We are seeking a Principal Solutions Architect to define the architecture for a governed, zero-copy, cross-cloud data platform, establishing the design standards and integration priorities that guide the engineering team. Working across Databricks, Snowflake, and adjacent cloud data sources, this leader will translate an evolving product vision into concrete design specifications and a clear path toward agent-based data consumption, while ensuring alignment with the organization's existing enterprise engineering practices. The role is accountable for owning the end-to-end solution architecture of a governed, zero-copy data platform in which data remains in place within its source systems. This position requires a senior, hands-on technical leader who can operate at the intersection of platform strategy, modern data engineering, and architectural governance - creating clarity from complexity, making sound build-versus-integrate trade-offs, and setting the technical standards that help Appnovation's clients deliver faster, safer, and more reusable data capabilities.
ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES- Solution Architecture Ownership: Own the end-to-end solution architecture for a governed, zero-copy data platform in which data remains in place within its source systems, working across Databricks, Snowflake, and adjacent cloud data sources.
- Architecture Artifacts and Standards: Produce architecture artifacts - decision records, reference architectures, and solution diagrams - establish the design standards that guide the engineering team, and provide clear build-versus-integrate recommendations.
- Catalog and Metadata Integration: Define and prioritize catalog and metadata integration patterns across cloud and lakehouse environments.
- Agent-Based Access Design: Design agent- and MCP-based access patterns that expose governed data products to enterprise AI tools and agent platforms.
- Future-State Direction: Establish future-state direction for data products, cross-source data composition, and agentic consumption, translating an evolving product vision into concrete design specifications.
- Enterprise Alignment: Ensure alignment with the organization's existing enterprise engineering practices while guiding the engineering team toward a clear path for agent-based data consumption.
QUALIFICATIONS- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, with 10+ years of technology experience, including significant experience in solution, enterprise, or data architecture.
- Senior solutions or enterprise architect with demonstrated experience designing cross-cloud and multi-cloud data architectures.
- Proven application of zero-copy, data-mesh, and data-product principles, including domain-driven design.
- Deep expertise in data governance, including attribute- and role-based access control, data sensitivity and policy classification, and geolocation-based access requirements.
- Experience defining data-contract standards (e.g., the Linux Foundation / Open Data Contract Standard) and embedding governance metadata into platform workflows.
- Strong background in identity and access management for both users and machine/agent identities (OAuth/OIDC, service accounts).
- Excellent communication, stakeholder-management, and documentation skills, with the ability to explain complex technical trade-offs to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Prior experience in a consulting or client-facing delivery environment, working across multiple concurrent initiatives and priorities.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS- Familiarity with semantic layers, ontologies, knowledge graphs, and retrieval-augmented generation or vector search for data discovery.
- Awareness of cross-cloud cost management and FinOps practices.
- Experience operating in a regulated life-sciences or comparable compliance-driven environment (GxP, GDPR/HIPAA, PII/PHI handling).
TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE- Data platforms: Databricks, Snowflake; AWS-native data a plus.
- Governance and catalog: Collibra, Unity Catalog, Horizon; Neo4j and knowledge graphs.
- AI and agents: MCP, Snowflake Cortex and Genie, vector search and embeddings.
- Formats and contracts: Apache Iceberg and open table formats, YAML-based data contracts.
- Foundations: Python; OAuth/OIDC and identity providers; infrastructure-as-code (Terraform).
LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES- Architectural Strategy and Judgment: Connects business priorities, enterprise architecture standards, and emerging technology into a practical target architecture that guides design and investment.
- Influence and Partnership: Communicates clearly with engineering teams and senior stakeholders, frames build-versus-integrate trade-offs, builds alignment, and drives decisions without relying solely on formal authority.
- Technical Depth and Breadth: Brings hands-on credibility across cloud data platforms, governance, and agent-based access to guide engineers, challenge assumptions, evaluate emerging technologies, and make sound platform-scale technology choices.
- Governance Mindset: Embeds data governance, access control, and data-contract standards into platform workflows, balancing the openness of governed data products with security, privacy, and compliance.
- AI and Modern Delivery Mindset: Understands how agentic consumption, MCP-based access, and modern data-product thinking can responsibly expose governed data to enterprise AI while maintaining appropriate controls and verification.
WHO YOU ARE- You have a customer-first mindset and a devotion to customer service
- You can influence technology choices with both engineers and senior leaders
- You engage and build positive internal and external client relationships, while managing multiple initiatives, often with competing priorities
- You have strong self-initiative, passion, interpersonal, oral and written communication and collaboration skills with the ability to work, influence and make an impact in a cross-functional environment with all levels of the organization
- You can take an evolving product vision and business requirements and transform them into concrete technical designs and specifications for software developers, data engineers, and other technology stakeholders
- You can explain complex technical solutions engagingly to technical and non-technical audiences and connect technological solutions with measurable business value.
- You have solid analytical, problem-solving and decision-making skills
- You set high standards for architecture quality, governance, performance/scalability and security and seek continuous improvement
- You are responsive and thrive in a fast-paced diverse high-performance environment with rapidly changing business needs
- You actively seek out things outside your comfort zone with the ability to rapidly learn and take advantage of new concepts, business models, and technologies
- You are comfortable in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial and rapid-growth environment
- You have prior experience in consulting and client negotiations
- Prior experience and connections in the Life Sciences industry is preferred
