Solutions Architect, Data

Solutions Architect, Data 
American Public Education, Inc. 

The Solutions Architect, Data & Analytics is a strategic role within American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) enterprise Data & Analytics team that focuses on enabling future-state business analytics capabilities to drive the organization's strategy and data driven business outcomes. As a Solutions Architect, you will apply your expertise in existing, new, and emerging data & analytics techniques and technologies to develop data & analytics solutions and designs for complex data, analytical, technical, and business problems. 

In this role, the Solutions Architect, Data & Analytics will provide technical thought leadership and hands-on solutions design and direction for enterprise data solutions and products. This includes medallion data architecture and dimensional modeling, near real time, streaming, and batch data ingestion and transformation pipelines / ELT, EDW and BI semantic layer design, orchestration, designing to enable advanced analytics (AI/ML). She/he will have broad experience and deep understanding of data engineering with SQL and Python, DataOps/CICD practices, and Cloud platforms.   Extract, load, (e.g. FiveTran, Cdata), and transform technologies (dbt, Coalesce), enterprise data analytical compute and storage (e.g. Snowflake, Databricks), master data management (e.g. Boomi MDH), BI/reporting (e.g. Power BI), AI/ML (e.g. Snowflake, DataRobot), enterprise data catalog and governance are common technologies this role will architect within day to day. 

Collaboration and partnership among various Business, Data & Analytics, and Software Engineering teams is critical to ensure solutions are designed, implemented, and drive analytical value as expected.  This candidate will possess excellent leadership skills, ability to influence stakeholders of all levels, and hands-on practice of enterprise architecture principles, both on-premises and Cloud. 

Responsibilities: 

• Architecture and solutions design, blueprinting, and technical roadmap utilizing on-premise and Cloud technologies such as Microsoft, Azure Data Lake, Azure Data Factory, SSIS, SSRS, Power BI, Snowflake, and others as/when needed.
• Data integration, batch and near-real time, with Salesforce, Boomi, OutSystems, ERP, BPM, Azure RPA, and .NET custom applications and systems.
• Ability to quickly grasp Business initiative, understand business process, and determine technical solution options that meet objectives.
• Collaborates with Enterprise Architecture to ensure solutions design supports overall enterprise architecture direction.
• Establishes best practices for the design, build, and support of on-premises and cloud applications.
• Provides hands-on mentoring and coaching of architecture, solutions design, and development practices.
• Provides change leadership when implementing new standards and practices across the team 
• Ensures the solution design solves data privacy (including PII and GDPR), data management, and governance as well as encompassing reliability, scalability, and security for a 24x7 enterprise
• Researches and establishes technical, design, patterns, and tools best practices and standardizes across software engineering teams.
• Creates and reviews architecture, solution design, data and integration documents for delivery teams and Architecture Review Board.
• Brings modern concepts to the team such as data product thinking and strives for data delivery processes designed for agility 
• Builds prototypes and/or assists software engineers with coding and troubleshooting both on-premises and cloud-based applications.
• Identifies/matures best practices Cloud and API-led designs, microservices, CI/CD, automated testing (regression and load), SCM/Release strategies, and critical operational support.
• Adheres to and promotes compliance with policies and procedures.
• Designs cloud cost optimization, forecasting, and monitoring and alerting 
• Develops solutions and contributes code as and when necessary.
• Recommends business and architectural processes and design options to optimize technical solutions.
• Performs other duties as assigned. 

Requirements: 

• Minimum 12+ years of overall data & analytics experience, 5+ years of technical architecture, solution architecture and design, and dimensional data modeling.
• Minimum 7+ years of hands-on Data Management, Big Data, Master Data governance, and analytics solution design, development, and implementation experience that include Azure Data Lake, Azure Data Factory, Snowflake, SSIS, SSRS, and Power BI.
• 2+ years of application architecture and development preferred.
• Minimum 5+ years of experience providing enterprise data warehouse / lakehouse development frameworks, methodologies, templates, tools, etc. Technology experience and preference given to Microsoft Azure and Power BI, Snowflake, dbt, Coalesce, Boomi MDH.
• Hands-on experience with creating and executing data & analytics architecture solutions and design for enterprise initiatives, both on-premises and cloud sources, that include network, data & analytics platforms, and security.
• Understand and document business requirements, assess data needs, and define data strategies; analyze data assets, ensuring data integrity, security, and optimal performance.
• Comprehensive knowledge of IS/IT concepts across a broad spectrum which includes application development, service-oriented and event-driven architecture, and application integration.
• Lead the design and development of enterprise data models optimized for analytics including but not limited to dimensional modeling and ensuring the data is analytic ready, has integrity, scalability, and performance.
• Develop and maintain data standards, guidelines, and best practices for data architecture and governance.
• Hands on expert in writing and optimizing SQL and strong proficiency in Python
• Experience with master data management and related architecture, design, and implementation with Boomi MDH experience preferred.
• Strong understanding of AI/ML architecture and design patterns, MLOps highly preferred
• Establishment of best practices for technical frameworks, data & analytics development, design patterns, integration standards, etc.
• Strong understanding and experience executing data & analytics delivery lifecycle with methodologies such as Waterfall, Agile, DataOps, DevOps, etc.
• Experience with Enterprise Architecture or Data Modeling toolsets like Orbus and ER/Studio.
• Experience with Identity and Access Management (Active Directory, Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS), Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), OpenID, OAuth, and Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)) as well as RBAC design and implementation within enterprise data & analytics ecosystem.
• Extensive experience in designing, implementing, and deploying solutions on Cloud-based platforms, preference given to Azure, Snowflake, and Power BI.
• In-depth knowledge of architectural best practices, design patterns, governance and security principles.
• Deep understanding of networking concepts, such as virtual networks, subnets, network security groups, firewall, and load balancer.
• Solid experience with performance management, monitoring, logging, error-handling frameworks, and diagnostics/RCA.
• Proficient in Microsoft Azure Services such as Kubernetes, CI/CD, DevOps, App Services, Functions, Storage, SQL Database, Virtual Machines, CLI, PowerShell, Key Vault, and Power Automate.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, ability to communicate effectively with all levels of the organization from engineers to C-Level executives.
• Expert at translating business needs into technical solutions, influencing non-technical stakeholders and cross functional collaboration and technical leadership.
• Strong ability to work collaboratively within a team to quickly solve problems.
• Methodical, organized and detail oriented.
• Strong initiative and ability to work with limited supervision and/or without direct supervision.
• Ability to motivate and energize teams.

*Please note that you may be asked to provide your Web portfolio in addition to your application and resume.

Education: 

• Bachelor's degree preferred. 
• Snowflake SnowPro Advanced Architect Certification preferred.

About Us: 

Online, on campus and in the workplace, we provide higher education and training to our country’s heroes – military service members, veterans, nurses, government employees, and motivated professionals that want to make a difference. American Public Education, Inc. educates service-minded students, ranging from the military, public service, federal agencies, and nursing communities, through American Public University System (APUS), Hondros College of Nursing (HCON), Rasmussen University and Graduate School USA (GSUSA).

It is the policy of American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) to afford equal opportunity to all qualified persons.  We treat all qualified individuals equally as to their recruitment, hiring, assignments, advancements, compensation, and all other terms and conditions of employment. American Public Education, Inc. does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, or physical, mental, or sensory disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Pay Transparency Statement

If you are a resident of a state with designated pay transparency requirements and this role is available remotely, you may be eligible to receive additional information about the compensation and benefits for this role, which we will provide upon request.  Please send an email to recruiting@apei.com.