Data Architect

Competition 2117

This position is a part of the Association of the Academic Staff of the University of Alberta (AASUA).

In accordance with the Administrative and Professional Officer Agreement, this full-time continuing position has a comprehensive benefits package and an annual salary range of $76,395 to $127,323.

Location - This role is in person. Work primarily takes place at North Campus Edmonton.

Working at the University of Alberta

The University of Alberta acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, and respects the histories, languages and cultures of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and all FirstPeoples of Canada, whose presence continues to enrich our vibrant community.

The University of Alberta is a community of knowledge seekers, change makers and world shapers who lead with purpose each and every day. We are home to over 14,000 faculty and staff, more than 40,000 students and a growing community of 300,000 alumni worldwide.

Your work will have a meaningful influence on a fascinating cross-section of people — from our students and community members, to our renowned researchers and innovators, making discoveries and generating solutions that make the world healthier, safer, stronger and more just. Learn more.

Working for the Information Services & Technology (IST)

Information Services & Technology (IST) is the central support group for the university's technological landscape. IST plays a pivotal role in ensuring the evolution and smooth operation of technology for teaching, learning, research and working at the University of Alberta. Beyond having expansive technical expertise, IST fosters a supportive environment where our staff values include compassion, connection, collaboration, creativity and courage. If you are passionate about leveraging technology to empower education, and research and to drive institutional excellence, join us and be part of shaping the future of the University of Alberta through innovative IT solutions.

Position Summary 

Reporting to the Chief Enterprise Architect, the Data Architect is an IST resource that is responsible for designing, creating, managing an organization’s data architecture, and may have staff management responsibilities. This role is critical in establishing a solid foundation for data management within an organization, ensuring that data is organized, accessible, secure, and aligned with business objectives and organization standards. The data architect designs holistically the data structures, their entities, their attributes, and their relations to one another, and defines how data will be collected and organized in repositories, databases, applications and file systems. To perform this role, the Data Architect needs to have skills such as analytical thinking, design thinking, systems thinking, problem-solving, communication, collaboration, and data design expertise.

Duties 

• Interpret Business Needs
  • Contributes to strategic plans improving data integration, data quality, and data delivery in support of business initiatives and roadmaps
  • Works closely with IST and university leadership to ensure a robust resilient data ecosystem that can adapt and support future business requirements o Understands business drivers and business capabilities (future and current state) and determines corresponding data standards or needs required to achieve the organization's targeted business outcomes
  • Translates high-level business requirements into data models and appropriate metadata, test data, and data quality standards
• Design Data Technology
  • Defines, designs, and guides the long-term technology strategy and innovations roadmaps across analytics, data engineering, and data platforms
  • Designs and implements processes for the ETL process from various sources into the organization’s data systems
  • Simplifies the existing data architecture, delivering reusable services and cost-saving opportunities in line with the policies and standards of the university
  • Evaluates and recommends emerging technologies for data management, storage, and analytics
  • Designs the structure and layout of data systems, including databases, warehouses, and lakes
• Assesses Technology 
  • Monitors the current-state data management portfolio to identify deficiencies through the aging of the technologies used by the application, or misalignment with business requirements
  • Understands emerging technology trends and disruptions and their practical application to enable new and evolving business and operating models
  • Analyzes the business-IT environment to detect critical deficiencies, legacy and technical debt, and also recommend opportunities for improvement
• Design Solutions
  • Works with the university community and IST teams, business analysts, and data analytics teams to understand data consumers’ needs and develop data solutions targeted on the 5 C’s of data and data availability
• Architectural Governance
  • Participates in the peer review and quality assurance of project architectural artifacts across the EA group through governance forums
  • Defines and manages standards, guidelines, and processes to ensure data quality

Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree in an area of study related to information and data management
• A minimum of four years of working experience with at least four in the data design, architecture, and management domains.
• Good understanding of strategic and emerging technology trends specific to data management, and the practical application of existing and emerging technologies to new and evolving business and operating needs
• Experience leading projects involving data warehousing, data modelling, and data analysis
• Experience in Azure Databricks, PySpark, and Power BI/Tableau
• Deep experience with database technologies such as SQL, NoSQL, Oracle, Hadoop, or Teradata
• Expertise in entity-relationship modelling, metadata systems, and data quality tools and techniques
• Experience in design lead structuring of information assets such as productivity files, knowledge articles, and web assets