Lead Data Architect (Saudi Arabia)

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Lead Data Architect (GCP) to join a large-scale data transformation project for a major financial institution in Saudi Arabia.

The ideal candidate combines strong data architecture expertise with hands-on engineering skills and technical leadership experience. You will be responsible for designing and implementing a scalable Google Cloud-based data platform, developing Customer 360 solutions, and leading a team of data engineers.

This is a hands-on leadership role requiring active involvement in architecture design, SQL/Python development, data pipeline implementation, and technical decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and document high-level (HLD) and low-level (LLD) architecture for a cloud-based Lakehouse platform.
• Architect and implement raw, standardized, and curated data layers on Google Cloud.
• Design and develop Customer 360 data models, integrating data from multiple enterprise systems.
• Define source-to-target mappings and data integration strategies for existing Data Lake and Oracle Data Warehouse environments.
• Implement identity resolution solutions, including deterministic and probabilistic matching and survivorship rules.
• Develop and optimize data pipelines using SQL, Python, Airflow, and dbt.
• Establish data quality, reconciliation, metadata management, and data lineage frameworks.
• Design Power BI semantic models with row-level and object-level security (RLS/OLS).
• Support Power BI integration and embedded analytics within Microsoft Dynamics 365.
• Ensure data security, governance, and regulatory compliance, including KSA data residency and PDPL requirements.
• Lead, mentor, and provide technical guidance to a team of 6–8 data engineers and developers.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders, engineering teams, and solution architects to deliver scalable data solutions.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in Data Engineering and Data Architecture.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP), including:
  • BigQuery and Cloud Storage
  • Dataflow
  • Cloud Run or Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
  • IAM and cloud networking
• Strong proficiency in SQL and Python, with proven experience building production-grade data pipelines.
• Production experience with Apache Airflow and dbt.
• Strong understanding of Lakehouse architectures, data modeling, and enterprise data integration.
• Hands-on experience designing Customer 360 solutions and implementing identity resolution techniques.
• Experience with data quality frameworks, reconciliation, metadata management, and data lineage.
• Experience with Power BI semantic models, RLS/OLS, and Dynamics 365 integration.
• Understanding of data security, encryption, audit logging, and regulatory compliance.
• Experience working with banking or insurance data, including customers, policies, claims, or providers.
• Proven experience leading technical teams of 6–8 engineers.
• English proficiency at B2 level or higher.
• Willingness to work on-site in Riyadh for the initial 3-week Discovery phase and follow a hybrid working model afterward.

Nice to Have

• Experience with BigQuery ML, Vertex AI, or Gemini.
• Familiarity with Saudi Arabia’s PDPL and data residency regulations.
• Experience working with sensitive or restricted data, including medical or financial information.
• Arabic language proficiency.

What We Offer

• Opportunity to contribute to a large-scale data transformation initiative in the financial sector.
• Long-term project with complex enterprise-level architecture challenges.
• Hands-on technical leadership and ownership of key architectural decisions.
• Collaboration with experienced engineering and business teams.
• International working environment.

Additional Information

We welcome candidates of all nationalities who are currently based in Saudi Arabia with valid work authorization.