Principal Data Architect

Luminize • San Diego, CA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

At Luminize, our scale is the opportunity. As one of the top 5 Amazon sellers in the US, we generate massive, complex marketplace data across orders, fees, advertising, settlements, and inventory, and we're investing in the data foundation that turns it into a competitive advantage. We're hiring a Principal Data Architect to own the evolution of our data ecosystem. You'll lead the architecture, modeling, and governance standards that scale with our e-commerce and logistics operations, partner closely with software engineering and product, and help build a true in-house data platform that reduces our reliance on third-party pipeline vendors. This is a senior IC role with a defined path to leading the analytics engineering team. If you want real ownership of a warehouse environment with production stakes and the autonomy to shape it, we'd love to meet you.

Requirements

• 8+ years in data engineering, data architecture, or platform engineering, with at least 3 years in a senior or lead role
• Bachelor's degree in software engineering or related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Deep expertise in BigQuery and Snowflake, including performance tuning, cost optimization, and warehouse design
• Mastery of OLTP and OLAP patterns and when to apply each
• Strong command of Kimball dimensional modeling principles applied in cloud warehouse environments
• Proficiency with dbt or similar transformation frameworks, with experience building reusable, well-documented transformation layers
• Experience designing and optimizing both relational (Postgres) and NoSQL (MongoDB) databases
• Track record building production-grade ELT/ETL pipelines and scalable data models
• Familiarity with BI tools such as Looker or equivalent
• Ability to design and enforce data contracts, governance, and quality frameworks across an organization
• Strong understanding of data security, access controls, and lifecycle management in cloud environments
• Ability to critically evaluate third-party data vendors and develop transition strategies that reduce external dependency
• Clear communicator who can document architecture decisions and translate technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders
• Collaborative by default, able to drive alignment across engineering, product, and analytics without organizational authority
• Leadership disposition with the ability to mentor junior engineers and grow into formal team management

Nice To Haves

• High-volume retail, e-commerce, or logistics data experience strongly preferred

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain enterprise data models across operational and analytical environments, setting standards for schema design, documentation, and lifecycle management
• Architect and optimize our cloud data warehouse environments (BigQuery/Snowflake), including consolidating and rationalizing the current multi-platform setup
• Simplify the transformation layer by consolidating fragmented pipelines into centralized, reusable datasets with clear lineage and documentation
• Design scalable frameworks for normalizing complex marketplace data (orders, fees, ad metrics, settlements, inventory events) into analysis-ready schemas
• Establish data quality, governance, and reliability standards, including validation, monitoring, and structured-exchange guidelines
• Define and enforce data contracts between ingestion pipelines and downstream consumers to prevent schema drift
• Architect reconciliation frameworks that keep transaction, settlement, and fee data consistent for accurate financial and profitability analysis
• Develop a transition plan to reduce reliance on third-party pipeline vendors while keeping core data models in-house
• Design and own ELT pipelines ingesting from heterogeneous sources including Postgres, MongoDB, and Google Sheets
• Partner with engineering, analytics, and product to align on schema decisions before they ship and ensure the warehouse serves both reporting and product needs
• Support downstream consumers like Looker and internal reporting platforms with models that protect reporting fidelity

Benefits

• Multiple medical plan options through Anthem Blue Cross
• Dental & vision insurance (including orthodontia and annual exams)
• Pet benefit program with savings on vet care, products, and services
• Paid vacation (accruing up to 120+ hours/year with rollover and cap)
• Paid holidays annually
• Coverage for spouses/domestic partners and dependents under 26
• Benefits begin on the first of the month after your hire date
• Mentorship and partnership with senior engineering and product leaders
• Cross-functional exposure to departments including software engineering, analytics, brand management, supply chain, operations, and catalog
• Learning resources, including Udemy course access and additional training programs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: Associate degree