Data Solutions Architect

On behalf of our client, we are seeking an experienced Data Solutions Architect to join their team in Riyadh.

The role is responsible for designing and leading the implementation of an on-premises Data Lakehouse on Cloudera CDP 7.3.1, covering platform, data, integration, security, governance, and serving architecture.

The position will define the target architecture, establish Medallion and Lambda Architecture patterns, and combine batch and streaming data paths with a unified serving layer.

The role will also architect a Rules Engine for business validations and transformations and establish a comprehensive Data Governance layer covering security, lineage, quality, compliance, and operational readiness.

Responsibilities:

• Lead HLD and LLD for the Lakehouse, covering HDFS/Ozone, YARN, Hive 3/Impala, Spark, Kafka/NiFi, Ranger, Atlas, Knox, KMS, and HMS with HA.
  
• Define storage and compute topology, cluster sizing, multi-environment architecture, and network zones.
  
• Design perimeter security using Knox and TLS.
  
• Establish Bronze, Silver, and Gold standards, including naming, data contracts, partitioning, data quality checkpoints, schema evolution, retention, and recovery patterns.
  
• Align serving models for BI and analytics using Impala and Phoenix.
  
• Design batch pipelines using Informatica BDM, Spark, and Hive.
  
• Design speed and streaming paths using NiFi, Kafka, Hudi, Kudu, HBase, and Phoenix.
  
• Define the convergence and serving of batch and streaming outputs into governed data stores.
  
• Architect a declarative Rules Engine covering validations, standardization, derivations, survivorship, consent/PII handling, and SLA routing.
  
• Ensure rules are metadata-driven, versioned, testable, and CI/CD integrated.
  
• Implement data governance using Ranger and Atlas, including policies, masking, classifications, lineage, and glossary management.
  
• Define data lifecycle, retention, legal holds, PII/PCI/SOX requirements, and audit trails.
  
• Establish CI/CD for infrastructure, schemas, table evolution, rules packs, and ETL deployments.
  
• Build SLA dashboards, alerts, runbooks, and observability processes.
  
• Architect disaster recovery and business continuity using BDR/Replication Manager and replication strategies.
  
• Partner with Domain SMEs, Platform Administrators, Security, and Compliance teams.
  
• Lead Architecture Review Boards and mentor developers and data engineering teams.
  

Requirements

10+ years of experience in data architecture/engineering.
Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field or equivalent experience.
3–5+ years of experience architecting on Cloudera CDH/CDP in production.
Proven experience delivering on-premises Lakehouse environments using Medallion and Lambda architectures.
Strong understanding of industry standards and best practices in Data Engineering.
Good understanding of Informatica DEI suite for framework/pattern design and pushdown to Spark/Hive.
Deep practical exposure to Apache Iceberg, Apache Hudi, Apache Kudu, HBase, Phoenix, Hive 3, and Impala.
Strong SQL expertise, including windowing, partitioning, MERGE/UPSERT, and cost-based tuning.
Strong Impala/Phoenix performance tuning experience.
Experience with Kerberos, TLS, AD/LDAP, Ranger policies, Atlas lineage/glossary, and SDX concepts.
Experience designing metadata-driven Rules Engines and data quality frameworks for both batch and streaming environments.
Solid Linux fundamentals.
Experience with Git and CI/CD.
Strong documentation and stakeholder communication skills.
Experience with Kafka patterns and CDC from RDBMS is preferred.
Familiarity with Ozone, KMS/Key Trustee, and air-gapped deployments is preferred.
SRE experience, including SLOs, error budgets, RCA, and disaster recovery exercises, is preferred.
Cloudera CDP, Informatica, and Security certifications are a plus.
Regulatory experience in PII/PCI/SOX/GDPR environments is preferred.