Data Architect in United

Job Description

Job Description: Data Architect

Location: Remote

Type: Contract

Role Overview

Rockwoods is seeking a hands-on Data Architect to lead the design, implementation, and optimization of modern data platforms. This role requires a strong balance of technical expertise, architectural vision, and independent ownership. The ideal candidate will be deeply skilled in Snowflake, dbt, Python, orchestration frameworks, and cloud infrastructure, while also bringing experience in AI-ready semantic/metadata foundations, LLM integration, and Retrieval-Augmented (RAG).

This is not a purely advisory role — we need someone who can roll up their sleeves, own solutions end-to-end, and consistently drive progress without heavy oversight. The right candidate will demonstrate strong communication, proactive problem-solving, and the ability to operate independently in complex, fast-paced environments.

Key Responsibilities

Architecture & Implementation

• Define and implement modern data platform patterns across Snowflake, dbt, Python, orchestration tools (Airflow, ADF, etc.), and cloud- services (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Design API-based and event-driven ingestion frameworks for scalable, real-time data processing.
• Establish semantic and metadata foundations to enable AI-ready environments, including support for LLM and RAG-based architectures.
• Build scalable data pipelines, transformation layers, and advanced data models for analytics and AI/ML workloads.

Governance, Security & Standards

• Set and enforce data modeling, governance, and security standards, ensuring compliance and scalability.
• Implement data quality frameworks, lineage tracking, and monitoring solutions to build trust in analytics.
• Drive cost optimization strategies across Snowflake and cloud infrastructure.

Leadership & Ownership

• Guide engineers through design reviews, solution standards, and best practices.
• Take full ownership of tasks and solutions — from understanding context and investigating independently to delivering outcomes with minimal follow-up.
• Provide clear visibility into progress, proactively communicate updates, and ensure alignment with business objectives.

Problem-Solving & Delivery

• Troubleshoot production issues with a pragmatic, hands-on approach.
• Raise well-researched, relevant questions when blocked, explaining prior investigation and context.
• Balance technical rigor with delivery pragmatism to achieve business outcomes efficiently.

Required Skills & Experience

• 10+ years of experience in Data Architecture/Data Engineering roles.
• Strong hands-on expertise with Snowflake, dbt, Python, and orchestration tools (Airflow, ADF, etc.).
• Deep knowledge of data modeling, pipeline development, and event-driven architectures.
• Proven experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP) and API-based ingestion frameworks.
• Strong understanding of query optimization, workload/resource management, cost management, and governance/security controls.
• Exposure to AI/ML data environments, LLM integration, and RAG-based architectures.
• Excellent communication skills, attention to detail, and ability to independently drive outcomes.

What We’re Looking For

Beyond technical skills, we value ownership, attention to detail, proactive communication, and independent execution. We need professionals who:

• Can own tasks end-to-end without requiring constant direction.
• Pay attention to prior discussions and documentation, avoiding repetitive basic questions.
• Investigate issues thoroughly before seeking help, and when they do, come prepared with context and clear articulation of blockers.
• Consistently drive work forward, ensuring visibility and accountability.

Why Join

• Opportunity to own architecture and delivery end-to-end in a modern data platform environment.
• Work with cutting-edge technologies across Snowflake, dbt, Python, cloud- services, and AI-ready architectures (LLM, RAG).
• Remote flexibility with a contract-based engagement.
• Culture that values independence, proactive communication, and pragmatic problem-solving.