Sr Lead Architect

Area(s) of responsibility We are looking for a highly experienced Data Architect (Grade 7A) to lead the design and delivery of the enterprise Data & Insights platform on Microsoft Azure. The role demands deep expertise in cloud data architecture, data models, data lake/lakehouse, vector-store based RAG systems, GenAI, Agentic AI, and governance using Microsoft Purview. The ideal candidate has strong hands-on skills in Python, LangChain, LangGraph, Azure data services, and end-to-end SDLC execution. Roles & Responsibilities • Architect and design Azure-based data lake/lakehouse platforms, domain data models, and ingestion-to-consumption pipelines. • Develop conceptual, logical, and physical cloud data models aligned with enterprise standards. • Architect RAG pipelines including embeddings, chunking, vector stores, hybrid retrieval, reranking, and evaluation. • Build Agentic AI workflows using LangChain and LangGraph; design tool orchestration, memory, and safety layers. • Implement governance with Microsoft Purview for cataloging, lineage, PII tagging, and policy enforcement. • Ensure platform security using Entra ID, private endpoints, VNETs, Key Vault, and encryption controls. • Lead solution architecture reviews, performance tuning, cost optimization, and NFR engineering. • Oversee CI/CD (Azure DevOps), IaC (Terraform/Bicep), and observability (Azure Monitor, App Insights). • Mentor engineering teams and standardize best practices, patterns, and reusable components. Technical Skills Mandatory • Azure Data Platform: ADLS Gen2, Synapse/Serverless SQL, Databricks/Spark, ADF/Synapse Pipelines • Programming: Python, PySpark, SQL • GenAI & Agentic AI: RAG architecture, vector stores (Azure Cognitive Search, Pinecone, Weaviate, Qdrant), embeddings, reranking • Frameworks: LangChain, LangGraph • Data Modeling: Conceptual/logical/physical models, Delta/Parquet patterns, lakehouse modeling • Data Governance: Microsoft Purview (catalog, lineage, classification, glossary, PII governance) • Security: Entra ID, RBAC/ABAC, Key Vault, VNET integration, encryption • SDLC & DevOps: Azure DevOps (CI/CD), Terraform/Bicep, ADRs, HLD/LLD documentation • Performance & Cost Optimization across compute, storage, vector workloads, and pipelines Preferred • Azure Fabric / OneLake; Power BI semantic modeling • dbt for transformations and testing • Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, SQL Server MI • Knowledge graphs (Neo4j) and graph-based retrieval • LLMOps: evaluation, telemetry, safety assessment, drift monitoring • FinOps optimization practices • Multi-cloud experience (AWS/GCP equivalents) • API design: REST, GraphQL, gRPC Qualifications • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline. • 12–14 years of total experience with minimum 5+ years in cloud data architecture. • Proven experience delivering Azure-based data platforms and production-grade GenAI/RAG systems.