Data Architect

Manatt Phelps & Phillips•Tampa, FL

About The Position

The Data Architect is a strategic, hands-on leader responsible for designing, governing, and advancing the firm’s data architecture. This role will assess the current data landscape, establish modern architecture frameworks, and drive the development of scalable data capabilities that support analytics, automation, reporting, and AI initiatives across the firm. The Data Architect will partner closely with senior leadership, technology teams, and business services to implement a unified data ecosystem that enhances decision-making and strengthens operational effectiveness across a national law-firm environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Management, or related field.
5+ years of experience as a Data Architect, Data Engineer, or related role, ideally within a law firm or other professional-services environment.
Expertise in data modeling, data warehousing, data lake/lakehouse architecture, and data integration.
Strong experience with Microsoft Fabric and/or Azure Data Services (Data Factory, Synapse, Power BI, Data Activator) or equivalent cloud platforms.
Proficiency with modern data-architecture patterns: Delta Lake, Parquet, lakehouse design, medallion architecture, and scalable ingestion/ETL/ELT frameworks.
Strong understanding of data governance practices, including MDM, metadata management, lineage, and data quality.
Excellent analytical, conceptual, and problem-solving skills with high attention to detail.
Demonstrated success influencing executive stakeholders and collaborating across technical and business teams.
Experience working within regulated environments with sensitive data and collaborating closely with information-security teams.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with legal-industry systems (preferred): iManage, Aderant, timekeeping platforms, Salesforce, Workday, and other line-of-business systems.

Responsibilities

Define and implement the firmwide data architecture strategy, including core standards, data ownership models, governance frameworks, and best practices.
Conduct a current-state assessment of systems, data sources, processes, and flows; identify gaps and propose strategic improvements.
Translate business requirements into a data-architecture roadmap that supports analytics, automation, AI, and firmwide reporting needs.
Develop and maintain architectural documentation including enterprise data models, diagrams, patterns, principles, and design specifications.
Design, implement, and maintain scalable data models and data stores for transactional, operational, and analytical workloads.
Lead the design and development of ETL/ELT processes, APIs, and data pipelines supporting both on-prem and cloud-based systems.
Implement modern data-platform patterns such as data lakehouse architectures, Medallion (bronze/silver/gold) layers, Parquet/Delta formats, and optimized storage strategies.
Oversee technical review of vendor-provided specifications and ensure consistency with data architecture standards.
Drive data governance standards including metadata management, data lineage, master data management (MDM), and schema management.
Enhance data quality through defined metrics, controls, validation processes, and ongoing monitoring.
Ensure data architecture complies with security, privacy, and regulatory obligations (e.g., GDPR and client confidentiality requirements).
Partner with Information Security, Privacy, and Risk teams to maintain defensible and auditable data practices.
Collaborate with firm leadership, business services, and legal practice groups to identify high-value opportunities for data-driven insights.
Translate complex technical concepts into clear, actionable information for non-technical stakeholders.
Mentor and guide data engineers, analysts, and developers to foster a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Act as the firm’s subject-matter expert for data architecture, staying current on market trends, emerging technologies, and best practices.