Azure Data Architect (Data Lake & SharePoint Modernization)

Location: Newport Beach, CA – Hybrid (Minimum 3 days per week onsite at the client location). - Only California candidates 

About the Role

We're looking for a hands-on Azure Data Architect (SME) to design and deliver this platform from the ground up. You'll own the architecture, build the ingestion pipelines, and setup SharePoint Online for file storage and business data maintenance, and keep cost-effectiveness central to every design decision.  Experience with Microsoft Fabric is a strong plus.

Key Responsibilities

Data Architecture & Strategy

·       Design the end-to-end Azure data architecture, including ingestion, storage, transformation, serving, and governance layers.

·       Define a medallion (Bronze/Silver/Gold) lakehouse structure on Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2.

·       Produce architecture diagrams, standards, naming conventions, and technical documentation.

·       Evaluate and recommend the right mix of Azure services (and Fabric, where it fits) based on workload, scale, and cost.

Progress SQL to Azure Migration & Ingestion

·       Build reliable pipelines that extract data from Progress OpenEdge using ODBC/JDBC via Azure Data Factory with a Self-Hosted Integration Runtime.

·       Implement full and incremental (delta/CDC-style) loading patterns, handling the quirks of legacy schemas and data types.

·       Profile, cleanse, and validate source data, and establish data quality checks and reconciliation.

·       Plan the migration in phases so existing operations and reporting aren't disrupted.

SharePoint Online for File Storage & Data Maintenance

·       Design a SharePoint information architecture (sites, libraries, content types, metadata, and permissions) for document storage and business-maintained reference data.

·       Integrate SharePoint lists and libraries with the data lake so business users can maintain master or reference data that flows into analytics.

·       Automate file intake, approvals, and data movement using Power Automate and/or ADF.

·       Configure versioning limits and retention settings within SharePoint to keep libraries organized and storage under control.

·       Advise on what belongs in SharePoint versus ADLS so storage stays cost-effective and fit for purpose.

Cost Optimization & FinOps

·       Design with cost in mind, using storage tiering (Hot/Cool/Cold/Archive), lifecycle management policies, and right-sized compute.

·       Monitor and forecast spend with Azure Cost Management, budgets, and alerts.

·       Manage SharePoint storage quota and versioning growth to avoid unnecessary tenant storage costs.

·       Recommend Fabric capacity sizing (F-SKUs), pausing/scaling strategies, and reserved capacity where appropriate.

Governance, Security & Operations

·       Implement security using Microsoft Entra ID, RBAC, ACLs, managed identities, Key Vault, and private endpoints.

·       Build CI/CD for data pipelines and infrastructure using Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions and IaC (Bicep/Terraform).

·       Establish monitoring, alerting, and runbooks for pipeline reliability.

Collaboration

·       Work with business stakeholders to understand reporting and data needs across rentals, fleet/inventory, customers, billing, and operations.

·       Support Power BI developers and analysts with well-modeled, trusted datasets.

·       Mentor junior engineers and share knowledge with internal IT.

Must-Have Skills

·       Strong, proven experience in Azure data architecture: ADLS Gen2, Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics and/or Azure Databricks, Azure SQL.

·       Experience designing lakehouse/medallion architectures and dimensional data models (star schema).

·       Hands-on experience extracting data from Progress OpenEdge or similar legacy relational databases via ODBC/JDBC and Self-Hosted IR.

·       Advanced SQL, plus Python or PySpark for data transformation.

·       Working knowledge of SharePoint Online architecture, metadata, permissions, and integration with Azure (Graph API, Power Automate, ADF connectors).

·       Demonstrated cost-optimization track record on Azure (storage tiers, lifecycle policies, compute right-sizing, cost monitoring).

·       Azure security fundamentals: Entra ID, RBAC, managed identities, Key Vault, networking/private endpoints.

·       Experience with CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code.

·       Excellent communication skills and the ability to explain technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders.

Good-to-Have Skills

·       Microsoft Fabric: OneLake, Lakehouse, Warehouse, Data Factory in Fabric, OneLake shortcuts (to ADLS and SharePoint), Direct Lake mode for Power BI, and capacity management.

·       Power BI data modeling and semantic model design.

·       Experience in rental, equipment, logistics, or asset-management industries.

·       Delta Lake / Parquet optimization and performance tuning.

Preferred Certifications

·       Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)

·       Microsoft Certified: Fabric Data Engineer Associate (DP-700)

·       Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate (DP-600)

·       Holders of the retired Azure Data Engineer Associate (DP-203) are also welcome.