Data Architect

Company and Mission

Join a Saudi-based company dedicated to supporting Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 by building a reliable and respected national brand. This role focuses on delivering impactful data architecture services to government clients.

Role Overview

As a Data Architect, you will be responsible for managing the data and metadata architecture within a government entity in Riyadh. This includes end-to-end ownership of the technical solution design, infrastructure and capacity planning for on-premises deployment, creation of a target metadata architecture and model, as well as designing data entity relationships and lineage across various internal systems.

Key Duties

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive technical solution document in collaboration with client IT and cybersecurity teams, outlining architectural components and their integration with data sources adhering to industry standards.
• Conduct detailed analysis and estimation of computing and storage requirements, including servers, processors, memory, and storage capacity, anticipating growth over the project timeline. Recommend compatible hardware aligned with the client's private cloud infrastructure running Cisco UCS and NetApp storage.
• Inventory necessary licenses and provide expert guidance on scalability, sustainability, and operational efficiency for the solution within the client environment.
• Design and document a metadata management architecture and framework following best practices, including development of the target metadata structure, centralized repository, flow mechanisms, and models defining data assets, ownership, usage, and relationships.
• Generate entity relationship diagrams that visualize how data entities interact across client systems, design metadata flows and data lineage linking back to source systems and incorporating these into the data governance framework.
• Review and analyze the current data and metadata architecture, then design and document a future state architecture aligned with client requirements and national data management standards.
• Provide ongoing technical advice and knowledge transfer to client teams including data management, quality, and governance specialists to ensure sustainable in-house maintenance post-engagement.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Saudi nationals preferred with valid residency permitting full-time onsite work in the Kingdom.
• Fluency in both Arabic and English, as deliverables will be produced bilingually.
• Commitment to full-time onsite presence in Riyadh, Sunday to Thursday, for the initial three months followed by availability on-call for the program duration; remote work is not an option.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in data architecture with a proven track record of delivering at least five data architecture projects, each identifiable and verifiable by CV.
• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology or a closely related field.
• Preferably holds a recognized professional certification in data management such as the DAMA Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP), with certification number available for validation.
• Hands-on experience with enterprise data management and governance platforms, with a strong preference for Informatica products (Axon, Enterprise Data Catalog, Data Quality).
• Strong expertise in data structure design, technical architecture development, metadata modeling, data lineage documentation, entity relationship modeling, and capacity planning for on-premises solutions.
• Experience working within Saudi governmental entities and familiarity with the National Data Management Office’s standards, the National Data Index, and Personal Data Protection laws is a considerable advantage.