Senior AWS Cloud Data Architect

Our vision for the future is based on the idea that transforming financial lives starts by giving our people the freedom to transform their own. We have a flexible work environment, and fluid career paths. We not only encourage but celebrate internal mobility. We also recognize the importance of purpose, well-being, and work-life balance. Within Empower and our communities, we work hard to create a welcoming and inclusive environment, and our associates dedicate thousands of hours to volunteering for causes that matter most to them.

Chart your own path and grow your career while helping more customers achieve financial freedom. Empower Yourself.

Job Summary:

At Empower, a Sr. Architect is a mix of leadership position and thought leadership role. A Sr. Architect works with enterprise architects, and both business and IT teams, to align solutions to the technology vision they help create. This role supports enterprise Architects in the development of technology strategies, reference architectures, solutions, best practices and guidance across the entire IT development organization; all the while addressing total cost of ownership, stability, performance and efficiency. The candidate will also be working with Empower Innovation Lab team as the team is experimenting with emerging technologies, such as Generative AI, and Advanced Analytics. 

In this rapid paced environment, the person must possess a "can-do" attitude while demonstrating a strong work ethic. This person should have a strong aptitude to help drive decisions. He or she will be actively involved in influencing the strategic direction of technology at Empower Retirement. There will be collaboration across all teams including IT Infrastructure, PMO office, Business, and third-party integrators in reviewing, evaluating, designing and implementing solutions.   

The Architect must understand available technology options and educate and influence technology teams to leverage them where appropriate. The Architect will recognize and propose alternatives, make recommendations, and describe any necessary trade-offs. In some cases, particularly on key initiatives, the Architect will participate on the design and implementation of end-to-end solutions directly with development teams.  

The ideal candidate will leverage their technical leadership/direction-setting skills with the development organization to be able to prove technical concepts quickly using a variety of tools, methods, & frameworks. 

Responsibilities:

• Help Enterprise Architect, work with peer Sr. Architects and more junior resources to define and execute on the business aligned IT strategy and vision.
• Develop, document, and provide input into the technology roadmap for Empower.
• Create reference architectures that demonstrate an understanding of technology components and the relationships between them.
• Design and modernize complex systems into cloud compatible or cloud native applications where applicable. Create strategies and designs for migrating applications to cloud systems.
• Participate in the evaluation of new applications, technical options, challenge the status quo, create solid business cases, and influence direction while establishing partnerships with key constituencies.
• Implement best practices, standards & guidance, then subsequently provide coaching of technology team members.
• Make leadership recommendations regarding strategic architectural considerations related to process design and process orchestration.
• Provide strong leadership and direction in development/engineering practices.
• Collaborate with other business and technology teams on architecture and design issues.
• Respond to evolving and changing security conditions. Implement and recommend security guidelines.
• Provide thought-leadership, advocacy, articulation, assurance, and maintenance of the enterprise architecture discipline.
• Provide solution, guidance, and implementation assistance within full stack development teams.
• Recommend long term scalable and performant architecture changes keeping cost in control.

