Principal Data Architect

Blue Cross of Idaho•Meridian, ID

4d•$147,983 - $192,969•Hybrid

About The Position

Blue Cross of Idaho is seeking a Principal Data Architect for its Data Strategy & Engineering team to lead architecture, roadmap, and integration strategy for the Cloud Enterprise Data Platform (EDP). The organization is modernizing its Data & Analytics program by consolidating legacy platforms and redesigning capabilities on AWS and Snowflake, including AI/ML, streaming data, data lakes and warehouses, and self-service and delivered reporting. The role will lead the migration of existing on-premises data warehouse platforms, including Data Vault/WhereScape, to Snowflake and integrate operational systems across AWS, Azure, SaaS, and on-premises environments. Working with internal platform teams and third-party project resources, the architect will partner with Data Governance, Product, Security, IT engineering, and business teams to deliver secure, sustainable data solutions. The position combines technical leadership and hands-on end-to-end delivery with responsibilities for architecture standards, engineering practices, platform product direction, team mentorship, and cross-functional collaboration. The preferred work arrangement is flexible hybrid, combining work at the Meridian, Idaho campus with local work-from-home. Fully remote work may be possible within a mutually acceptable location in the U.S. Mountain West region. The role is open to applicants legally authorized to work in the United States; employment-based visa sponsorship is not provided now or in the future.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent work experience. The posting states that two years of relevant work experience are equivalent to one year of college; in lieu of a degree, eight years of experience plus the required years of experience will be considered.
At least 10 years of experience in the Data & Analytics field.
At least 2 years working with hybrid onshore and offshore data teams.
At least 5 years designing and building data storage capabilities such as data warehouses or data lakes, including at least 3 years in an AWS/Snowflake architecture, development, or support capacity.
Understanding of large-scale computing solutions, including software design and development and database architectures.
Experience implementing batch, streaming, event-driven, and API integrations on a data platform.
Knowledge of AWS/Snowflake cloud security, orchestration, management, data management (including metadata management and data quality checks), role-based access controls, and policy-based access controls.
Knowledge of FinOps; Snowflake-related FinOps experience is preferred.
Ability to build data pipelines as part of integration design.
Strong knowledge of ELT, ETL, CDC, APIs, messaging, streaming, and cloud data ingestion techniques.
Strong SQL skills.
Experience with DevSecOps and Agile projects.
Knowledge of NoSQL, relational and non-relational platforms, and data file formats including Parquet, AVRO, JSON, XML, and CSV.
Understanding of data architecture and components, especially data warehousing, including Snowflake, dbt transformations, Airflow, data cataloging tools such as Alation, integration platforms such as Boomi and Fivetran, BI tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Sigma, and AI/ML tools such as Dataiku, Cortex, and Snowflake Intelligence.
Understanding of modern data warehouse concepts, including data lake, data warehouse, and data mart implementations, SQL-based transformations, and ELT methodology.
Understanding of Data Mesh principles, data as a product, domain-specific data ownership, and governance, with the ability to foster or work in decentralized data ownership.
Solid understanding of DevSecOps and Agile methodology; comfortable with Jira, AWS DevOps, and GitLab.
Ability to lead project and technical teams and deliver solutions.
Demonstrated planning, coordination, and execution skills.
Ability to collaborate with business partners and communicate diplomatically, accurately, and concisely across internal and external organizations.
Ability to prioritize, foster focus and excellence in deliverables, propose solutions, and own data platform architecture-review items.
Conscientious, reliable, and inquisitive, with a desire to learn underlying reasons and drivers as well as job-specific knowledge.
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States at application and throughout employment; employment-based visa sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

Snowflake Pro and/or AWS-related certifications are highly preferred.
Experience with dbt.
Experience with Boomi, Mule, or other integration platforms.
Experience with Python, Snowpark, SageMaker, or Snowflake Intelligence.
Experience with Tableau, Power BI, or Sigma.
Experience with data science platforms such as Dataiku.
Experience designing and building frameworks and API interfaces for efficient data extraction.
Experience in environments where data privacy and protection are critical, such as healthcare or HIPAA-regulated settings.
FinOps experience involving Snowflake.

Responsibilities

Define multi-tenant enterprise data architecture for the platforms.
Lead the data architecture practice and represent Data Engineering at the enterprise level.
Serve as a technical subject matter expert in the data ecosystem, including AWS and Snowflake, and advise on architecture, platforms, development strategies, and methodologies.
Mentor engineering and platform teams through activities such as design reviews and code reviews.
Define data engineering and data platform integration frameworks and standards; mentor and coach team members and build an onboarding and learning program.
Facilitate cross-team collaboration to define and build enterprise data management architecture, oversee adoption, and improve engineering efficiency when working with data.
Direct the strategy and implementation for migrating existing data warehouse platforms to the AWS/Snowflake Enterprise Data Platform.
Lead the team's technical direction, recommend technology choices, and collaborate with Architecture, Platform, DevOps, Security, and Project teams.
Lead the shift toward DevSecOps processes for Data & Analytics delivery, emphasizing continuous integration, release management, and automated testing.
As data platform product manager, drive the technical roadmap, prioritize and build platform features for business teams, and standardize templates for technical work.
Work with business functions and IT analysis teams to assess functional requirements and translate them into data and integration requirements.
Guide onsite, onshore, and offshore technical resources from consulting partners; communicate architecture standards and best practices and drive high-impact development and quality deliverables.
Establish a daily project-team cadence to prioritize and execute work using Agile principles and processes.
Manage external vendor relationships, assess technical competence, and identify integration opportunities.
Work hands-on on end-to-end delivery of AWS/Snowflake platforms, capabilities, and content.
Partner with Data Solution Architects to build APIs and other required integrations.
Provide mentorship to Snowflake administrators on role and policy administration, replication, and zero-copy cloning, and provide technical leadership to Snowflake project and support teams.
Conduct proofs of concept and produce demonstrable work products when adopting new features.
Collaborate with business partners, prioritize work, communicate clearly, and advise on appropriate actions in architecture reviews.