-tier tech companies.
• Work on impactful, high-scale data and analytics projects with leading global clients.
• Enjoy a flexible, remote-first culture focused on innovation and excellence.
• Competitive salary, equity options, and continuous learning opportunities.
• Shape the future of modern data platforms and AI-powered analytics at a rapidly growing company.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or any other protected characteristic.

Salary Range

$165,000 - $185,000

Disclaimer: Final compensation is determined by various factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. These ranges are estimates and subject to change based on market conditions and business needs.

Perks And Benefits Of Working With Us

• Unlimited PTO.
• Please ask us about our very generous parental leave, much above industry standards!.
• Entrepreneurial culture where pushing limits and taking risks is everyday business.
• Open communication with management and company leadership.
• Small, dynamic teams = massive impact.
• Medical, Dental and Vision coverage for employees.
• Access to Disability & Life insurance.
• Mental health and wellbeing support
• Annual bonus program
• Employer Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)
• Yearly Team building experiences
• Mentorship and sponsorship opportunities
• Manager resources and support

We are an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.