General position summary:

The Data Governance & AI Readiness Architect serves as Suddath’s enterprise subject matter expert and functional leader for data services, governance execution, data quality, reporting, analytics, and AI-ready data operations within the Innovation team. This role leads the Enterprise Data team while advising business and corporate services stakeholders on enterprise data standards, trusted data assets, and the data readiness required to support analytics, automation, machine learning, and responsible AI.

The role leads Suddath’s evolution toward a more governed, business-aligned, Microsoft Fabric-enabled, and AI-ready operating model. The position balances the reliability of current data services with modernization of data platforms, semantic models, governance practices, and business-facing data products.

This leader is responsible for advancing Microsoft Fabric capabilities, optimizing DataOps through AI and automation, and managing relationships with Suddath’s businesses and corporate services, Microsoft and Microsoft partners, systems integrators, and specialist data and AI firms. The position translates enterprise data strategy into team objectives, delivery commitments, operational standards, measurable outcomes, and sustainable internal capabilities.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Data Governance and Stewardship
  Establish and operationalize enterprise standards for data ownership, stewardship, quality, metadata, lineage, access, and master and reference data. Sustain a cross-business data owner and steward model with clear decision rights, operating cadences, and accountability for remediation. Lead governance forums and report on priorities, risks, and decisions, partnering with cybersecurity, privacy, legal, and business leaders to mitigate data risk.
• Data Readiness for AI
  Define and enforce the readiness criteria that make enterprise data usable for analytics, automation, machine learning, Fabric Data Agents, and responsible AI, including structure, semantics, documentation, and approved-use guardrails developed with cybersecurity, privacy, and legal.
• Microsoft Fabric Modernization
  Guide the implementation, adoption, and governance of Microsoft Fabric, including data engineering patterns, workspaces, pipelines, semantic models, deployment practices, capacity management, and cost optimization.
• DataOps Optimization Through AI and Automation
  Apply AI and automation across data operations to advance pipeline monitoring, anomaly detection, testing, documentation, root-cause analysis, predictive issue identification, and controlled remediation while maintaining appropriate human oversight.
• Enterprise Delivery, Partnerships, and Team Performance
  Manage the Enterprise Data team, service priorities, major data-readiness and migration initiatives, and budgets. Own engagements with Microsoft, Microsoft solution partners, and systems integrators end to end, holding them accountable for deliverables, knowledge transfer, budget, and performance, and converting their work into durable internal capability.  

Job Skills:

• Bachelor’s Degree (ideally in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Management, or related field)
• 6+ years of data experience, including 2+ years in a leadership role
• Strong expertise in data governance, quality, metadata, stewardship, architecture, and AI readiness
• Experience with Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Azure data platforms, and modern DataOps practices
• Experience using AI and automation to improve data quality, monitoring, reliability, and operational efficiency
• Experience managing Microsoft partners, system integrators, vendors, and internal stakeholders
• Experience leading data work through Kanban or Agile practices
• Strong communication, prioritization, team leadership, business partnership, and project management skills

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree (ideally in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Management, or related field)
• 6+ years of data experience, including 2+ years in a leadership role
• Strong expertise in data governance, quality, metadata, stewardship, architecture, and AI readiness
• Experience with Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Azure data platforms, and modern DataOps practices
• Experience using AI and automation to improve data quality, monitoring, reliability, and operational efficiency
• Experience managing Microsoft partners, system integrators, vendors, and internal stakeholders
• Experience leading data work through Kanban or Agile practices
• Strong communication, prioritization, team leadership, business partnership, and project management skills

Language Skills:

• Ability to read and interpret policies, standards, technical documentation, statements of work, architecture materials, and procedure manuals.
• Ability to write standards, roadmaps, service updates, executive communications, operating procedures, and partner deliverables.
• Ability to speak effectively with team members, business partners, technical specialists, external partners, and senior leadership.

Mathematical Skills:

• Ability to apply quantitative reasoning to data quality, reliability, capacity, cost, service performance, prioritization, and operational outcomes.
• Ability to interpret trends, performance indicators, workload metrics, quality measures, and value signals to guide decisions.

Reasoning Ability:

• Ability to solve complex enterprise data problems involving governance, quality, architecture, AI-enabled operations, prioritization, risk, and service-delivery tradeoffs.
• Ability to assess partner recommendations and technical alternatives using business value, reliability, security, governance, cost, supportability, and strategic fit.
• Ability to interpret instructions provided in written, oral, diagram, architecture, workflow, or schedule form.

Computer Operations:

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have strong working knowledge of enterprise data and reporting platforms, including Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL, SSIS, SSRS, SSAS, Azure Data Gateway, Azure DevOps, source control, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Visio, along with the ability to learn and effectively use technologies supporting data engineering, analytics, governance, AI-enabled DataOps, observability, automation, and service management.

Planning/Organization:

• Ability to prioritize and re-prioritize as enterprise needs, stakeholder demand, platform dependencies, incidents, partner commitments, and service expectations evolve.
• Ability to manage team workload, modernization roadmaps, deadlines, budgets, partner deliverables, and service commitments while balancing governance, quality, reliability, and business value.

Certificates/Licenses/Registrations:

• None required; the following are preferred and strengthen candidacy:
• Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate
• Microsoft Azure data-platform certification
• CDMP or another DAMA-aligned data management or governance credential
• PMP, ITIL, or comparable delivery and service-management certification

Travel:

• Less than 10% travel is required.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Direct supervisory responsibility for the Enterprise Data team, including performance management, hiring, coaching, talent development, succession planning, and workload prioritization.
• Typically manages 3-5 direct reports across data engineering and analysis roles including contractors.

Other Duties & Responsibilities:

• Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Working Conditions:

• Three days per week on site
• Additional on-site presence for team meetings and senior stakeholder reviews (as needed)
• Noise level in the work environment – usually low

Physical/Environmental Demands:

Activity:

• Stand - Under 1/3 Time
• Walk - Under 1/3 Time
• Sit – Over 2/3 Time
• Use hands to finger, handle, or feel - Over 2/3 Time
• Reach with hands and arms – 1/3 to 2/3 Time
• Climb or balance – None
• Stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl – Under 1/3 Time
• Talk or hear – over 1/3 to 2/3 time
• Taste or smell – None
• Other - None

Physical Activity Level:

• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel and talk or hear.
• The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms.

Manual Dexterity:

• Manual dexterity is sufficient to reach/handle items, works with the fingers, and perceives attributes of objects and materials.

Special Vision Requirements:

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and ability to adjust focus.