The Azure Data Architect will be responsible for leading the design, development, and optimization of Sodexo's data architecture across key platforms, including the API Hub, Azure Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS), Databricks, and the Analytics Hub. This role is central to ensuring seamless data integration, scalability, and efficiency of our data infrastructure to support business intelligence, analytics, and real-time decision-making. The architect will collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver a robust, secure, and scalable data ecosystem aligned with the organization's strategic objectives.
Key Responsibilities:
Architecture Design & Strategy:
- Design and implement scalable data architecture solutions on Azure, incorporating API Hub, Azure iPaaS, Databricks, and Analytics Hub.
- Develop and maintain a comprehensive data integration strategy that ensures seamless connectivity between diverse data sources and business applications.
- Lead the architecture of API management solutions, ensuring security, scalability, and high availability.
Data Governance & Security:
- Establish and enforce data governance frameworks, ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations and organizational standards.
- Ensure robust data security and access management protocols are in place across all Azure services, including encryption, identity, and access controls.
Collaboration & Leadership:
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including data engineers, developers, analysts, and business stakeholders, to gather requirements and deliver end-to-end data solutions.
- Provide technical leadership and guidance to the data engineering teams to build efficient ETL/ELT pipelines, API integrations, and analytics platforms.
API & Integration Management:
- Oversee the development and maintenance of APIs and integrations within the API Hub and Azure iPaaS to ensure data consistency and real-time access across systems.
- Manage and optimize API lifecycle management, including versioning, monitoring, and performance tuning.
Performance Optimization & Innovation:
- Continuously monitor and optimize the performance of data pipelines and cloud infrastructure, ensuring high availability, low latency, and cost-efficiency.
- Stay updated on the latest Azure tools, features, and best practices, incorporating them into the architecture to drive innovation and improve business outcomes.
Documentation & Best Practices:
- Create and maintain comprehensive documentation of architecture designs, data flow diagrams, and API specifications.
- Define and promote best practices for data management, data integration, and API development across the organization.
Project Management & Delivery:
- Lead the delivery of critical data projects, ensuring they meet timelines, budget constraints, and quality standards.
- Manage stakeholder expectations and provide regular updates on project progress, risks, and mitigation strategies.
Required Skills:
- 15 to 18 years of professional experience in data architecture, data engineering, with a strong focus on Azure services.
- Proven experience in designing and implementing scalable cloud-based architectures using Azure components such as Azure Data Lake, Azure Databricks, Azure Synapse, and Azure iPaaS.
- In-depth experience with API management and API integration strategies, specifically with Azure API Management and other integration services.
- Strong background in data governance, security, and compliance frameworks, with knowledge of regulatory requirements like GDPR or HIPAA.
- Demonstrated leadership experience in overseeing complex data projects and managing cross-functional teams, with a focus on data integration, analytics, and performance optimization.
- Experience with Databricks for big data processing, machine learning pipelines, and advanced analytics is a must.
- Familiarity with Azure DevOps and CI/CD pipelines for deploying and managing cloud resources and APIs.
- Strong understanding of data modeling, ETL processes, and modern data architecture principles (e.g., Data Lakes, Data Warehouses, and Data Hubs).
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field. A Master's degree in a relevant discipline is a plus.
- Relevant certifications such as Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate, or similar cloud architecture certifications are highly desirable.
