Data Architect

This is a non-merit, employment-at-will contract position.

At WSSC Water, we are passionate about our one water mission and devoted to delivering safe, seamless, and satisfying service to our 1.9 million customers. It takes teamwork to deliver the essential, which is why we proudly call ourselves Team H2O – working together, sharing our talents and creativity to safeguard public health and protect the environment.

The Data Architect plays a critical role in designing and implementing secure, scalable data architectures that integrate operational and enterprise data from sources such as SCADA systems, IoT devices, sensors, and business platforms. This position is responsible for developing a unified data ecosystem that enables real-time data processing, advanced analytics, and data-driven insights to support optimized operations, predictive maintenance, and informed decision-making.

The role ensures the integrity, security, and governance of data by establishing and enforcing industry-compliant standards, protecting sensitive water system information while promoting accessibility and reliability across the organization. Leveraging modern cloud technologies and data platforms, the Data Architect drives the transformation of data into a strategic asset, enhancing asset management, water quality monitoring, and overall operational performance supporting the delivery of safe, reliable, and high-quality water services.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of scalable and secure data architectures that support WSSC Water’s operational systems and data needs
• Develop and maintain data models, database schemas, and data warehouses tailored to the water and wastewater industry
• Design, integrate and optimize real-time data pipelines to support the integration of operational data from various sources (e.g., SCADA, GIS, sensors, IoT devices, field data and enterprise systems)
• Design ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes to ensure smooth, efficient data flow between operational systems and analytics platforms
• Ensure data consistency, quality, and availability across different platforms, supporting both historical and real-time analytics
• Develop hybrid cloud architectures to leverage cloud computing platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI) while maintaining necessary on-premises solutions
• Ensure seamless integration between on-premises and cloud data environments for scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness
• Lead cloud migration initiatives, ensuring that legacy systems are efficiently transitioned to modern cloud-based infrastructure
• Design robust security practices, including data encryption, access controls, and data masking protocols, to protect sensitive water and wastewater data, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements
• Collaborate with IT security teams to establish data governance frameworks, risk mitigation strategies, and incident response plans
• Establish and enforce data governance policies and practices to ensure data accuracy, consistency, and reliability across all systems
• Develop frameworks for data lineage, metadata management, and data cataloging to improve data traceability and transparency
• Lead initiatives to improve data quality by identifying issues and implementing solutions for cleansing, standardization, and validation
• Design data architecture to support advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI workloads for predictive modeling, asset management, and operational optimization
• Ensure that data infrastructure supports real-time analytics for enhanced decision-making and monitoring of water quality, usage patterns, and infrastructure performance
• Work closely with data science teams to provide the necessary data structures and processes to enable data-driven insights
• Document data architecture designs, processes, and systems to ensure transparency, maintainability, data usage, integration procedures, and security protocols to enable team collaboration and compliance
• Conduct training and knowledge-sharing sessions for internal teams to improve understanding of data systems and best practice

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• 8 years experience as a Data Architect or in a similar data-related role, with a focus on designing and implementing large-scale data systems
• 3 years experience working with cloud data management platforms such as Azure Synapse Analytics and Azure Databricks

• Experience with big data technologies such as Apache Spark, Hadoop, or equivalent, and cloud data storage solutions (e.g., Azure Data Lake Storage)
• Proficiency in SQL, Python, or Scala for data processing and transformation
• Knowledge of data modeling and data warehousing concepts for designing scalable data architectures
• Knowledge of data governance principles, such as metadata management, data lineage, data cataloging, and data quality standards
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, with the ability to optimize data systems and resolve technical challenges related to performance, security, and scalability
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
• Strong collaboration skills to work with cross-functional teams and lead data-related projects

OR

• High school diploma or equivalent
• 12 years experience as a Data Architect or in a similar data-related role, with a focus on designing and implementing large-scale data systems
• 3 years experience working with cloud data management platforms such as Azure Synapse Analytics and Azure Databricks

• Experience with big data technologies such as Apache Spark, Hadoop, or equivalent, and cloud data storage solutions (e.g., Azure Data Lake Storage)
• Proficiency in SQL, Python, or Scala for data processing and transformation
• Knowledge of data modeling and data warehousing concepts for designing scalable data architects
• Knowledge of data governance principles, such as metadata management, data lineage, data cataloging, and data quality standards
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, with the ability to optimize data systems and resolve technical challenges related to performance, security, and scalability
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
• Strong collaboration skills to work with cross-functional teams and lead data-related projects

Preferences

• Active professional level solution/cloud/data architecture certification(s)
• Project Management certifications or recognized trainings