Data Solution Architect at Rainforest Alliance

Job Description

We seek an experienced Data Solution Architect to be responsible for designing, implementing, and overseeing the data architecture for an organization, ensuring it aligns with business needs and strategic goals. This role involves creating data models, selecting appropriate technologies, and establishing data governance policies to manage data effectively. Data Solution Architects collaborate with various teams, including data engineers, analysts, and business leaders, to build robust and scalable data solutions. DSA will also technically review a set of requirements/user stories and propose design and solutions, and support technology projects and programs of all types through every stage of development, from idea to design to completion. The primary role is to work closely with product managers and owners, delivery managers, business stakeholders, technology developers and designers on the end to end design, and ensure data is at the heart of every solution, and it does not introduce technical debt.

Responsibilities:

Technology Strategy & Innovation

Ensure technology investments align with strategic objectives for a real-time, data-driven organisation
Liaise with third parties, evaluate and implement cutting-edge data technologies including streaming platforms, cloud-native warehouses, and MLOps solutions
Drive adoption of Data Ops practices and automated pipeline orchestration
Participate in architecture boards for critical design decisions and technology standards

Data Governance & Quality

Develop comprehensive data governance strategies, policies, and procedures ensuring data quality, security, and compliance
Implement automated data quality monitoring and alerting systems
Establish data lineage tracking and metadata management across all data products
Ensure GDPR compliance and data privacy protection across global operations

Data Architecture & Modern Platform Design

Supporting Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) and Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) processes towards the development of modern, maintained cloud-native data architecture models using lakehouse and data mesh patterns
Design real-time streaming architectures for immediate insights and decision-making
Create event-driven data solutions supporting sustainability tracking and certification
Implement zero-copy data sharing and federation technologies for seamless collaboration
Platform Integration & Orchestration

Be responsible for integration of modern data systems using cloud-native orchestration tools
Design and implement change data capture (CDC) solutions for real-time synchronisation
Build scalable data products that serve multiple business domains autonomously
Optimise data workflows for performance, cost-efficiency, and reliability

Stakeholder Collaboration & Enablement

Work with product managers, delivery managers, and business stakeholders to translate needs into technical solutions
Enable self-service analytics capabilities for business users through intuitive data products
Provide real-time dashboards and insights to support sustainability impact measurement
Support technology projects from conception to completion, ensuring data excellence

Performance & Innovation Management

Continuously monitor and optimise data solutions using cloud-native observability tools
Stay current with emerging technologies in streaming, ML/AI, and sustainable technology practices
Leverage new and emerging technologies such as AI and automation for the benefit of the organisation
Drive innovation through proof-of-concepts and technology experimentation
Ensure solutions scale efficiently with organisational growth and data volume increases
Travel & Collaboration

Travel to regional offices and field operations as required, although as a sustainable charitable organisation, travel will be kept to a minimum
Participate in global technology initiatives and cross-regional data projects

The person:

Deep knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), microservices, APIs, DevOps, and security best practices
Experience with Enterprise Architecture frameworks (TOGAF, Zachman, SAFe for Architecture) and familiarity with Waterfall, Agile, SAFe, and DevOps methodologies
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a related field. Experience in Data tools is a must for this role
Highly meticulous professionals with strong leadership skills who know how to turn ideas into solutions
This is a leadership and hands-on role, working with other architects in building tech and working with vendors in integration tech and solutions
Ability to manage multiple priorities, deliverables, and stakeholders
Able to influence peers and management; strong stakeholder management
Excellent interpersonal skills, presentation skills, and verbal / written communication skills; ability to lead discussions, present ideas to audiences of all sizes, and interact with all levels of the organisation
Self-starter; adaptable to change; motivated to set personal and program goals and proactively track performance against goals and initiatives objectives
Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to think creatively
A thirst to learn new skills
You are self-motivated and driven to achieve professional success in a partnership environment
The ability to manage workload, multitask and time according to deadlines set
Good personal organisation, productivity and time management skills
Excellent understanding of business complexity and project interdependencies
Intellectual curiosity and the ability to question thought partners across functional areas
Ability to adapt quickly to new technologies and changing business requirements
Comfortable with managing uncertainty, ambiguity, and change to make decisions and recommendations
Drive, resilience, focus and energy with high level of emotional intelligence