Data Architect

Location: Glen Allen, VA

Job Type: Full-Time

Target Salary Range*: $100,000 - $155,000.

This represents the potential salary range for this position depending on education level, years of experience and/or certifications in addition to other position specific requirements which may impact salary

Position Overview

The Lead Data Architect provides strategic and hands-on leadership across divisional data initiatives, guiding delivery teams in building scalable data solutions within a modern cloud-based data ecosystem. This role balances high-level architecture with practical execution, ensuring data solutions align with business needs, performance requirements, and long-term architecture goals.

Key Responsibilities

Data Architecture Leadership

Provide architectural guidance to two or three concurrent data delivery teams, typically consisting of 4–5 engineers per team, across data initiatives.

Design and evolve data architecture across a Databricks-first lakehouse within a broader Azure ecosystem.

Understand both target-state architecture and appropriate technical trade-offs.

Lead without direct reporting authority by influencing teams through expertise and collaboration.

Solution Design and Delivery Support

Partner with engineering teams to support detailed solution design and implementation through design reviews, guidance, and targeted hands-on contribution where needed.

Specify data solutions that meet non-functional requirements, including scalability, performance, and reliability.

Assess technical challenges and problems, provide options, and make recommendations.

Perform technology evaluations in support of delivery teams, providing appropriate recommendations and reasoning.

Data Integration and Implementation Guidance

Guide ingestion and integration strategies, including API-based data exchange.

Support data initiatives involving structured and unstructured data.

Apply knowledge of relational and non-relational solutions to data architecture decisions.

Role Expectations

With support from the team, ramp to a high degree of independence within the first six months.

Know when to make independent decisions and when to circle back to the broader team with appropriate questions.

Work within a new domain by identifying gaps in knowledge and actively seeking answers.

Qualifications

Experience

7–10 years of progressive experience in data engineering, pipeline development, and data architecture roles developing data lakes and data warehouses.

Background progressing from developer through at least team lead.

Strong experience designing and working with the full lifecycle of data-centric architectures.

Hands-on experience with cloud development in Databricks.

Experience with structured and unstructured data, such as JSON, files, and media.

Understanding of relational and non-relational solutions.

Understanding of APIs and data integration patterns.

Skills

Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Strong stakeholder influence skills.

Ability to make independent decisions when appropriate.

Ability to identify knowledge gaps and actively seek answers when working within a new domain.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with Guidewire InsuranceSuite data.

Azure Solutions Architect certification.

Experience working in Property and Casualty insurance data domains.

Understanding of London and international markets.