Job Summary

The Solutions Architect, Data Governance serves as the lead technical and strategic advisor for enterprise data governance initiatives within client engagements. This role works directly with executive stakeholders, data leaders, business teams, security organizations, and technical delivery teams to design and implement governance programs that establish trust, visibility, accountability, and control across enterprise data estates.

This client-facing delivery role focuses on structured data governance, including metadata management, business glossary development, taxonomy design, data lineage, stewardship operating models, data quality frameworks, governance monitoring, and Microsoft Purview implementation. The Solutions Architect defines governance strategy, designs governance architectures, leads customer engagements, and provides oversight throughout delivery of the governance workstream.

This role also advises organizations on governance readiness for modern analytics and AI platforms, including Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Azure Data Services, and Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Role Description

Data Governance Strategy and Architecture

• Act as the lead subject matter expert for enterprise data governance, Microsoft Purview, metadata management, taxonomy development, and governance operating model design.
• Lead governance discovery workshops, maturity assessments, roadmap engagements, and executive strategy sessions.
• Design enterprise governance frameworks including stewardship models, ownership structures, governance policies, business glossaries, taxonomy standards, and metadata management processes.

Microsoft Purview Governance Leadership

• Architect and oversee implementation of Microsoft Purview Data Governance capabilities including Unified Catalog, Data Map, Data Estate Insights, data lineage, metadata management, and business glossary solutions.
• Establish governance standards for structured data assets across Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Services, Power BI, SQL Server, Snowflake, Azure Databricks, and related platforms.
• Guide customers in developing sustainable governance processes, governance operating procedures, and stewardship responsibilities.

Customer Advisory and Governance Transformation

• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive stakeholders, data leaders, governance councils, and technical teams.
• Translate business objectives, regulatory considerations, and operational requirements into scalable governance solutions.
• Lead customer-facing workshops, architecture reviews, roadmap discussions, and governance design sessions.

Governance Operations and Monitoring

• Design governance monitoring and operational reporting solutions utilizing Azure Monitor, Azure Log Analytics, and related observability platforms.
• Establish operational processes for governance measurement, stewardship accountability, data quality reporting, lineage monitoring, and governance adoption tracking.
• Contribute governance accelerators, reference architectures, and reusable delivery assets from engagement experience.
• Apply the practice's delivery standards and AI-accelerated delivery patterns on engagements and identify opportunities for improvement based on real-world client conditions.

AI Readiness

• Advise organizations on governance readiness for Microsoft 365 Copilot and enterprise AI initiatives.
• Assess metadata maturity, lineage coverage, ownership models, and governance controls required to support effective and responsible AI adoption.

Behaviors and Competencies

This role is expected to demonstrate expert-level capability within data governance and strong capability across the following areas:

• Subject Matter Expertise: Recognized depth in enterprise data governance, with sufficient understanding of data platforms to evaluate governance implications and identify risks in adjacent workstreams.
• Facilitation: Leads discovery, maturity assessment, and governance design sessions to resolution, including situations involving disagreement over ownership or governance scope.
• Communication: Explains governance concepts, trade-offs, and obligations to executive sponsors, business stewards, and technical teams while tailoring communication to the audience.
• Relationship Management: Builds trust with executive sponsors, governance councils, and data stewards and sustains relationships through long-term governance initiatives.
• Collaboration: Works across delivery teams, security organizations, and business units, measuring success by governance adoption rather than artifact delivery.
• Problem Solving: Identifies and resolves root causes that hinder governance initiatives, including unclear ownership, ineffective incentives, or inadequate tooling.

Skill Level Requirements

We are looking for candidates who demonstrate strength across these areas. Deep expertise in every technology listed is not expected. Candidates should not self-select out if they do not meet every qualification.

• Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Data Management, Computer Science, Engineering, a related technical field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Seven or more years of experience delivering enterprise data, information management, or data governance solutions, with substantial recent focus on governance.
• Hands-on implementation experience with Microsoft Purview, including Unified Catalog, Data Map, Data Estate Insights, business glossary, metadata management, and data lineage.
• Demonstrated experience establishing data stewardship programs, including executive sponsorship, ownership structures, accountability frameworks, and adoption strategies.
• Demonstrated experience leading customer-facing consulting engagements, executive workshops, governance assessments, and strategic advisory initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience with Microsoft Fabric, OneLake, and Azure.
• Experience with data engineering and data visualization architectures and their relationship to governance.
• Strong understanding of data governance frameworks and governance reporting.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with Azure Databricks and Unity Catalog, including governance and cataloging across Azure-based lakehouse environments.
• Experience supporting Microsoft 365 Copilot enablement, AI governance frameworks, and enterprise AI adoption initiatives.
• Experience with agentic systems such as Microsoft Foundry and Copilot Studio.
• Experience designing governance monitoring solutions utilizing Azure Monitor and Azure Log Analytics.
• Experience with Azure DevOps, GitHub, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and CI/CD practices supporting data and analytics platforms.
• Experience working within regulated industries including healthcare, financial services, insurance, manufacturing, or public sector organizations.

Other Requirements

• Ability to travel to SHI, partner, and customer locations as needed.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with sales, delivery, engineering, and leadership stakeholders.
• Commitment to continuous learning across data governance, analytics, and AI platforms.
• Strong ethical standards with disciplined adherence to data privacy, governance, compliance, and security requirements.

The estimated annual pay range for this position is $140,000 - $225,000 which includes a base salary and bonus. The compensation for this position is dependent on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and market location and, therefore, will vary from individual to individual. Benefits may include, but are not limited to, medical, vision, dental, 401K, and flexible spending.