Senior Data Architect

Senior Data Architect – Cloud Data Architecture & Governance 📍 Hybrid in Warsaw (3 days/week onsite required) 💼 Full-time | B2B contract up to $8,000/month About the Role Our client is a US-based leader in AI-powered enterprise operations, delivering digital solutions and consulting services that transform high-growth businesses and private equity-backed platforms. With over a decade of deep domain expertise in private capital markets, the company operates an integrated ecosystem spanning PaaS, SaaS, and a Solutions & Consulting Suite. We are seeking a Senior Data Architect to join the company's growing Warsaw engineering centre. In this role you will own enterprise data architecture from strategy through execution — designing cloud-native data platforms, establishing governance standards, and enabling AI/ML-ready data infrastructure that powers business intelligence across the portfolio. This is a hybrid position — you will be expected to work from the Warsaw office at least 3 days per week. Key Responsibilities • Design, develop, and maintain enterprise data architecture strategies, standards, and blueprints supporting operational, analytical, and AI/ML workloads • Architect cloud-native data solutions on AWS (Redshift, RDS, Glue, Lake Formation) or equivalent platforms, ensuring scalability, security, and cost efficiency • Define and enforce data modeling standards: dimensional modeling, denormalized schemas, OLTP/OLAP design patterns, and AI-friendly ontologies • Architect and oversee data transformation layers using DBT, delivering modular, tested, and well-documented models across the analytics stack • Lead design of data integration and orchestration patterns with Prefect and Airflow — batch ETL, real-time streaming, event-driven, and API-based data exchange • Define and implement data validation, quality control, and automated testing frameworks across pipelines and warehouses • Establish data quality SLAs, monitoring, and alerting standards; design automated reconciliation processes to catch issues before downstream impact • Build and maintain data governance frameworks: data quality, lineage, cataloging, classification, and access control • Collaborate with Data Engineers, Software Engineers, Product, and Analytics teams to translate business requirements into scalable designs • Evaluate and recommend data technologies and tools; own technical decision-making for data infrastructure within assigned domains • Design data partitioning, indexing, and optimization strategies for high-performance queries and big data workloads • Ensure architectures support AI/ML consumption — feature stores, embedding pipelines, and model training datasets • Perform architecture and code reviews to uphold data standards, optimal execution patterns, and long-term maintainability • Mentor data engineers on best practices in modeling, architecture patterns, and cloud data design • Assist with CI/CD processes and automated release management for data infrastructure deployments Key Requirements • 7+ years of experience in data architecture, data engineering, or related technical roles • 5+ years designing and implementing cloud-based data architectures (AWS, GCP, or Azure) • 5+ years writing complex SQL queries across RDBMSes • 5+ years developing and deploying ETL/ELT pipelines using Airflow, Prefect, or similar tools • Strong experience with DBT for data transformation, testing, and documentation • Experience with data warehouse design: OLTP, OLAP, star schemas, snowflake schemas, dimensions, and facts • Experience with data modeling tools and methodologies (conceptual, logical, physical models) • Hands-on experience with cloud-based data warehouses such as Redshift, Snowflake, or BigQuery • Experience implementing data validation frameworks, quality control processes, and automated testing for data pipelines • Familiarity with how data architectures serve AI/ML workloads, including feature stores and vector-based retrieval patterns • Strong understanding of data governance, data quality frameworks, and metadata management • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent — preferred Nice to Have Python / Pandas / PySpark · Docker · Kubernetes · CI/CD Automation · AWS Lambdas / Step Functions · Data Partitioning · Databricks · Vector Databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, pgvector) · Data Mesh / Data Fabric · Graph Databases / Knowledge Graph Design · Cloud Certifications What's Offered • B2B contract with monthly compensation up to $8,000 • Strategic, high-ownership role in a fast-growing global fintech • Direct influence over data infrastructure decisions and team direction • Mentorship opportunities and clear career progression • Collaborative, open, and ambitious team culture • Hybrid model — minimum 3 days/week in the Warsaw office