Principal Data Architect

We are looking for a Principal Data Architect to take ownership of how data is designed, scaled, and operated across our platform. This is a highly visible role where you will shape the foundation that powers thousands of customer applications.

Employment Notes:

• This is ONLY OPEN TO eligible applicants who will be able to convert from contract to permanent in a relatively short time.
• No sponsorship will be available, no 3rd parties, employees will work under W2 only

You will be responsible for defining how our data layer evolves—ensuring it is scalable, secure, and built to handle complex, real-world workloads. If you enjoy solving hard architectural problems, working across systems, and influencing both engineering and product direction, this role will give you that opportunity.

What You’ll Be Doing

Own the data architecture

• Define how data is modeled, stored, and accessed across a platform that combines MongoDB, relational, and columnar systems
• Set the long-term direction for performance, scalability, and reliability

Design for real-world scale

• Ensure the data layer can support enterprise-grade applications with strict requirements around availability, security, and performance
• Make thoughtful decisions around indexing, caching, query design, and storage strategies

Choose the right tools for the job

• Guide when and how to use technologies like MongoDB Atlas Search, Redis, Kafka, and streaming pipelines
• Own how data moves across the system, including ETL and integration patterns

Build for AI-driven use cases

• Define how data is structured, versioned, and queried to support AI-driven application development
• Help shape how AI interacts with and depends on the data layer

Simplify complexity

• Design declarative data models that allow non-technical users to build complex logic safely
• Establish clear boundaries between what belongs in the database vs. the application layer

Drive clarity and standards

• Create documentation that engineers actually use—architecture diagrams, query guidelines, indexing strategies, and migration playbooks
• Lead capacity planning and cost optimization for data infrastructure

Leadership & Impact

• Mentor and grow a team of data and database engineers
• Set standards for data modeling, indexing, and API interaction patterns
• Own operational excellence—performance monitoring, query optimization, and incident response
• Define how data access works, including RBAC, caching strategies, and consistency models
• Partner closely with Product to turn requirements into clean, scalable data designs

What We’re Looking For

• 10+ years in data architecture, database engineering, or similar roles
• Experience operating at a principal or architect level
• Strong background building multi-tenant SaaS data platforms

Deep expertise in:

• MongoDB (aggregation pipelines, indexing strategies, sharding, query plans)
• Relational databases for both transactional and analytical use cases
• Redis (caching, TTL, invalidation, pub/sub)
• Node.js and understanding of application vs. data layer responsibilities
• RBAC and secure data access patterns
• AI/ML data systems (semantic search, LLM-friendly schemas, columnar storage)

You should also bring:

• Experience making and documenting architectural decisions that stand the test of time
• A track record of leading teams and influencing engineering direction
• Strong understanding of security, multi-tenant design, and compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001)
• Curiosity and hands-on interest in AI tools and how they can improve how we build