Principal Data Architect

Role Overview

We are seeking a seasoned Principal Data Architect to lead our data engineering practice and deliver complex data initiatives for a large-scale public sector Data Management Platform project in Singapore. In this role, you will take full ownership of the data ecosystem, leading a team of Data Engineers to design, build, and operate a robust platform on the Government Commercial Cloud (GCC).

You will sit on the client side in Singapore, acting as the critical bridge between the Singapore business stakeholders and our technical delivery team. You are not just overseeing delivery; you are the Lead Data Architect responsible for the solution's integrity, scalability, and security.

We need a leader who can manage executive client stakeholders to discuss data strategies, and then seamlessly pivot to working with the engineering team to debug complex AWS networking issues, optimize Data ingestion, or refine Qliksense data models.

Key Responsibilities

• Solution Architecture & Design Authority: Own the end-to-end architecture of the Data Management Platform on AWS, ingestion, storage, transformation, serving, and consumption. Act as the design authority for the engagement: make and document the Data Architectural Decisions, defend them at the client's technical and security review forums, and hold accountability for the platform's integrity, scalability, and security through to production.

• Engineering Team Leadership: Lead the team of Data Engineers delivering the platform. Set technical direction and engineering standards, allocate work across the squad, run design and code review, and manage performance, mentoring, and capability development across a distributed team. Establish the working practices that keep delivery coherent across time zones, documented design decisions, handover discipline, and clear escalation paths into you.

• AWS Platform Engineering: Design and govern secure multi-environment architectures spanning Dev, UAT, Pre-Prod, and Prod. Own the account and network topology, VPC design, routing, cross-account access patterns, IAM role and permission boundaries, KMS key hierarchy, and Secrets Manager usage, and remain hands-on enough to diagnose and resolve complex networking and access issues alongside the team.

• Data Ingestion & Pipeline Delivery: Design and optimise the Data ingestion layer and the S3-based integration patterns connecting source systems into the platform. Define ETL/ELT standards, onboarding approach for new sources, data quality and reconciliation controls, and the operational SLAs the pipelines are held to.

• Identity, Security & Compliance: Design and implement platform integration with enterprise identity, Microsoft Entra ID / WOG Entra ID and CAM, and the access model that sits on it. Ensure the platform conforms to Singapore public sector ICT and security requirements applicable to GCC workloads, including data classification and handling, encryption, logging, and retention, and produce the design and control evidence the agency's security review and audit processes require.

• Analytics Enablement: Model and optimise data structures for high-performance Qliksense dashboarding. Work with business analysts and reporting stakeholders to translate analytical requirements into performant, maintainable data models rather than one-off extracts.

• Assurance & Acceptance: Demonstrable experience defining test and reconciliation strategies and leading UAT to formal client sign-off on large-scale data platform implementations, including ownership of design, test, and operational documentation as contractual deliverables.

• Client Stakeholder Management: Act as the bridge between Singapore business stakeholders and the delivery team. Engage senior client stakeholders on data strategy, platform roadmap, and prioritisation, and translate technical constraints, cross-account access, network routing, environment promotion, source system limitations, into the terms they decide on: delivery risk, timeline, and cost.

• Delivery Governance & Assurance: Own technical estimation, sprint and release planning input, and architectural risk and issue management for the engagement. Chair design reviews, enforce change control across environments, and intervene early where delivery is drifting from the agreed architecture or the committed timeline.

Qualifications

Required Skills & Experience

• Total Professional Experience: 12+ Years in Data Engineering, Software Development, or Solution Architecture.

• Specialist Experience: 8+ Years specifically designing, leading, and managing large-scale Data Management Platforms and data engineering teams.

• Platform Expertise: 5+ Years of deep, hands-on experience with AWS (S3, VPC, IAM, KMS, Secrets Manager, CloudWatch).

• Consulting & Delivery Leadership: 4+ Years in a client-facing technical advisory role in Singapore, leading engineering squads to deliver outcome-based solutions.

• Executive Presence: Ability to explain complex technical constraints (e.g., VPC routing, cross-account access) to senior business stakeholders in terms of risk and delivery timelines.

Core Technical Skills

• AWS Cloud Architecture: Expert-level mastery of AWS services, specifically in designing secure, multi-environment architectures (Dev, UAT, Pre-Prod, Prod).

• Data Integration & Pipelines: Strong experience designing Data ingestion, managing ETL/ELT workflows, and integrating with complex source systems via Amazon S3.

• Identity & Access Management: Practical experience integrating platforms with enterprise identity providers (e.g., Microsoft Entra ID / WOG Entra ID, CAM).

• Analytics & BI: Familiarity with Qliksense architecture and how to optimize data structures for high-performance dashboarding.

• Programming: Strong experience in Python, bash scripting, and advanced SQL.
  

  Preferred Domain Knowledge & Certifications

  • Singapore Government Cloud (GCC): Prior experience deploying and operating workloads within the Singapore Government Commercial Cloud (GCC) environment is highly advantageous.

  • Certifications: AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional or AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate.