Data Architect – Manager – AI & Data

Deloitte Africa; Midrand; On-site; ZAR 800,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Deloitte Africa is seeking a Data Architect tasked with leading the design and implementation of modern data architectures. This role involves close client interaction, strong technical expertise, and the management of high-performance teams, driving data and AI transformation across various industries. Join Deloitte to be part of impactful projects and innovative solutions.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in Azure, AWS, or GCP.
• Proficiency in Python and SQL is mandatory, with Scala/Java as a bonus.
• Experience in implementing data architectures and AI enablement.

Responsibilities

• Lead clients in data architecture design and implementation.
• Manage teams delivering high-performance data solutions.
• Facilitate workshops for technical architecture reviews.

Skills

Cloud Platforms

Data Tools

Pipelines & Orchestration

Programming

MLOps/AI Enablement

Architecture Patterns

Job description

Company Description

At Deloitte, our Purpose is to make an impact that matters for our clients, our people, and society. This is the lens for which our global strategy is set. It unites Deloitte professionals across geographies, businesses, and skills. It makes us better at what we do and how we do it. It enables us to deliver on our promises to stakeholders, while creating the lasting impact we seek.

Harnessing the talent of 457 000+ people located across more than 150 countries and territories, our size and scale puts us in a unique position to help change the world for the better—by bringing together the services we provide, the societal investments we make, and the collaborations we advance through our ecosystems.

Deloitte offers career opportunities across Audit & Assurance (A&A), Tax & Legal (T&L) and our Consulting Services business, which is made up of Strategy, Risk & Transactions (SR&T) and Technology & Transformation (T&T).

Deloitte Consulting — Our Culture

Innovation, transformation and leadership occur in many ways. At Deloitte, our ability to help solve clients’ most complex issues is distinct. We deliver strategy and implementation, from a business and technology view, to help lead in the markets where our clients compete.

Are you a game changer? Do you believe in adding advantage at every level in everything you do? You may be one of us.

Deloitte Consulting is growing, with a focus on developing our already powerful teams across our portfolio of offerings. We are looking for smart, accountable, innovative professionals with technical expertise and deep industry experience insights. The combination of our 6 areas of expertise, our well-developed industry structure and our integrated signature solutions is a unique offering never seen before on the African continent.

Job Description

We are hiring aData Architect with demonstrated leadership in designing and deliveringmodern data architecturesand enablingAI and ML at scale. This role requires deeptechnical architecture expertise, strongdelivery management capability, and the ability to engage with C-level stakeholders on data and AI transformation programs.

You will shape and leadmulti-market programsthat enable clients across industries to build cloud-native data platforms, accelerate AI adoption, and scale data-driven business value.

Key responsibilities

1. Client leadership & Advisory

• Act astechnical advisorto client CIOs, CDOs, and CAIOs on data platform modernisation
• Facilitate solution workshops and blueprinting sessions with executive and technical stakeholders
• Translate business problems into scalable data architectures
• Serve as a trusted advisor to clients on data modernization, AI readiness, and cloud data strategy
• Drivediscovery workshops, blueprinting sessions, and technical architecture reviews
• Lead client engagements with agile delivery methods and engineering excellence

2. Architecture ownership

• Lead the design ofcloud-native data architectures(Lakehouse, Data Mesh, Real-time)
• Ownend-to-end architecture and governance: ingestion, transformation, storage, security
• Align data platform strategy with AI and analytics enablement (e.g., MLOps, model serving)
• Architect end-to-end data pipelines (batch, real-time) using modern tools (e.g., Spark, Kafka, dbt, Airflow)
• Build and optimize data platforms that supportAI/ML workloads, model deployment, and monitoring

3. Delivery & Quality assurance

• Manage teams deliveringhigh-performance data pipelines and platform foundations
• Implementdata quality, lineage, privacy, and governanceframeworks at scale
• Own technical quality, delivery velocity, and stakeholder satisfaction
• Own the design and implementation of robust data ingestion, transformation, and governance processes
• Guide teams ondata quality, lineage, metadata management, anddata securitybest practices
• Collaborate closely with data scientists to operationalize ML models via MLOps best practices

4. Team leadership & Growth

• Lead and mentor cross-functional engineering teams (onshore/offshore)
• Mentor junior data engineers and consultants, promoting engineering standards and technical excellence
• Contribute to internal capability building and innovation within the AI & Data practice
• Influence recruitment decisions and grow capability in data engineering & architecture
• Coach client teams and promote engineering best practices

Qualifications

Cloud Platforms:

Azure, AWS, or GCP (deep expertise in at least one)

Data Tools:

Spark, Databricks, Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Delta Lake

Pipelines & Orchestration:

Airflow, dbt, Kafka, NiFi, Glue, Synapse

Programming:

Python (mandatory), SQL (expert), Scala/Java (bonus)

MLOps/AI Enablement:

Model serving, feature stores, MLflow,Vertex.ai, SageMaker

Architecture Patterns:

Data Mesh, Lakehouse, Streaming Analytics, CDC

Consulting experience:

• Prior experience intop-tier or boutique consultingpreferred
• Client facing professional services roles with Enterprise software providers also preferred
• Ability to operate in ambiguity, structure complex challenges, and deliver value rapidly

Additional Information

Regional & cultural fit

• Deep understanding of theAfrican enterprise landscape
• Comfortable operating inmulti-cultural, multi-market environments
• Passionate aboutsolving complex African business problems with global-grade solutions

What you bring

• Strategic thinker with hands-on execution capabilities
• Strong communication, stakeholder engagement, and presentation skills
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a passion for innovation and growth
• High degree of intellectual curiosity, integrity, and drive

At Deloitte, we want everyone to feel they can be themselves and to thrive at work—in every country, in everything we do, every day.We aim to create a workplace where everyone is treated fairly and with respect, including reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. Weseek to create and leverage our diverse workforce to build an inclusive environment across the African continent.

Join us. Shape the future. Win big.

Key Performance areas

• Strategic Impact:Supports the Senior Manager on delivery of designated engagement / project, managing the implementation of the agreed deliverables.
• Client Impact: External/Internal:Manages and maintains oversight of deliverables of team on client engagements.
• Operational Effectiveness: Communicates detail of Audit Engagement Agreement to teams and maintains level monitoring of adherence by all parties.
• Development/Growth of Team:Shares expertise and knowledge with team members and counselees on an ongoing basis.
• Budgets / Profitability:Manages engagement budget through accurate budgeting, cost control and profitability management.

Differentiators for this specific role

• Wining Business:Contributes to the regional and business areas winning business opportunities and targets, including contribution to Industry Manager initiatives and cross service line selling and collaboration.

Leadership Capabilities

• Living our Purpose -Acts as a role model, embracing and living our purpose and values, and recognizing others for the impact they make.
• Talent development -Develops high-performing people and teams through challenging and meaningful opportunities.
• Performance drive- Delivers exceptional client service; maximizes results and drives high performance from people while fostering collaboration across businesses and borders.
• Influence- Influences clients, teams, and individuals positively, leading by example and establishing confident relationships with increasingly senior people.
• Strategic direction -Understands key objectives for clients and Deloitte, aligns people to objectives and sets priorities and direction.

Technical and Professional Capabilities

• Stakeholder Focus:Leverages a deep understanding of audit and risk advisory services and stakeholder needs to deliver high quality engagement.
• Become experts in risk assessments and audit responses:Takes an independent view and contributes heavily in developing and challenging the risk assessment and controls testing strategy and designing appropriate audit responses for risks.
• Integrate engagement teams and manage referred work:Collaborates effectively across Deloitte functions to deliver a seamless audit that is responsive to stakeholder needs.
• Make appropriate use of tools, guidance and methodology:Provides appropriate guidance to the audit team in relation to the application of tools, guidance and methodology in delivering the audit.
• Manage project plans to optimize engagements:Proactively manages the project plan through efficient use of resources and tracking delivery of assigned tasks, guiding team members’ prioritization.
• Formulate reasonable judgements and conclusions in order to deliver informative and timely outputs:Uses judgement and consults appropriately when dealing with complex matters, applying an appropriate level of professional scepticism.
• Apply Ethical and Professional Standards:Understands their business security, ethical and compliance responsibilities, displaying best practice and actively encouraging appropriate behaviours of engagement teams.

At Deloitte, we want everyone to feel they can be themselves and to thrive at work—in every country, in everything we do, every day.We aim to create a workplace where everyone is treated fairly and with respect, including reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. Weseek to create and leverage our diverse workforce to build an inclusive environment across the African continent.

Note: The list of tasks / duties and responsibilities contained in this document is not necessarily exhaustive. Deloitte may ask the employee to carry out additional duties or responsibilities, which may fall reasonably within the ambit of the role profile, depending on operational requirements.

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