Principal, Data Strategy and Architecture

NMDP • Minneapolis, MN

4d

About The Position

The Principal, Data Strategy and Architecture is a senior individual contributor responsible for providing enterprise‑level technical, architectural and governance leadership in support of NMDP’s approved enterprise data strategy. This role serves as a technical authority and trusted advisor, guiding target‑state data architecture, governance standards, and platform alignment to enable advanced analytics, AI/ML, and integrated data capabilities across clinical, research (CIBMTR), donor, and operational domains. This leader is expected to operate with strong executive presence, effectively socializing complex technical strategies, influencing decisions, and securing stakeholder buy-in across all levels of the organization. This individual will influence outcomes through architectural leadership, technical standards, and cross‑functional partnership, ensuring that NMDP’s multi‑year data transformation is scalable, cohesive, and aligned with industry‑leading practices. This role also requires the ability and presence to help enterprise data transformation efforts, shaping both direction and adoption across the organization.

Requirements

• Knowledge of: Enterprise AI native data architecture, modern data platforms, and analytics ecosystems.
• Data governance frameworks, stewardship models, and data lifecycle management.
• Metadata management, data quality, lineage, access control, and data trust principles.
• Cloud-native data architectures and AI-enabled analytics capabilities.
• Interoperability standards and complex data domains (clinical, research, operational).
• Regulatory, privacy, and trust considerations in healthcare, research, or similarly regulated environments.
• Architectural evaluation and long-term platform sustainability.
• Ability to: Operate as a senior individual contributor and technical authority without direct people management.
• Influence architectural direction and alignment across multiple teams and domains.
• Translate enterprise strategy into actionable technical standards, patterns, and guidance.
• Evaluate competing technologies and architectural options using an enterprise-wide perspective.
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and executive audiences.
• Work effectively in ambiguity and across large scale, multi-year transformation efforts.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, MIS, or a related technical field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• 12 or more years of experience in data architecture, data platforms, analytics, or related technical roles.
• Demonstrated experience operating as a senior individual contributor or technical authority in complex enterprise environments.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in healthcare, life sciences, research, or other regulated domains strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership to own data strategy and operationalize NMDP’s approved enterprise data strategy.
• Translate strategic objectives into target‑state architectural principles, standards, and reference designs.
• Ensure alignment across data platforms, data products, and governance frameworks as the organization transitions from current data environments to an AI‑native architecture.
• Drive alignment and adoption of the data strategy by effectively communicating vision, value, and tradeoffs to diverse stakeholder groups.
• Serve as the most senior technical authority for enterprise data architecture in partnership with Enterprise Architecture and IT.
• Define and maintain target‑state architecture patterns for data platforms, interoperability, metadata, lineage, and master data management.
• Evaluate and guide major technology and architectural decisions to ensure long‑term scalability, security, and interoperability.
• Influence the modernization of legacy systems toward a unified, governed, cloud‑enabled data ecosystem.
• Provide technical guidance to support data governance models with ownership embedded in enterprise business domains.
• Define architectural and technical standards for data quality, metadata, lineage, access, consent, and privacy.
• Ensure governance approaches support regulatory compliance, donor and patient trust, and responsible use of data and AI/ML.
• Guide architectural approaches that enable analytics, data engineering, and AI/ML capabilities across domain and product teams.
• Define technical standards and enablement approaches for data products, shared analytics tooling, platform services, and MLOps.
• Ensure AI/ML solutions are explainable, governed, monitored, and aligned with ethical, clinical, and regulatory expectations.
• Function as a technical bridge between clinical, research, operational, and technology teams.
• Partner with product, platform, and domain leaders to ensure architectural alignment without direct delivery responsibility.
• Communicate complex data and architecture concepts clearly to technical and non‑technical stakeholders, including senior leaders.
• Advise leadership on emerging data, analytics, and AI architectural trends relevant to NMDP’s mission.
• Support executive‑led evaluation of external data partnerships and research collaborations as requested.
• Champion ethical, transparent, and equitable use of data across the organization.
• Other duties as assigned.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior