SENIOR DATA ARCHITECT (AZURE / DATABRICKS) - BANKING

Location: Remote within Canada — must be based in British Columbia or Ontario
Hours: Collaborate on PST core hours (flexible outside of that)
Employment Type: Full-time, Permanent
Compensation: $81,200 – $122,000 base + comprehensive benefits. Top-end stretch possible for exceptional senior fit aligned to scope and market.
The Opportunity
Our client (confidential) is undertaking a major on-prem → Azure cloud transformation impacting core banking, payments, data integration, and digital channels. We’re hiring a hands-on Senior Data Architect to lead enterprise data architecture and governance on Azure + Databricks, with emphasis on data modeling from scratch, Unity Catalog, Purview, CI/CD, and secure-by-design frameworks. Financial services (FI) experience is strongly preferred.
You’ll collaborate across engineering, security/compliance, BI/analytics, product, and enterprise architecture teams to design scalable lakehouse architectures, enforce governance, and deliver trusted data products that inform executive and operational decision-making.

What You’ll Do

• Lead cloud data architecture: Design secure, scalable lakehouse solutions leveraging Azure Databricks (Spark, PySpark), ADLS, Unity Catalog, and Purview.
• Own enterprise data modeling: Deliver conceptual, logical, and physical models; build dimensional and medallion patterns at enterprise scale.
• Embed governance frameworks: Implement classification, lineage, masking, RBAC/ABAC using Unity Catalog + Purview; ensure compliance with PIPEDA, OSFI, FINTRAC.
• Architect pipelines & CI/CD: Build metadata-driven pipelines (batch/streaming) in Databricks; implement Azure DevOps/Git-based CI/CD for data workflows.
• Support cloud migration: Drive secure and compliant cutovers from SQL/on-prem systems to Azure Cloud; optimize performance and costs.
• Champion quality & lineage: Establish data quality checks and end-to-end lineage so data is fully trusted and traceable.
• Collaborate & mentor: Partner across engineering, BI, data science, and IT; coach junior team members on best practices in architecture and governance.
• Document & share knowledge: Produce clear diagrams, standards, and reference implementations; foster a culture of transparency and learning.

Must-Have Qualifications

• 7+ years in data architecture/engineering, including Azure ecosystems.
• Hands-on expertise with Databricks, Unity Catalog, ADLS, and Purview.
• Proven from-scratch data modeling (dimensional + relational) and medallion/lakehouse design.
• Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines for data with Azure DevOps/Git.
• Strong governance mindset for regulated data (banking/finance preferred).
• Excellent communication skills; proven stakeholder engagement.

Nice-to-Haves

• Financial services domain depth (payments, core banking, FX/wire, digital channels).
• Experience modernizing integration layers (RESTful APIs, event-driven).
• Cost/performance optimization on Databricks clusters/warehouses.
• Certifications: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure Data Engineer Associate, Databricks (Data Engineer/Architect).
• Familiarity with data mesh, Microsoft Fabric, or Snowflake governance.

Work Model

• Remote work from home — candidates must be based in British Columbia or Ontario.
• Collaboration on PST hours is required.
• Occasional on-site sessions in Western Canada may be requested with notice.

Why Join

• Direct ownership of enterprise-wide cloud data architecture during a major transformation.
• Opportunity to institutionalize governance and elevate data maturity.
• Modern stack, strong executive visibility, and mandate to mentor others.

Knock-In / Knock-Out Screening (please answer “Yes/No” + 1–2 lines of detail)

• Have you applied to this organization within the last 90 days?
• Are you based in BC or Ontario and able to work on PST hours?
• Share 3 recent Databricks projects, including Unity Catalog.
• Describe a project where you built data models from scratch (conceptual → physical).
• Have you implemented Purview lineage/classification and Unity Catalog access policies?
• Outline your Azure DevOps/Git CI/CD process for data.
• Do you have financial services or regulated data experience?
• Are you within the $81k–$122k salary range (or open to discussion)?

• Lead cloud data architecture: Design secure, scalable lakehouse solutions leveraging Azure Databricks (Spark, PySpark), ADLS, Unity Catalog, and Purview.
• Own enterprise data modeling: Deliver conceptual, logical, and physical models; build dimensional and medallion patterns at enterprise scale.
• Embed governance frameworks: Implement classification, lineage, masking, RBAC/ABAC using Unity Catalog + Purview; ensure compliance with PIPEDA, OSFI, FINTRAC.
• Architect pipelines & CI/CD: Build metadata-driven pipelines (batch/streaming) in Databricks; implement Azure DevOps/Git-based CI/CD for data workflows.
• Support cloud migration: Drive secure and compliant cutovers from SQL/on-prem systems to Azure Cloud; optimize performance and costs.
• Champion quality & lineage: Establish data quality checks and end-to-end lineage so data is fully trusted and traceable.
• Collaborate & mentor: Partner across engineering, BI, data science, and IT; coach junior team members on best practices in architecture and governance.
• Document & share knowledge: Produce clear diagrams, standards, and reference implementations; foster a culture of transparency and learning