Principal Data & AI Solutions Architect

Title: Principal Data & AI Solutions Architect

Location: West Sacramento, CA (Hybrid)

Duration: Long-term contract

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Principal Data & AI Solutions Architect to lead the design, development, and modernisation of enterprise data platforms, business intelligence solutions, and AI-enabled analytics ecosystems. This role will be responsible for defining enterprise architecture strategies, designing scalable cloud-based data solutions, integrating Generative AI capabilities into business intelligence platforms, and ensuring secure, high-performing data architectures that support organisational decision-making.

The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in enterprise data warehousing, cloud architecture, advanced analytics, data integration, and AI-driven solutions, and provide technical leadership across cross-functional teams.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Architecture & Data Strategy

• Define and maintain enterprise architecture standards, frameworks, and best practices for data warehouse, analytics, and AI platforms.
• Design scalable, secure, and high-performing enterprise data architectures supporting business intelligence and advanced analytics initiatives.
• Develop conceptual, logical, and physical data models aligned with organisational objectives.
• Lead architecture reviews and provide strategic recommendations for technology investments and modernisation efforts.

Generative AI & Advanced Analytics

• Design and implement architectures that integrate Generative AI capabilities into enterprise Business Intelligence (BI) and Data Warehouse platforms.
• Evaluate and recommend AI/ML technologies, frameworks, and governance practices.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to identify AI-driven opportunities for data analysis, reporting, automation, and decision support.
• Establish architectural patterns for AI-enabled analytics and data-driven innovation.

Cloud Architecture & Platform Engineering

• Architect and deploy enterprise data solutions on cloud platforms, including AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
• Design cloud-native data ecosystems utilising Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as Terraform.
• Ensure solutions meet scalability, availability, security, and performance requirements.
• Lead cloud migration and modernisation initiatives for legacy data platforms.

Integration & Data Engineering

• Design secure and scalable integration architectures utilising APIs, microservices, event-driven frameworks, and data integration technologies.
• Establish enterprise integration standards to facilitate interoperability across systems and applications.
• Oversee data ingestion, transformation, and orchestration processes supporting enterprise analytics initiatives.

Leadership & Governance

• Lead and mentor cross-functional teams consisting of architects, engineers, developers, and analysts.
• Provide technical leadership, architecture governance, and design oversight across multiple projects.
• Drive adoption of industry best practices, standards, and emerging technologies.
• Collaborate with executive leadership and stakeholders to align technical solutions with business goals.

Documentation & Standards

• Develop and maintain architecture diagrams, technical designs, implementation plans, standards, and best-practice documentation.
• Present architecture recommendations, solution designs, and technical roadmaps to executive and technical audiences.

Required Qualifications

• IT experience with expert-level knowledge of:

Enterprise Architecture

Data Warehouse Design & Implementation

Data Modelling

Advanced Analytics Platforms

• Experience designing architectures that integrate Generative AI capabilities into Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse environments.
• Cloud architecture experience with one or more cloud platforms:

AWS

Microsoft Azure

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

• Experience using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) methodologies and tools such as Terraform.
• Experience leading technical teams in enterprise environments, providing mentorship and architectural guidance.
• Experience designing and implementing:

API-driven architectures

Microservices

Event-driven systems

Enterprise data integration solutions

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on development experience using:

C#

Python

SQL

• Experience working with relational databases and advanced SQL query development.
• Experience creating enterprise-level technical documentation, including:

Architecture diagrams

Technical specifications

Design standards

Best-practice frameworks

• Experience with:

Snowflake

AWS Redshift

• Experience developing dashboards and analytics solutions using Power BI.

Desired Skills

• Enterprise Data Architecture
• Generative AI Integration
• Data Governance & Data Modeling
• Cloud Architecture (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Terraform & Infrastructure as Code
• Data Warehousing & Analytics
• Snowflake / Redshift
• Power BI
• API & Microservices Architecture
• Event-Driven Architecture
• SQL & Database Optimization
• Technical Leadership & Mentorship
• Solution Design & Enterprise Integration