Data Architect

Great Dane LLC • Savannah, GA

2d

About The Position

The Data Architect designs and governs the enterprise data architecture underpinning Great Dane’s Durable Hub, its central data and integration hub, and leads the IT Data Engineering team responsible for building and operating it. The role owns the canonical data model, pipeline topology, and integration patterns that move data from source systems—including JDE E1, Salesforce, Tacton CPQ, Concept, PLM, and other SaaS solutions—into the Bronze, Silver, and Gold medallion architecture.

Working with the Enterprise Architect, the Data Governance Committee, and data engineering teams, the Data Architect ensures data is modeled consistently, governed centrally, and reliably consumed across analytics and operational use cases. The role also shapes architecture for AI, machine learning, agentic workflows, and decision intelligence by designing data products, semantic models, the enterprise ontology, metadata structures, lineage, and knowledge representations.

Great Dane is a transportation solutions and manufacturing company with a history dating to 1900. It produces dry-freight vans, refrigerated trailers, and flatbeds and describes its workplace as collaborative and rooted in safety, leadership, integrity, quality, and passion.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, or a related field.
• At least 7 years of experience in data architecture, data engineering, or a related discipline.
• Hands-on experience designing enterprise data platforms and canonical or dimensional data models.
• Prior experience leading or managing a technical team.
• Demonstrated experience with streaming and event-driven architectures, including Kafka/Confluent, lakehouse or medallion patterns, and integration with ERP and CRM systems.
• Ability to lead, mentor, and develop a data engineering team.
• Deep proficiency in data modeling, SQL, and stream processing using Flink or an equivalent.
• Experience designing data products, semantic layers, and enterprise metadata architectures.
• Understanding of data architectures for machine learning, RAG, vector search, ontologies, knowledge graphs, and AI-enabled business applications.
• Knowledge of data lineage, data quality, explainability, and governance requirements for AI systems.
• Strong grasp of data governance concepts and canonical modeling.
• Excellent written communication and stakeholder-facing documentation skills.
• Willingness to travel occasionally, typically less than 10%.
• Ability to meet the role’s physical and mental requirements, including keyboarding, lifting, standing, bending, and walking; reasonable accommodations may be made.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in a related field.
• Familiarity with dbt, Iceberg, and AWS cloud data platforms.
• AWS certification.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the IT Data Engineering team, including hiring, coaching, performance management, workload prioritization, and guidance on state management, topic design, and data contract patterns.
• Own and evolve the Canonical Data Model and enterprise object model, including the enterprise ontology and governed definitions of core business entities and their relationships.
• Design end-to-end data pipeline topology for the central data and integration hub, including CDC, API polling, order-saga orchestration, Kafka/Flink stream processing, and Bronze/Silver/Gold medallion layers.
• Define integration patterns and specifications for source systems, including JDE BSSV operations, Salesforce, and Tacton CPQ.
• Establish and maintain data modeling standards, event schemas, and immutability and replayability principles.
• Design and govern data architecture patterns for advanced analytics, machine learning, generative AI, and agentic automation.
• Define enterprise semantic models, ontology, metadata standards, business glossaries, and knowledge representations for consistent interpretation across analytics, AI assistants, and intelligent agents.
• Establish standards for reusable data products consumed by reporting, predictive models, digital assistants, and operational automation workflows.
• Partner with the AI Architect and Data Governance Committee to define lineage, explainability, auditability, privacy, and trust requirements for data used by AI solutions.
• Define architecture patterns and governance standards for structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data assets supporting analytics, digital thread initiatives, and AI-enabled knowledge discovery.
• Translate data governance policy into enforceable technical architecture in partnership with the Data Governance Committee.
• Maintain architectural decision logs, mark superseded decisions rather than deleting them, and document final records in SharePoint and diagrams in Miro.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation.
• Dental, vision, and medical benefits with employer contributions.
• Retirement programs, including a Pension Plan and 401(k) Plan with employer match.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Paid holidays and vacation.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior