Staff Data Architect

Midwest Startups; Lehi (UT); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare plans

401(k) retirement match

HSA benefits

Paid parental leave

Paid holidays

Wellness reimbursement

Job summary

Opiniion is a SaaS, AI-first company focused on resident feedback and engagement. We are seeking a Staff Data Architect to own end-to-end data platform architecture, including ingestion, modeling, governance, and analytics readiness across the organization.

You will partner with the Staff Software Architect to guide technical direction and shape the next-generation platform. This role requires balancing the current data foundation with a new architecture, making deliberate tradeoffs, and staying

Qualifications

• 10+ years in data engineering or data architecture.
• 7+ years in architect or technical leadership roles.
• Deep experience with Databricks or Snowflake.
• Strong data modeling and governance background.
• Proficient in SQL and Python; distributed processing (Spark).
• Experience with ETL/ELT tools and orchestration.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture of the data platform including ingestion, transformation, storage, and BI layers.
• Partner with architecture leads to drive the rollout of a new platform.
• Balance legacy data foundation with next-gen architecture during transition.
• Design scalable data foundations to support analytics and AI needs.
• Define canonical data models and data architecture standards across platforms.
• Mentor data engineers through reviews and documentation.
• Evaluate data tools and platform investments; build vs. buy decisions.

Skills

Data modeling

Leadership

Communication

Analytical thinking

Strategic thinking

Tools

Databricks

Snowflake

dbt

Airflow

Fivetran

Omni

Looker

Tableau

Spark

Job description

Opiniion is a resident experience tool that partners with property management to create better living experiences for their residents. Our platform has helped thousands of property managers collect and act on real-time feedback, improve resident experiences, and enhance their online reputation. Opiniion is committed to exceptional service and innovation, earning recognition as one of America’s fastest-growing private companies. Driven by a forward-thinking team, we’re shaping the future of resident engagement. Our continued growth and commitment to innovation make this an exciting time to be part of our team!

LOCATION: Lehi, UT
HYBRID: Monday-Wednesday In-office

POSITION OVERVIEW:

Opiniion is a SaaS, AI first company reshaping how businesses understand and act on customer feedback. We're looking for a Staff Data Architect to own the architecture of our data platform end to end: how data is ingested, modeled, governed, and made available for analytics and AI across the company. As we scale, this role will be critical to building a data foundation that can support increasingly sophisticated analytical models.

You'll partner closely with our Staff Software Architect to drive the technical direction of our next generation platform, pairing deep data architecture with application architecture to build something cohesive from the ground up.

We're building a new platform alongside our current one, so this role requires balance: owning and evolving the current data foundation while architecting what's next, and making clear decisions about what carries over versus what gets rebuilt.

This is a role for someone who thinks in data models and pipelines, can make platform level tradeoffs with confidence, and stays hands on with the systems they design.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

• Own the architecture of our data platform, including ingestion, transformation, storage, and semantic/BI layers
• Partner with the Staff Software Architect to co-drive the architecture and rollout of our new platform
• Balance ownership of the current data platform with architecting the new one, making deliberate calls on what to carry over, what to rebuild, and how the two coexist during the transition
• Architect the data foundation needed to scale, ensuring the platform can support growing data volume, complexity, and analytical demand
• Own canonical data models, schema design, and data architecture standards across the platform
• Design and implement correlation, causation, and statistical models to support deeper, more reliable insights across the platform
• Lead platform decisions across our data stack, built primarily on Databricks
• Architect governed, reusable data pipelines feeding BI tools like Omni and downstream AI/ML use cases
• Establish data quality, governance, and lineage practices across the organization
• Partner with engineering leadership and business stakeholders to translate reporting and analytics needs into scalable data architecture
• Guide and mentor data engineers through design reviews, technical documentation, and hands on support
• Evaluate and recommend data tools, frameworks, and platform investments, including build vs. buy calls
• Support AI/ML initiatives with well modeled, accessible, and trustworthy data foundations

WHAT YOU BRING:

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering or data architecture, including 7+ years in an architect or technical leadership capacity
• Deep expertise in Databricks (Delta Lake, Unity Catalog) or a comparable modern cloud data platform such as Snowflake
• Strong background in data modeling methodologies (dimensional modeling, medallion/lakehouse architecture, data vault)
• Experience designing statistical, correlation, and causation models to support analytics and decision making
• Hands on experience with ETL/ELT tools and orchestration (dbt, Airflow, Fivetran, or similar)
• Proficiency in SQL and Python, with experience in distributed processing (Spark/PySpark)
• Experience designing data governance frameworks including data quality, lineage, and access control
• Familiarity with BI and semantic layer tools (Omni, Looker, Tableau, or similar)
• Working knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
• Understanding of security and compliance frameworks relevant to data platforms (SOC 2, data privacy regulations)
• Exposure to AI/ML data readiness: feature pipelines, vector stores, or RAG-supporting data architectures is a strong plus
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate technical tradeoffs for non-technical stakeholders
• A strong bias for action and a mindset of continuous improvement
• Comfort co-owning technical direction alongside a peer architect, without needing a single-owner model

NICE TO HAVE:

• Experience with Databricks AI/BI or similar embedded AI/analytics tooling
• Background in post-acquisition data integration or consolidating disparate data sources
• Relevant certifications (Databricks Certified Data Engineer, SnowPro, or similar)
• Experience with multi-country compliance requirements (data residency, privacy regulations, cross-border data handling)
• Background in high-growth SaaS environments or post-acquisition infrastructure consolidation

Join Opiniion's dynamic development team and contribute your skills to build innovative solutions. If you are a passionate Data Architect seeking a challenging and collaborative environment, we’d love to hear from you!

OPINIION’S CULTURE:

At Opiniion, we take our work seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously! We work hard together, and we have a lot of fun doing it. We are a team that believes in real autonomy: you own your area, solve problems, and move fast enough to actually see the change you make. The people here are invested in each other just as much as they’re invested in the work, and that combination is what makes this place different. We believe in collaboration, innovation, and building a team that truly cares - about our clients, their residents, and each other.

BENEFITS SNAPSHOT:

• Comprehensive healthcare plans, encompassing medical, dental, and vision insurance, along with group life coverage. Opiniion covers 40-90% of the premium cost for employees and all dependents.
• 401(k) retirement plan with a 100% corporate match on the first 1% and 50% match on the next 5%.
• Pre-tax Health Savings Accounts (HSA).
• Paid Parental Leave for all new parents (including adoption or foster care).
• 10 Paid Holidays annually.
• Monthly Wellness Reimbursement benefit.

*Note that the above benefits are available only to full-time employees of Opiniion*

Opiniion is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth and pregnancy-related conditions), gender identity or expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, military service and veteran status, physical or mental disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws and ordinances.