Senior Data Architect

nttlimited; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

NTT DATA in Johannesburg seeks a Senior Data Architect to act as the strategic technical advisor between Sales, Clients, Industry Leaders, Delivery and Global Practices, with a focus on Enterprise Data and AI. This role shapes the data go-to-market strategy in a high-growth market, backed by a global delivery network.

You will help the Sales team develop, influence and elevate executive conversations around data strategy, analytics, cloud data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric),

Qualifications

• 10+ years in enterprise architecture, consulting, solution strategy or technical pre-sales.
• 8+ years operating in an applications landscape with focus on D&A technology solutions (MDM, Data Quality, Data Governance, Data Engineering and Data Cloud platforms).
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• CoT_job_summary_short
• COMPANY NAME: NTT DATAKEY POINTS: Strategic data architecture, executive engagement, AI adoption, SA market
• job_summary_short
• <p>NTT DATA in Johannesburg seeks a Senior Data Architect to act as the strategic technical advisor between Sales, Clients, Industry Leaders, Delivery and Global Practices, with a focus on Enterprise Data and AI. This role shapes the data go-to-market strategy in a high-growth market, backed by a global delivery network.</p><p>You will help the Sales team develop, influence and elevate executive conversations around data strategy, analytics, cloud data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric), and related managed services, working closely with local clients, partners and internal delivery teams to drive transformation and governance across enterprise data estates.</p>
• contract_type
• fulltime
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• on site
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• Senior Data Architect in Johannesburg: market range for SA data leadership roles roughly 1.2–1.8M ZAR per year.
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• 1200000
• estimated_medium
• 1500000
• estimated_high
• 1800000
• currency
• ZAR
• frequency
• yearly
• bonus
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• gross
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• NTT Data SA

Responsibilities

• Act as strategic advisor to Sales, Clients and Delivery teams, leading executive-level discovery and value-led conversations.
• Facilitate client discussions to understand data and applications requirements, including business strategy, operating models, data maturity, AI readiness, governance and technology direction.
• Shape and inform client deals and develop opportunities with the Sales team.
• Define target-state architectures conceptually, roadmaps and investment priorities.
• Inform and build commercial models to support client opportunities.
• Validate architecture, security, data governance, AI governance and delivery approaches with clients and internal specialists.
• Review estimates, delivery assumptions and risks.
• Translate complex strategies into executive narratives, proposals and SOWs.
• Localise global offers and develop industry-specific offerings and thought leadership for SA.
• Mentor sales teams by raising technical capability and qualification discipline.

Skills

Enterprise architecture

Pre-sales

Solution strategy

Consulting

Executive engagement

Data governance

AI/ML knowledge

Data platforms

Commercial acumen

C-suite storytelling

Tools

Snowflake

Databricks

Microsoft Data & AI

AWS

Job description

Make an impact with NTT DATA

Join a company that is pushing the boundaries of what is possible. We are renowned for our technical excellence and leading innovations, and for making a difference to our clients and society. Our workplace embraces diversity and inclusion - it's a place where you can grow, belong and thrive.

Your day at NTT DATA

This Senior Data Architect's role acts as the strategic technical advisor between Sales, Clients, Industry Leaders, Delivery and Global Practices, with specific focus on Enterprise Data and AI. This role offers the opportunity to shape the Data go-to-market strategy in a high-growth market, backed by a global delivery network and strong partner ecosystem.

As part of the role, you are responsible for helping our Sales team develop, influence and elevate executive conversations specifically around their Data and Application estate. In your role you are responsible for developing, supporting and closing opportunities in data strategy, analytics, cloud data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric), and related managed services, working closely with local clients, partners, and internal delivery teams. Through your experience, you help elevate client conversation towards organizational transformation, long-term data governance strategy, AI adoption, information architecture, ontology-driven business models and industry-specific digital operating models.

You possess broad enterprise architecture capability, and are not beholden to a single technology domain - you have a broad understanding of Microsoft, Databricks, AWS, Snowflake and other technology capabilities, and you can combine this with strong consulting skills and commercial awareness to have a conversation with business stakeholders. You enjoy engaging with the C-suite to shape strategic roadmaps, challenge thinking and identify transformation opportunities, whilst you bring enough technical depth to build credibility with technical teams.

In addition to opportunity shaping, you will help build industry-specific propositions across Financial Services, Manufacturing, Mining and Healthcare, translating global capabilities into locally relevant client outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a strategic advisor to Sales and Client Managers, leading executive-level discovery and value-led conversations.
• Facilitate Client discussions aimed at understanding business requirements related to their data and applications estate - including business strategy, operating models, data maturity, AI readiness, governance and overall technology direction.
• Help shape and inform client deals and develop client opportunities alongside our Sales team.
• Able to define target-state architectures conceptually, capability roadmaps and investment priorities.
• Help inform and build commercial models to support client opportunities.
• Validate architecture, security, integration, data governance, AI governance and delivery approaches with client and internal specialists.
• Review solution estimates, delivery assumptions, commercial models and execution risks.
• Translate complex technical strategies into compelling executive narratives, proposals and statements of work.
• Localise global application offers and help develop industry-specific offerings, accelerators and thought leadership for the South African market.
• Mentor sales teams by raising technical capability and improving qualification discipline.

Recommended Knowledge & Experience

• 10+ years in enterprise architecture, consulting, solution strategy or technical pre-sales
• 8+ years operating in an applications landscape (as opposed to purely an infrastructure environment) with specific focus on D&A technology solutions (MDM, Data Quality, Data Governance, Data Engineering and Data Cloud platforms)
• Strong understanding of enterprise applications, software engineering and modern digital platforms.
• Solid understanding of data platforms, analytics tools, and AI/ML solution offerings.
• Demonstrated experience developing enterprise data strategies, AI adoption roadmaps and information governance models.
• Working knowledge of ontology-based information modelling, knowledge graphs, metadata management and semantic architectures.
• Strong understanding of Microsoft Data & AI, AWS Data & AI, Snowflake and other technology ecosystems.
• Ability to develop industry reference architectures for Financial Services, Manufacturing, Mining or Healthcare advisable.
• Strong commercial acumen, proposal development and executive presentation capability.
• Ability to interrogate delivery models, estimates and commercial risk.

Preferred Profile

The ideal candidate combines the curiosity of a technical engineer, the breadth of an Enterprise Architect and the commercial mindset of a strategic pre-sales leader. They genuinely enjoy the process of developing a client idea from initial thought through to deliverable solution and engaging with clients to shape that journey. Depth in a single technology remains valuable