Lead Data Specialist

Caterpillar Inc.•Mossville, IL

13d•$128,470 - $192,710•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking an experienced Lead Data Architect to define and guide the Power & Energy segment data vision, structure, and standards in close partnership with the Lead Data Engineer. This role is accountable for designing the blueprint of the data ecosystem—ensuring that data is structured, governed, and aligned to business needs. The ideal candidate brings a balance of strategic thinking, data modeling expertise, and firsthand architectural guidance across modern data platforms along with strong business engagement and communication skills.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, Software Engineering, or related technical field (or equivalent experience)
Progressive experience in data, analytics, information architecture, or enterprise technology roles.
Experience leading enterprise-scale data architecture initiatives across multiple business domains.
Deep expertise in enterprise data architecture, data warehousing principles and data modeling (conceptual, logical, physical)
Proven experience defining and implementing enterprise data strategies, roadmaps, standards, and governance frameworks.
Experience partnering with executive leadership, business stakeholders, and technology teams to translate business strategy into data architecture solutions.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of Caterpillar's Power & Energy business, including products, customers, operations, and key business processes.
Experience managing work for a team of data engineers, providing direction, prioritizing deliverables, and ensuring high-quality, timely execution.
Proficiency in at least one programming language (e.g., Python, Java, etc.)
Demonstrated success leading large-scale data modernization, cloud migration, and digital transformation programs.

Responsibilities

Map the current-state data landscape related to critical business initiatives, including systems, flows, redundancies, and gaps.
Define and maintain the future-state data architecture vision and roadmap aligned to business strategy.
Establish guiding principles for scalable, reusable, and governed data ecosystems.
Build and maintain conceptual data models that define core business entities and relationships.
Guide the development of logical and physical data models in collaboration with engineering teams.
Ensure consistent application of industry-standard modeling techniques (e.g., dimensional, data vault).
Define canonical data definitions and promote reuse across domains.
Partner closely with the Lead Data Engineer to translate architecture into implementable solutions.
Provide oversight and guidance on end-to-end data solution design, from ingestion through consumption.
Ensure architecture decisions support performance, scalability, and extensibility.
Review and validate solution designs to ensure alignment with architectural standards.
Build collaborative relationships with business stakeholders and cross-functional teams, ensuring requirements are accurately understood.
Possess strong verbal and written communication skills essential for presenting findings and driving alignment between technical solutions and business outcomes.
Function as a trusted advisor on data-related decisions and trade-offs.
Ensure the right data sources are identified and leveraged for each use case.
Enforce alignment with enterprise data standards, governance policies, and security requirements.
Promote data quality, consistency, and lineage across the data ecosystem.
Define standards for metadata management, data classification, and access controls.