Lead Data Architect – Financial Services

Job Description

Lead Data Architect Financial Services

1. Role Overview

The Lead Data Architect defines and governs the data architecture vision, standards, and implementation patterns for mission-critical Financial Services platforms.

1. Key Responsibilities

• Define and maintain enterprise data architecture blueprints for Core Banking, Payments, Risk, and Compliance domains.
• Architect data lakes, data warehouses, and data mesh / data fabric architectures on cloud-native platforms (Azure / AWS / GCP).
• Design real-time data streaming architectures using Kafka, Flink, Debezium, and KSQL.
• Govern data models, metadata, lineage, and master data management (MDM).
• Establish and enforce data governance frameworks (Apache Atlas, Collibra, Purview) integrated with data quality metrics.
• Define data zoning (bronze, silver, gold) and security layer separation aligned with MAS TRM / PDPA / PCI-DSS.
• Partner with platform and AI engineering teams to design AI-ready data architectures including feature stores and vector databases.
• Lead data migration programs (on-prem to cloud) ensuring lineage, compliance, and traceability.
• Provide architecture oversight for regulatory and liquidity data programs (MAS 610/649/1003, Basel III/IV, BCBS 239).
• Mentor data engineers, participate in architecture governance councils, and review designs for scalability and compliance.

1. Required Technical Skills

• Category Tools / Technologies
• Architecture Data Vault 2.0, Data Mesh, Data Fabric, Canonical Modelling
• Cloud Platforms Azure (Synapse, Data Lake, Purview), AWS (Glue, Redshift, Lake Formation), GCP (BigQuery, Data Catalog)
• Data Processing Spark, Databricks, Flink, Kafka Streams, Beam
• Streaming & Integration Kafka, Confluent, KSQL, Debezium, API-based ingestion
• Governance & Quality Collibra, Purview, Apache Atlas, Great Expectations, Monte Carlo
• SecurityRBAC, Encryption, KMS, Tokenization, Audit Trails
• Regulatory Focus MAS TRM, PDPA, Basel III/IV, IFRS 9/17, BCBS 239

1. Experience and Qualifications

• Minimum 12+ years of experience in data architecture and engineering, with 5+ years in BFSI.
• Proven experience leading enterprise-scale data modernization programs across multi-cloud environments.
• Strong expertise in data modelling, governance, and lineage frameworks.
• Hands-on experience in real-time event-driven architectures and AI/ML enablement.
• Excellent understanding of regulatory frameworks (MAS TRM, PDPA, BCBS 239).
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related discipline.
• Certifications preferred: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, AWS Data Analytics Specialty, TOGAF Certified Architect.

1. Key Attributes

• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills (business + technical).
• Deep understanding of financial systems, data flows, and compliance requirements.
• Ability to balance architecture vision with hands-on technical leadership.
• Proven ability to mentor and build engineering teams aligned to organizational goals.