Preferred Qualifications: ·        

• 12+ years of experience in the development and delivery of data systems. This experience should be relevant to roles such as Data Analyst, ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) Developer (Data Engineer), Database Administrator (DBA), Business Intelligence Developer (BI Engineer), Machine Learning Developer (ML Engineer), Data Scientist, Data Architect, Data Governance Analyst, or a managerial position overseeing any of these functions. 3+ years of experience creating solution architectures and strategies across multiple architecture domains (business, application, data, integration, infrastructure and security).
• Solid experience with the following technology disciplines: Python, Cloud architectures, AWS (Amazon Web Services), Bigdata (300+TBs), Advanced Analytics, Advance SQL Skills, Data Warehouse systems(Redshift or Snowflake), Advanced Programming, NoSQL, Distributed Computing, Real-time streaming
• Nice to have experience in Java, Kubernetes, Argo,  Aurora, Google Analytics, META Analytics, Integration with 3rd party APIs, SOA & microservices design, modern integration methods (API gateway/web services, messaging & RESTful architectures). Familiarity with BI tools such as Tableau/QuickSight. Experience with code coverage tools.
• Working knowledge of addressing architectural cross cutting concerns and their tradeoffs, including topics such as caching, monitoring, operational surround, high availability, security, etc.
• Demonstrates competency applying architecture frameworks and development methods.
• Understanding of business process analysis and business process management (BPM).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience in mentoring junior team members through code reviews and recommend adherence to best practices.
• Experience working with global, distributed teams.
• Interacts with people constantly, demonstrating strong people skills.
• Able to motivate and inspire, influencing and evangelizing a set of ideals within the enterprise.
• Requires a high degree of independence, proactively achieving objectives without direct supervision.
• Negotiates effectively at the decision-making table to accomplish goals.
• Evaluates and solves complex and unique problems with strong problem-solving skills.
• Thinks broadly, avoiding tunnel vision and considering problems from multiple angles.
• Possesses a general understanding of the wealth management industry, comprehending how technology impacts the business.
• Stays on top of the latest technologies and trends through continuous learning, including reading, training, and networking with industry colleagues.
• Data Architecture - Proficiency in platform design and data architecture, ensuring scalable, efficient, and secure data systems that support business objectives.
• Data Modeling - Expertise in designing data models that accurately represent business processes and facilitate efficient data retrieval and analysis.
• Cost Management - Ability to manage costs associated with data storage and processing, optimizing resource usage, and ensuring budget adherence.
• Disaster Recovery Planning - Planning for data disaster recovery to ensure business continuity and data integrity in case of unexpected events.
• SQL Optimization/Performance Improvements - Advanced skills in optimizing SQL queries for performance, reducing query execution time, and improving overall system efficiency.
• CICD - Knowledge of continuous integration and continuous deployment processes, ensuring rapid and reliable delivery of data solutions.
• Data Encryption - Implementing data encryption techniques to protect sensitive information and ensure data privacy and security.
• Data Obfuscation/Masking - Techniques for data obfuscation and masking to protect sensitive data while maintaining its usability for testing and analysis.
• Reporting - Experience with static and dynamic reporting to provide comprehensive and up-to-date information to business users.
• Dashboards and Visualizations - Creating dashboards and visualizations to present data in an intuitive and accessible manner, facilitating data-driven insights.
• Generative AI / Machine Learning - Understanding of generative artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop advanced predictive models and automate decision-making processes.
• Understanding of machine learning algorithms, deep learning frameworks, and AI model architectures.
• Understanding of ethical AI principles and practices.
• Experience implementing AI transparency and explainability techniques.
• Knowledge of popular RAG frameworks and tools (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex).
• Familiarity with fairness metrics and techniques to mitigate bias in AI models.

​Sample technologies:

• Cloud Platforms – AWS (preferred) or Azure or Google Cloud
• Databases - Oracle, Postgres, MySQL(preferred), RDS, DynamoDB(preferred), Snowflake or Redshift(preferred)
• Data Engineering (ETL, ELT) - Informatica, Talend,  Glue,  Python(must), Jupyter
• Streaming – Kafka or Kinesis
• CICD Pipeline – Jenkins or GitHub or GitLab or ArgoCD
• Business Intelligence – Quicksight (preferred), Tableau(preferred), Business Objects, MicroStrategy, Qlik, PowerBI,  Looker
• Advanced Analytics - AWS Sagemaker(preferred), TensorFlow, PyTorch, R, scikit learn
• Monitoring tools – DataDog(preferred) or AppDynamics or Splunk
• Bigdata technologies – Apache Spark(must), EMR(preferred)
• Container Management technologies – Kubernetes, EKS(preferred), Docker, Helm

Preferred Certifications:

• AWS Solution Architect
• AWS Data Engineer
• AWS Machine Learning Engineer
• AWS Machine Learning

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor’s and/or master’s degree in computer science or related field (information systems, mathematics, software engineering).

We are an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to diversity.  All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, pregnancy, religion, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable state or local law.