Sr. Data Architect

The Sr Data Architect will serve as the primary technical owner of the T-FinanceTaxIntelligence platform, a modernisation initiative that consolidates tax data into a governed, centralised Databricks lakehouse. This role partners directly with the tax organisation and the DR COE to architect a medallion data platform, retire all Alteryx dependencies, establish SOX-compliant data infrastructure, and unlock AI-assisted tax analytics, compressing close cycles from days to hours and turning compliance from a manual exercise into a systematic, repeatable capability.

Responsibilities:

• Platform Architecture: Design and own the end-to-end Tax Intelligence data platform on Databricks, implementing the DR COE medallion architecture (Bronze, Silver, Gold) using Delta Lake, Unity Catalogue, and Databricks Workflows.
• Alteryx Retirement: Lead the migration of 40+ Alteryx workflows to version-controlled, testable dbt models in GitLab. Translate complex tax transformation logic, including income tax provisions, deferred tax calculations, and jurisdiction models, into SQL-native dbt models with full CI/CD pipeline gates.
• SOX and Governance: Architect access controls, change management workflows, and audit trails that satisfy IT General Controls (ITGC) requirements. Enforce row-level and column-level security through Databricks Unity Catalogue, design segregation of duties across engineering and analyst roles, and ensure every tax figure is traceable end-to-end from source to reporting surface.
• Data Modelling: Build and certify Silver and Gold layer data products: income tax provision, deferred tax roll-forward, effective tax rate (ETR) analysis, sales and use tax, and property tax. Define DBT data contracts, automated testing frameworks, and referential integrity checks across all layers.
• Ingestion and Orchestration: Design ADF-based ingestion pipelines from ERP systems and source flat files into the Bronze Delta Lake layer. Orchestrate end-to-end pipeline execution using Databricks Workflows with auto-scaling compute and full monitoring.
• Semantic Layer and Reporting: Architect the Unity Catalogue semantic layer powering certified Power BI and Tableau dashboards, provision review, ETR analysis, and deferred tax rollforward. Ensure reporting surfaces are governed, certified, and auditor-ready.
• AI and ML Capabilities: Architect AI-assisted tax intelligence features on Databricks: ML-based anomaly detection for accrual variances (AutoML and MLflow); predictive tax accrual models (Feature Store and Delta Live Tables); natural language querying via Databricks Genie; and AI-generated audit narratives via Model Serving.
• Stakeholder Partnership: Translate tax SME business requirements into data product specifications. Lead architectural reviews, drive UAT sign-off on certified data products, and communicate technical decisions to both engineering and executive audiences.
• Standards and Mentorship: Establish and enforce data architecture standards across the T-Finance Tax programme. Mentor data engineers on Databricks best practices, dbt modelling patterns, and DR COE reference architecture. Contribute to the broader T-Finance shared data infrastructure.

Requirements:

• 8+ years of experience in data architecture, data engineering, or a closely related field.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience with Databricks Delta Lake, Unity Catalogue, Workflows, and SQL/Python notebooks.
• Deep dbt expertise: modelling patterns (staging, intermediate, and mart); testing frameworks; dbt docs; and CI/CD integration via GitLab or Azure DevOps.
• Strong SQL proficiency and solid Python skills for data transformation and pipeline development.
• Demonstrated experience designing and operating SOX-controlled data environments, including ITGC evidence requirements, access control design, and change management workflows.
• Proven track record migrating legacy ETL tools (Alteryx, SSIS, Informatica, or equivalent) to modern, code-first, version-controlled data pipelines.
• Experience with the Azure data ecosystem: Azure Data Factory (ADF), Azure DevOps, and Azure Active Directory / Entra ID for identity and access.
• Experience architecting data products for finance, accounting, or tax domain business stakeholders.
• Strong ability to communicate complex technical architectures to non-technical audiences, including finance leadership and internal audit teams.
• Finance Data Intelligence.
• Master Data Management (MDM).
• Distributed Event Streaming Platforms (Kafka).
• Microservices Architecture.
• Apache Airflow.

Nice to Have:

• Domain expertise in tax data: income tax provision, deferred tax calculations, effective tax rate (ETR) analysis, sales and use tax, or property tax.
• Databricks certifications: Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate/Professional or Databricks Certified Associate Developer for Apache Spark.
• Experience with Databricks MLflow model registry, AutoML, Feature Store, or Delta Live Tables for ML pipeline development.
• Power BI or Tableau semantic layer design, certified datasets, row-level security, and self-service enablement for finance analysts.
• GitLab CI/CD pipeline design for data workloads, including automated regression testing and dev staging production promotion gates.
• Familiarity with T-Mobile DR COE reference architecture, TISS-310 data classification standards, or T-Mobile QSR cybersecurity requirements.
• Experience with Databricks Genie or natural-language SQL interfaces for self-service analytics enablement.

Skills

Databricks, SQL, dbt