Data Architect Role

OpenDataJobs • Washington, DC

10h

About The Position

Data Architects shape how an organization represents, connects, governs, and uses data across systems. They translate business processes, information needs, and technical constraints into conceptual, logical, and physical models that teams can implement and evolve.

The work spans relational databases, analytical platforms, data lakes, warehouses, and other fit-for-purpose stores. Data Architects assess fragmented current states, define target architectures, establish integration and access patterns, and determine where standardization matters most. Their decisions account for data shape, access patterns, scale, consistency, security, resilience, cost, and migration realities.

This is a design and decision role. Data Architects work closely with data engineers, database developers, database administrators, security teams, software engineers, analysts, and business stakeholders. They make tradeoffs visible, preserve traceability from requirements to implementation, and help teams change data estates without losing integrity or control.

The role may involve building conceptual, logical, and physical data models; target-state architectures for operational and analytical platforms; canonical models, integration patterns, data contracts, naming standards, and schema conventions; architecture decision records, transition roadmaps, and architecture diagrams; and governance-aware designs for metadata, lineage, access, retention, quality, and lifecycle management.

Specific openings may emphasize a cloud platform, modeling tool, industry data standard, master data discipline, event-driven architecture, or modernization program. Some may require hands-on SQL, infrastructure review, or experience guiding implementation across several delivery teams. AI-focused programs may add requirements involving governed knowledge stores, vector-capable retrieval, model-access data boundaries, provenance, or auditability. In those settings, the Data Architect shapes data and integration architecture, while AI engineers remain accountable for model behavior, evaluation, and AI-specific safeguards.

OPEN Data Jobs connects AI, data, and software professionals with critical roles, primarily in the federal sector. Registering with ODJ can make a profile visible to multiple positions across several clients. Compensation, benefits, work location, and employment terms are set for each specific opening and will be stated with that opening.

Requirements

• Experience with data modeling, schema design, normalization, dimensional modeling, and model evolution.
• Judgment across relational, analytical, document, graph, key-value, and vector-capable data stores.
• Understanding of integration patterns, data contracts, metadata, lineage, data quality, and governed access.
• Ability to evaluate architecture choices against security, resilience, performance, scalability, cost, and migration risk.
• Clear visual, written, and verbal communication across engineering, security, product, and business teams.
• Ability to identify duplicated concepts, unclear ownership, brittle dependencies, and hidden assumptions, and turn them into actionable decisions.
• Ability to explain tradeoffs to technical and nontechnical audiences and judge when shared standards or local designs are appropriate.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with a particular cloud platform or modeling tool, depending on the opening.
• Experience with an industry data standard or master data discipline, depending on the opening.
• Experience with event-driven architecture or a modernization program, depending on the opening.
• Hands-on SQL, infrastructure review, or experience guiding implementation across several delivery teams may be required for some openings.
• For AI-focused openings, experience with governed knowledge stores, vector-capable retrieval, model-access data boundaries, provenance, or auditability may be relevant.

Responsibilities

• Create conceptual, logical, and physical data models for operational and analytical systems.
• Define target-state architectures for warehouses, lakes, lakehouses, relational databases, and specialized data stores.
• Establish canonical models, integration patterns, data contracts, naming standards, and schema conventions.
• Produce architecture decision records, transition roadmaps, and current-state or future-state diagrams.
• Design for metadata, lineage, access, retention, quality, and lifecycle management in accordance with governance needs.
• Assess fragmented current-state data environments and identify target architectures, integration patterns, and access patterns.
• Evaluate architecture tradeoffs involving data shape, access patterns, scale, consistency, security, resilience, performance, cost, and migration risk.
• Work with engineering, database, security, analysis, and business stakeholders to make architecture decisions actionable and maintain traceability from requirements to implementation.
• Guide data and integration architecture for AI programs where applicable.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Education Level: No Education Listed