Data Architect
NO C2C OR THIRD PARTIES- CANNOT WORK WITH SPONSORED CANDIDATES OR FUTURE SPONSORED CANDIDATESPreferred Charlotte based OR REMOTE EST/CST candidates - but Charlotte will be prioritized!W-2 OnlyAbout the RoleThe Lead AWS Data Engineer/Data Architect will drive the design, architecture, and implementation of enterprise data engineering solutions across the AWS ecosystem. This role combines hands-on technical leadership with architectural ownership, partnering closely with data architects, data scientists, product owners, and business stakeholders to build scalable, secure, and reliable data platforms.The Lead AWS Data Engineer/Data Architect will also mentor engineers, set engineering standards, and help shape the organization's data modernization and AI-readiness roadmap.Key ResponsibilitiesLead the design, architecture, and implementation of enterprise data engineering solutions across the AWS ecosystemCollaborate with Lead Developers, Data Scientists, Architects, Product Owners, and business stakeholders to define technical strategy and scalable solutionsProvide technical leadership and mentorship to Data Engineers and development teams, promoting engineering excellence and best practicesDrive key architectural decisions in partnership with Data Architects and Solution Architects to ensure scalability, security, reliability, and maintainabilityDesign and oversee data warehouse and data lake solutions that balance business usability, performance, and long-term sustainabilityEstablish engineering standards for data modeling, ETL frameworks, pipeline reliability, monitoring, and operational excellenceLead end-to-end solution delivery, ensuring alignment with business requirements, enterprise architecture standards, and regulatory requirementsOversee production support and operational management of AWS-based data platforms, driving root-cause analysis and performance optimizationChampion data quality, governance, observability, and data stewardship practices across platforms and teamsIdentify opportunities to modernize data architecture and improve operational efficiency through automation and cloud-native technologiesRequired Qualifications8+ years of experience in Data Engineering, including 5+ years working extensively within AWS ecosystemsExpert-level experience with AWS services including S3, EMR, Glue Jobs, Lambda, Athena, CloudTrail, SNS, SQS, CloudWatch, and Step FunctionsStrong experience designing and implementing enterprise-scale data lake and data warehouse solutions using Lake Formation, Amazon Redshift, and Amazon AthenaExtensive experience with Kafka-based streaming architectures, preferably Confluent KafkaAdvanced SQL and data modeling expertise, including dimensional modeling, data vault, and large-scale data warehousingDeep experience designing, developing, and optimizing scalable, resilient data pipelines within AWS environmentsStrong understanding of distributed data processing frameworks, particularly PySpark and EMRAdvanced Python development skills with extensive hands-on experience using PySparkExpertise in Infrastructure as Code using TerraformExperience designing and implementing CI/CD frameworks using GitHub and GitHub ActionsDeep knowledge of AWS IAM roles, policies, governance, and security best practicesStrong experience with workflow orchestration tools such as AWS Step Functions, Apache Airflow, or equivalentExperience leading cloud migration, modernization, and enterprise data platform initiativesStrong understanding of data governance, metadata management, data quality frameworks, and observability principlesExperience building AI-ready data pipelines and ML workflows, including feature engineering and MLOpsKnowledge of LLMs, RAG, and vector databases to support AI-powered applications and intelligent searchPreferred QualificationsAWS Certified Data Engineer, AWS Solutions Architect, or equivalent cloud certificationExperience implementing enterprise data governance and metadata management platformsExperience with real-time analytics, event-driven architectures, and streaming data platformsKnowledge of modern data architecture patterns including Data Mesh, Lakehouse, and domain-oriented designExperience leading large-scale cloud transformation or enterprise data modernization programsExperience creating AI applications with AWS Bedrock