SENIOR DATA ARCHITECT (JOI)

Hungary - Budapest

Tech People is a European provider of technical skills permanent recruitment and temporary contracting services for multiple industries.

Currently we are looking for a

SENIOR DATA ARCHITECT (JOI)

Location: Budapest, remote

Salary: competitive

Type of work: contractor

Tasks:

Strategic Data Architecture & Platform Vision
- Define and articulate the long-term data architecture vision aligned with IFRC's business strategy and humanitarian objectives
- Design comprehensive enterprise data architecture leveraging a medallion architecture (bronze/silver/gold zones) for optimal data organization and governance
- Establish architectural standards, principles, and patterns for data ingestion, processing, storage, access controls, and quality management
- Design IFRC’s overall data architecture, architect data mesh patterns where appropriate, organizing data around business domains while maintaining centralized governance and platform standards
- Evaluate and recommend technology investments, infrastructure choices, and platform capabilities to support current and future organizational needs
- Develop a strategic data platform roadmap spanning 1-3 years with phased implementation, measurable milestones, and clear business value articulation
- Design scalable multi-region, multi-tenant platform architecture supporting diverse data domains, high-volume data processing, and real-time analytics
- Conduct regular architecture reviews and optimization, identifying opportunities for performance enhancement, cost reduction, and modernization.
Team Leadership & Development
- Lead, mentor, and develop the Data Platform DevOps Engineer and full-stack data engineering and report development team, fostering technical excellence and professional growth
- Establish clear role definitions, responsibilities, and expectations for team members, supporting career development pathways
- Provide technical leadership through data model and code reviews, architecture assessments, and knowledge
- sharing sessions on design patterns and best practices
- Create structured mentoring programs addressing both technical skill development and leadership competencies for high-potential team members
- Conduct technical interviews and participate in hiring to build a cohesive, skilled team aligned with architectural vision
- Foster a collaborative culture emphasizing continuous learning, innovation, quality, and adherence to architectural standards
- Balance hands-on technical work with leadership responsibilities, maintaining credibility while delegating appropriately
- Support the team with clear boundaries, autonomy, and creative problem-solving within governance frameworks
Platform Architecture & Design Leadership
- Lead end-to-end system design for complex data solutions across Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Azure platform components
- Make critical technology selection decisions regarding Fabric items (Lakehouses, Warehouses, Data Factory, Power BI, Real-Time Intelligence), infrastructure, and tools
- Design role-based access control (RBAC), data security models, and governance frameworks aligned with IFRC's
- sensitive humanitarian data requirements
- Architect data quality frameworks, testing standards, and metadata management approaches ensuring consistency and reliability
- Guide implementation of complex data integration patterns between enterprise systems and external data sources
- Oversee system integration and ensure seamless communication between platform components, maintaining architectural coherence
- Establish patterns for scalability, performance optimization, disaster recovery, and business continuity
Governance & Standards
- Support development and implementation of organizational data governance framework including policies, standards, and compliance requirements
- Work with data governance and compliance teams to establish architectural guardrails and ensure regulatory adherence
- Create comprehensive documentation standards for architecture decisions, technical designs, security controls, and operational procedures
- Define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for data platform quality, reliability, performance, and cost
- Establish change management and governance processes for architecture reviews, platform evolution, an
- technology decisions.
Platform Engineering & DevOps Leadership
- Oversee design and implementation of CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure automation, and deployment strategies for
- Microsoft Fabric
- Ensure platform en
- Ensure platform engineering best practices including observability, monitoring, alerting, and incident response frameworks are implemented
- Guide the DevOps engineer in establishing platform maintenance procedures, capacity planning, and operational
- excellence
- Review and optimize platform infrastructure design, cost efficiency, and resource utilization strategies
- Ensure disaster recovery and business continuity strategies are designed, tested, and maintained
Stakeholder Management & Communication
- Develop and maintain stakeholder communication strategy aligned with organizational priorities and decisionmaking needs
- Create tailored architectural views for different stakeholder groups including executives, business units, and technical teams
- Present architectural recommendations and technical strategies to executive leadership, translating comple
- technical concepts to business impact
- Facilitate cross-functional collaboration between data platform team, data product teams, business units, and DT governance
- Serve as the technical authority on data architecture, driving organizational conversations on data strategy alignment and technical standards
- Establish clear communication cadences and channels for different stakeholder groups (executive updates, tea briefings, documentation)
- Build and maintain partnerships with cloud providers, vendors, and technology partners to stay current on innovation
Data Architecture Strategy & Roadmap Development
- Contribute to overall organizational data strategy aligned with business objectives and humanitarian mission
- Define organizational capability building needs including platform enablement, team skill development, and process improvements
- Regularly reassess strategy based on evolving business needs, technological advancements, and lessons learned
- Monitor emerging technologies and industry trends in data platforms, architecture patterns, and analytics
- vFoster a culture of continuous improvement, encouraging experimentation and calculated risk-taking within governance boundaries, supporting innovation
- Establish knowledge management practices capturing architectural decisions, lessons learned, and best practices
- Lead data architecture work and define data architecture and data modelling standards across the organization
Duties applicable to all staff
- Work actively towards the achievement of IFRC’s goals.
- Abide by and work in accordance with the Red Cross and Red Crescent principles.
- Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager.

