Principal Data Architect – AI

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Define the enterprise data architecture: Take responsibility for the conceptual, logical, and physical data models for MeridianLink's analytical and operational data platform, which includes source-aligned, integrated, and consumption-ready layers.

• Build the meta-model: Create and manage a meta-model that captures entities, relationships, business definitions, ownership, lineage, sensitivity classifications, and SLAs, ensuring it is integrated into our tooling rather than being confined to slide decks.

• Drive the lakehouse strategy: Design our medallion (bronze/silver/gold) Delta Lake patterns on Databricks; establish standards for partitioning, clustering, schema evolution, slowly changing dimensions, and historical reproducibility.

• Be hands-on: Write code in PySpark, SQL, and Delta Lake. Develop reference implementations, prototype patterns, review pull requests, and personally model critical domains instead of delegating every task.

• Lead data integration design: Establish patterns for ingestion through Informatica Data Management Cloud (IDMC) and direct Databricks pipelines, including CDC, batch, streaming, and API-based sourcing from our SaaS products and third-party systems.

• Champion data governance and lineage: Collaborate with data governance, security, and compliance leaders to operationalize cataloging, lineage, classification, masking, and access controls across the platform (Unity Catalog, IDMC, and related tools).

• Standardize data modeling practices: Set the standards, naming conventions, and review processes used by the Data Engineering team. Mentor engineers on dimensional modeling, Data Vault, and other techniques where applicable.

• Partner across the business: Collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, Analytics, ML, Finance, Risk, and Customer-facing teams to translate business requirements into sustainable data designs.

• Influence the roadmap: Identify gaps in tooling, capability, and skill; suggest investments; and lead multi-quarter initiatives that significantly enhance how MeridianLink leverages its data.

⛳️ Requirements

• 12–15+ years of progressive experience in data engineering, data warehousing, and data architecture roles, with a minimum of the last several years at the architect level.

• Proven experience as a Data Architect at a SaaS company within the FinTech or financial services software sector (lending, banking, payments, capital markets, insurance, or a closely related field).

• Extensive, hands-on expertise with Databricks and PySpark on Azure, including Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, structured streaming, and performance optimization at scale.

• Practical experience with Informatica Data Management Cloud (IDMC) or similar enterprise integration platforms for ingestion, transformation, and metadata-driven pipelines.

• Demonstrated success in designing and implementing comprehensive meta-models and end-to-end data models (conceptual, logical, and physical) that have been deployed in production and have proven resilient over time.

• Strong understanding of dimensional modeling (Kimball), Data Vault 2.0, and contemporary lakehouse architectures, with the ability to select the appropriate approach for various use cases.

• Advanced SQL skills and a solid proficiency in Python/PySpark; capable of writing code, not just creating diagrams.

• Proven experience in implementing data governance, lineage, and metadata management programs (e.g., Unity Catalog, IDMC Data Governance, Collibra, Atlan, or similar tools).

• Familiarity with FinTech-relevant regulatory and compliance considerations (e.g., GLBA, SOC 2, PCI, NIST, state lending regulations) and their impact on data design.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; adept at explaining complex data concepts to engineers, executives, customers, and auditors.

🏝️ Benefits

• Insurance coverage (medical, dental, vision, life, and disability)

• Flexible paid time off

• Paid holidays

• 401(k) plan with company match

• Remote work