Business Data Architect – Digital Project Delivery (Azure Databricks Lakehouse)

Southern Company•Birmingham, AL

About The Position

Southern Company is advancing Digital Project Delivery to improve how data is created, governed, integrated, and used across large capital projects, primarily in generation. The Business Data Architect will lead business data architecture for Digital Project Delivery and help define how project and business data is structured, governed, connected, and delivered across the project lifecycle. The role partners with enterprise architecture, platform engineering, integration, cybersecurity, and business teams to shape the target-state Azure Databricks Lakehouse, integration approach, and information management capabilities at enterprise scale. The architect will establish data domains, business structures, standards, governance, and integration patterns for capital projects spanning planning, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, turnover, and operations readiness. The role provides technically credible architecture leadership on lakehouse design, data movement, platform and tool choices, environment strategy, and operational supportability. It also guides project teams and delivery partners, leads architecture reviews, supports technology decisions and governance approvals, and develops roadmaps and decision documentation to mature project data capabilities. Success means a trusted and governed data foundation, reusable data structures and standards, improved information quality and traceability, reduced integration complexity, stronger project decision support, and an approved, supportable target-state lakehouse and integration architecture aligned with business priorities and enterprise standards.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related discipline.
At least 8 years of progressive experience in data architecture, data engineering, or analytics platform engineering.
At least 3 years in a senior architecture or technical leadership role.
Deep understanding and experience running an enterprise-scale Azure Databricks Lakehouse, with hands-on depth in Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, and Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2.
Experience designing and delivering CDC and replication from source systems into a lakehouse or warehouse for batch and near-real-time loads.
Strength in data modeling, including dimensional, Data Vault, or canonical models.
Experience governing data quality, metadata, lineage, and security controls such as role-based access, classification, and masking.
Experience establishing architecture standards, conducting architecture reviews, and driving adoption of engineering practices across delivery teams.
Effective communication and influence with executives, engineers, vendors, and business stakeholders, with ability to balance business priorities, risk, and cost.
Experience evaluating and recommending data platform, integration, and tooling options based on business and technical fit, operational supportability, security, cost, and enterprise alignment.
Ability to work across business, enterprise architecture, infrastructure, cybersecurity, integration, and platform engineering teams to drive approvals, resolve tradeoffs, and establish implementation direction.
Understanding of enterprise data movement and orchestration patterns, including ETL/ELT, replication, CDC, APIs, messaging, file exchange, and platform-native integration services.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting Digital Project Delivery, capital project information management, or major project data programs in utility, energy, EPC, industrial, or infrastructure sectors.
Familiarity with generation project delivery processes and data for engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, startup, and handover to operations.
Experience with project delivery, engineering, asset, document, model, or construction systems such as Primavera, Unifier, EcoSys, Hexagon, Bentley, Autodesk, Procore, Aconex, OpenText, or similar platforms.
Knowledge of digital twin, digital thread, asset lifecycle information management, BIM/CDE concepts, or capital project handover information requirements.
Understanding of utility business processes, governance expectations, and regulatory considerations relevant to generation capital investments.
Experience working in Agile, hybrid, or product-oriented delivery models within large enterprises.
Master’s degree, architecture certification, data management certification, or relevant utility or project delivery certifications.
Experience shaping or governing Azure-based data platforms and enterprise integration patterns with central IT or platform organizations.
Familiarity with architecture review boards, technology exception processes, security reviews, and enterprise platform approval workflows.
Experience comparing or implementing enterprise data movement technologies such as SSIS, GoldenGate, Informatica, Azure Data Factory, event streaming, or similar tools in a lakehouse or warehouse context.

Responsibilities

Own the business data architecture and strategic direction for Digital Project Delivery, including data domains, business definitions, information flows, and standards across the capital project lifecycle.
Define and govern data structures for generation capital projects, including project, asset, engineering, document, model, cost, schedule, contract, materials, work package, commissioning, and turnover data.
Establish common data models, taxonomies, hierarchies, reference data, and naming conventions to improve consistency and interoperability.
Map how project data is created, transformed, handed off, and consumed across engineering, procurement, construction, project controls, and operations.
Lead the definition of business rules, data quality standards, stewardship expectations, and governance processes for critical project data.
Define target-state lakehouse architecture patterns, including domain-aligned organization, layered or medallion design, curated data products, semantic consumption, and project data lifecycle management.
Define integration and information exchange patterns across project management, engineering design, construction management, document management, asset, and enterprise reporting systems.
Evaluate and recommend data ingestion, replication, and integration patterns, including batch, CDC, replication, API-based, file-based, and event-driven approaches, in partnership with enterprise integration and platform teams.
Provide architecture leadership on technology choices for data movement, replication, transformation, orchestration, and operational supportability, including evaluation of SSIS, GoldenGate, Azure-native services, Databricks-native capabilities, and other approved enterprise tools.
Align business data requirements with system architecture, platform capabilities, and enterprise data standards in collaboration with enterprise architects and technology teams.
Represent business architecture in technology discussions about lakehouse design, tool selection, nonfunctional requirements, environment strategy, operating models, and enterprise approval pathways.
Support digital thread and lifecycle information management capabilities so project data can be trusted and reused from design through construction and operations.
Partner with cybersecurity, privacy, records management, and compliance teams on access, retention, classification, and protection controls for project and engineering information.
Guide project teams and delivery partners in consistent application of data standards and information management practices.
Provide architectural oversight for vendors, EPC partners, consultants, and system integrators to ensure alignment with data standards and governance expectations.
Lead architecture reviews, maintain reference models and decision documentation, and develop roadmaps for maturing project data management capabilities.
Develop architecture position papers, decision frameworks, and recommendation packages for enterprise reviews, funding discussions, exception requests, and approvals for data platform and integration capabilities.
Identify opportunities to improve project reporting, analytics, forecasting, and decision support through better data design and governance.
Evaluate emerging capabilities, standards, and tools that strengthen digital delivery, information interoperability, and lifecycle data management.
Partner with platform and data engineering teams to define implementation guardrails for observability, lineage, access control, DevSecOps, release management, and production support.
Apply business value, accountability, collaboration, constructive challenge, stewardship, integrity, and sound technical judgment in architecture decisions.