Requirements:

Degree in in computer science, information technology, data science, or related field
Certifications for Microsoft Fabric and Power BI
10+ years of experience in data architecture, data engineering, or enterprise architecture roles
5+ years of experience leading technical teams, managing engineers, and driving
5+ years of hands-on experience with modern cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP)
3+ years of experience with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Fabric or related Microsoft data solutions, including OneLake, Lakehouses, Warehouses, Data Factory, Power BI,Real-Time Intelligence, and Azure Synapse
Proven track record designing and implementing enterprise-scale data architectures
supporting complex, mission-critical operations
Demonstrated ability to translate business requirements into scalable, secure technical solutions
Understanding of CI/CD practices, Azure DevOps repos (repos (git) and pipelines) and pipelines, MMicrosoft Entra service principals, and IaC icrosoft Entra service principals, and IaC infrastructure automation (Terraform, ARM templates)
Experience with data quality frameworks, testing standards, and metadata management
Proficiency in designing scalable ETL/ELT architectures and data pipeline orchestration strategies
Experience developing data pipelines in PySpark and SQL
Experience with report development (Power BI or Tableau or similar products)
Proven track record in building, leading and coaching high-performing technical teamscwith diverse skill sets
Expert-level knowledge of big data systems (Hadoop and Spark), Delta Lake, Parquet, modern data formats
Technical Excellence: Deep understanding of data lakehouse architecture, medallion patterns, and data mesh organizational frameworks
Expertise in data security, encryption, identity and access management (IAM), and privacy controls (GDPR, HIPAA, row/column-level security)
Knowledge of monitoring, observability, and alerting techniques for data platforms
Familiarity with machine learning operations (MLOps) and AI workload integration
Problem-Solving: Ability to break down complex challenges into solvable problems
Communication: Excellent in translating complex technical concepts to executive and non-technical stakeholders
Collaboration: Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work and influence effectively
across organizational boundaries and disciplines
Continuous Learning: Drive to stay current with rapid cloud security and data and AI field evolution
Attention to Detail: Precision in code quality, data validation, and model documentation
Demonstrated strategic thinking and ability to align technical decisions with business
objectives, and to maintain hands-on credibility while leading
Strong project and portfolio management capabilities, sequencing complex initiatives with dependencies
Fluent spoken and written English

Good to have:

Certifications for Microsoft Azure (Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure Administrator, Azure Data Engineer)
Experience implementing self-service data platforms and data literacy programs
Experience implementing data mesh architectures in large, complex organizations
Experience with Azure Function Apps and Kubernetes and cloud Kubernetes services (AKS, EKS, GKE)
Background in multi-region or multi-cloud data architecture deployments
Experience in humanitarian, international development or non-profit work Understanding of Microsoft Purview for data governance, cataloging, and lineage management
Knowledge of real-time analytics, streaming architectures, and event-driven data processing
Familiarity with big data and SQL database design, optimization, and relational/nonrelational data models
Familiarity with Data Vault and other data modelling techniques
Knowledge of organizational design and operating models for distributed data ownership
Familiarity with agile and iterative delivery frameworks for data platforms
Understanding of humanitarian context, operational challenges, and impact measurement
Good command of another IFRC official language (French, Spanish or Arabic)

To apply for this opportunity, please register your CV, or for more information call +36 30 650 0484 Judit Orosz