Senior Data Architect

About the role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Data Architect to lead the design, governance, and evolution of enterprise data capabilities. This role will define scalable data frameworks that support analytics, reporting, and data-driven decision-making across the organization. The ideal candidate has deep expertise in data architecture, data modeling, data governance, data warehousing, data lake strategies, and semantic layer design. Success in this role requires strong architectural leadership, strategic thinking, and the ability to align data initiatives with business objectives. This position focuses on enterprise architecture principles, governance practices, and semantic modeling rather than specific technologies or platforms.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain enterprise data architecture standards, frameworks, and best practices.
• Design scalable data solutions that support reporting, analytics, and business operations.
• Promote data quality, consistency, governance, and long-term sustainability across systems.
• Align data architecture with business objectives and organizational needs.
• Lead the development of enterprise data models, metadata standards, and governance practices.
• Establish processes for data quality, lineage, stewardship, privacy, and lifecycle management.
• Partner with business and technical teams to improve data accessibility, trust, and usability.
• Support the adoption of consistent business definitions and reporting standards.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on data architecture and governance initiatives.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to technical teams and stakeholders.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration on data-related priorities and standards.
• Communicate architectural recommendations and strategic direction to leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Systems, Data Management, Engineering, or a related field; equivalent practical experience may be considered.
• 7+ years of demonstrated experience leading enterprise data architecture and governance initiatives.
• Extensive experience designing and implementing enterprise data warehouses, data lakes, analytical platforms, enterprise data models, semantic layers, and data governance programs.
• Proven expertise in conceptual, logical, and physical data modeling.
• Strong understanding of metadata management, data lineage, master data management, data quality, cataloging, stewardship, and lifecycle management disciplines.
• Experience defining enterprise-wide data standards, policies, governance operating models, and reusable architecture patterns.
• Demonstrated ability to align technical architecture with business strategy, measurable outcomes, and organizational adoption.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, facilitation, and leadership skills.

Preferred experience

• Experience leading enterprise data governance transformations or establishing governance programs from the ground up.
• Experience designing and implementing knowledge graphs, ontologies, semantic networks, business glossaries, or enterprise information models.
• Familiarity with semantic technologies and concepts such as RDF, OWL, graph-based modeling, ontology management, and entity relationship modeling.
• Experience building semantic foundations that support AI initiatives, agentic systems, autonomous workflows, intelligent business automation, retrieval-augmented systems, and governed AI consumption.
• Understanding of how semantic models and knowledge representations influence AI accuracy, explainability, lineage, governance, and trust.
• Experience supporting enterprise AI, machine learning, or generative AI initiatives from a data architecture perspective.
• Familiarity with modern cloud-based data ecosystems and data platform modernization efforts.
• Experience working within regulated, compliance-sensitive, or governance-minded environments where data trust, privacy, and lineage are critical.

Pay

Hourly Rate: $75-$80 DOE

Benefits

Versique offers comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, accident/critical illness insurance, MN ESST, MN PFML, and a 401(k) with a company match.

Schedule

Hybrid – Bloomington, MN