Enterprise Data Architect

About Unissant, Inc.

Unissant, Inc. delivers innovative capabilities to the agencies that keep our nation healthy and safe. We apply our domain expertise, data acumen, and technology know-how to achieve breakthrough results for our clients. Working collaboratively, we advance missions and careers through a focus on honesty, integrity, and dependability. We continuously look for talent, excited to join that effort. To learn more about our exciting organization, please visit us at www.unissant.com.

Job Description

We are seeking an Enterprise Data Architect to join our embedded team at the client site in Northern Virginia. The ideal candidate will be responsible for defining and implementing enterprise data architectures and data governance frameworks that leverage Collibra, support robust metadata management, and integrate with modern cloud data platforms and ingestion pipelines. The architect will play a key role in enabling trusted, well-governed data for mission-critical analytics and decision-making in a classified environment.

This is a highly technical position; individuals will be screened by peers through a technical review of skills and experience.

This position is contingent upon contract award.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Define and implement enterprise data governance frameworks using Collibra.
• Ensure data cataloging, data lineage, and data stewardship are established and maintained within Collibra.
• Work with business and IT teams to define and enforce data policies, standards, and ownership.
• Design and maintain enterprise metadata models and ensure metadata tagging aligns with Collibra configurations.
• Oversee data classification, business glossaries, and data dictionaries within Collibra.
• Collaborate with teams to ensure consistent and accurate master data across systems and domains.
• Define data models, standards, and principles for both structured and unstructured data.
• Develop data integration strategies to align disparate data sources with governance and architectural frameworks.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy and security regulations, including GDPR, CCPA, and applicable federal standards.
• Partner with the Chief Data Office, Data Stewards, Engineers, and Analysts to ensure data is usable, trusted, and well documented.
• Provide technical guidance on how Collibra integrates with data platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks, and AWS.
• Train and support business users on self-service data discovery and stewardship using Collibra.
• Work closely with Data Architects and Data Stewards to ensure proper metadata integration and governance automation in Collibra.
• Automate metadata ingestion and data lineage tracking using Collibra Edge Server and Collibra APIs.
• Support data classification, tagging, and cataloging to enhance data discoverability and reuse.
• Optimize backend services, integrations, and data flows for scalability, performance, and security.
• Implement authentication and authorization mechanisms (OAuth, SAML, LDAP) to secure access to data and metadata.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy and security regulations (for example, GDPR, CCPA, FedRAMP) across data ingestion and management solutions.
• Work in Agile (Scrum or Kanban) teams and support DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines (for example, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, AWS CodePipeline).
• Provide technical guidance on best practices for integrating Collibra Edge Server with enterprise data platforms and pipelines.
• Collaborate with CDO, Data Governance, and Engineering teams to improve data quality, ingestion efficiency, and metadata management.
• Leverage AI and ML capabilities within Collibra and related tools for data quality monitoring and anomaly detection.
• Automate metadata ingestion, data lineage, and governance processes to improve efficiency and consistency.

Work Experience and Job Skills

• 10+ years of experience in data architecture, data governance, or closely related roles.
• Proven experience defining and implementing enterprise data architectures and governance frameworks.
• Hands-on experience with Collibra for data cataloging, lineage, stewardship, business glossaries, and governance workflows.
• Strong background in metadata management and master data management across complex environments.
• Experience integrating Collibra with modern data platforms (for example, Snowflake, Databricks, AWS data services).
• Familiarity with Collibra Edge Server, Collibra APIs, and automated metadata ingestion patterns.
• Solid understanding of data privacy and security regulations (GDPR, CCPA, and federal standards) and how they apply to data architecture and governance.
• Experience working in Agile environments and with CI/CD and DevOps practices.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to design scalable, secure, and maintainable data solutions.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with both technical and business stakeholders.

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field is required.
• Master's degree in a related field is preferred. A combination of substantial related experience, training, and education may substitute where appropriate.

Certificates, Licenses and Registrations

• Relevant technical or data governance certifications (for example, Collibra, cloud provider certifications such as AWS, Azure, GCP) are desired.

Communication Skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to convey technical information to non-technical individuals.
• Demonstrated experience communicating effectively across internal and external organizations.
• Ability to work well in a matrixed team environment.

Travel

• This position will be on-site in Northern Virginia.

Environmental Requirements

• Mainly sedentary; in an office environment.
• May be required to lift up to ten pounds.
• Flexible in working extended hours.

Additional Information

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the individual or individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required. Unissant management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties and to assign other duties as necessary. In addition, where applicable and available, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions of this position.

Please note: Candidates will be required to go through pre-employment screening.

Unissant, Inc. is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE; M/F/Disability/Vets).