Architecture Specialist

We are looking for a highly skilled and experienced Data Architect to join our team. With at least 15 years of experience in Data engineering and Analytics, the ideal candidate will have a proven track record of designing and implementing complex data solutions. As a senior principal data architect, you will play a key role in designing, creating, deploying, and managing Blackbaud's data architecture. This position holds significant technical influence within the Data Platform, Data Engineering teams, and the Data Intelligence Center of Excellence at Blackbaud. You will act as an evangelist for proper data strategy across various teams within Blackbaud, and provide technical guidance, particularly in the area of data, for other projects. Responsibilities: - Develop and direct the strategy for all aspects of Blackbaud's Data and Analytics platforms, products, and services. - Set, communicate, and facilitate technical direction for the AI Center of Excellence and beyond collaboratively. - Design and develop innovative products, services, or technological advancements in the Data Intelligence space to drive business expansion. - Collaborate with product management to create technical solutions that address customer business challenges. - Take ownership of technical data governance practices to ensure data sovereignty, privacy, security, and regulatory compliance. - Challenge existing practices and drive innovation in the data space. - Create a data access strategy to securely democratize data and support research, modeling, machine learning, and artificial intelligence initiatives. - Contribute to defining tools and pipeline patterns used by engineers and data engineers for data transformation and analytics support. - Work within a cross-functional team to translate business requirements into data architecture solutions. - Ensure that data solutions prioritize performance, scalability, and reliability. - Mentor junior data architects and team members. - Stay updated on technology trends such as distributed computing, big data concepts, and architecture. - Advocate internally for the transformative power of data at Blackbaud. Required Qualifications: - 15+ years of experience in data and advanced analytics. - Minimum of 8 years of experience with data technologies in Azure/AWS. - Proficiency in SQL and Python. - Expertise in SQL Server, Azure Data Services, and other Microsoft data technologies. - Familiarity with Databricks, Microsoft Fabric. - Strong grasp of data modeling, data warehousing, data lakes, data mesh, and data products. - Experience with machine learning. - Excellent communication and leadership abilities. Preferred Qualifications: - Experience with .Net/Java and Microservice Architecture.,