Director, Enterprise Data Architecture

Director, Enterprise Data Architecture

Raleigh, NC preferred | Remote considered in Eastern or Central time zones
Confidential Search

We are not looking for someone to simply lead data architecture.

We are looking for a business leader who understands how data can change the way an organization operates, grows and makes decisions.

Our client is a global organization entering its next stage of growth and transformation. Data exists throughout the business, but like many growing organizations, getting the right information into the hands of the right people isn't always easy.

That creates an interesting opportunity.

This Director will work across the business to understand what leaders are trying to accomplish, where data is getting in the way, and what needs to change.

Sometimes the answer will be architecture.

Sometimes it will be governance or ownership.

Sometimes it will be connecting information that already exists across different parts of the company.

And sometimes it may mean telling the organization that the technology isn't the problem at all.

The business comes first.

You will work with senior leaders across Finance, Sales, Marketing, Product, Operations and Technology.

They don't need someone who starts every conversation with a platform.

They need someone who starts with questions like:

What are we trying to accomplish?

What information do we need to make a better decision?

Where are we losing time, money or opportunity because we don't have it?

What is preventing us from trusting or accessing the information we already have?

What needs to change as the company continues to grow and acquire businesses?

Then you need the technical depth to turn those answers into an enterprise data strategy that works.

What you'll be asked to build

This is not a mature environment where everything has already been decided.

You will help define the enterprise data strategy and target state.

You will bring greater consistency to data across business systems, functions and acquired organizations.

You will establish practical governance, ownership and accountability.

You will help determine how information should move across the enterprise and become more accessible to the people making decisions.

You will create a stronger foundation for analytics, automation and AI.

You will evaluate the existing environment and help determine what technology should stay, what needs to change and where new investment makes sense.

And you will help shape the team needed to support where the organization is going.

You still need technical credibility.

This isn't a role for someone who only operates at the strategy level.

You should be comfortable discussing modern enterprise data architecture, cloud data platforms, data products, integration, governance, quality, lineage, security, lakehouse and warehouse environments, ETL/ELT, APIs and the architecture needed to support analytics and AI.

Experience with environments such as Databricks, Snowflake, Microsoft Fabric, Azure or comparable technologies is valuable.

But expertise in one particular platform isn't what will get our attention.

We are much more interested in how you think than which technology logo is on your resume.

Who will probably enjoy this opportunity?

Someone who likes walking into complexity and creating clarity.

Someone who can sit across the table from a CFO and talk about business performance, then walk into a meeting with architects and engineers and have credibility there too.

Someone who has helped an organization move from fragmented data toward trusted information.

Someone comfortable challenging assumptions rather than simply taking requirements.

Someone who has helped businesses grow, transform, integrate acquisitions or modernize how they operate.

Someone who has experience managing large team on the global scale.

And someone who sees data as a business capability, not simply a technology function.

Experience in global SaaS, healthcare, life sciences or another regulated environment would be particularly relevant.

This is a confidential search. Additional information about the organization and opportunity will be shared with qualified candidates as they move through the process.

No third party or C2C submissions. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future sponsorship.