Sr. Data Architect - Digital Director

Overview

Clifton Larson Allen , LLP (CLA) is seeking an experienced and dynamic Sr. Data Architect – Digital Director. The Data Architect leads the design and implementation of modern data platforms that enable digital transformation for clients. This role partners with business and technology stakeholders to define data architectures, governance models, and scalable analytics foundations.

• Design enterprise and solution-level data architectures aligned to client business goals; define target-state architectures, migration roadmaps, and reference architectures across analytics, AI/ML, and operational intelligence use cases.
• Architect, implement, and optimize cloud data platforms using Microsoft Fabric, Azure, Databricks, and related services; guide ingestion, transformation, orchestration, and semantic modeling patterns.
• Define and implement governance frameworks including metadata management, lineage, data quality, security, and privacy using tools such as Microsoft Purview; partner with security and compliance teams to ensure regulatory alignment.
• Enable advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI workloads through well-architected lakehouse, warehouse, and real-time data solutions.
• Provide architectural leadership across project teams; mentor engineers and analysts on best practices, patterns, and emerging technologies.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to clients, supporting solution envisioning, proposals, and thought leadership; contribute to practice development and go-to-market initiatives.

• 7+ years of relevant experience in data architecture, data engineering, or analytics platform design (10 years preferred).
• Bachelor’s degree required; relevant experience may be considered in lieu of degree.
• Preferred fields:
  Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Data Science, or related disciplines.

• Microsoft Fabric (One Lake, Data Engineering, Data Warehousing, medallion architecture, Real-Time Analytics)
• Microsoft Azure (Foundry, Copilot Studio, Azure Data Factory, Synapse, Azure SQL, Event Hubs, Functions)
• Microsoft Purview (data catalog, lineage, governance)
• Databricks (Lakehouse architecture, Spark, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog)
• Additional Platforms:
  Snowflake, AWS (S3, Glue, Redshift), Google Cloud (Big Query), Kafka, dbt
• Programming & Query
  
  Languages:
  
  SQL, Python, Scala
• Architecture Concepts:
  Data modeling, semantic layers, streaming architectures, API integration, CI/CD, infrastructure as code
• Experience preparing analytics environments for AI/ML workloads
• Ability to enable secure data sharing and third-party data exchange

Less than 10% travel expected.

Compensation is competitive and varies by geography, experience, education, skills, and knowledge.
Posting ranges:
Denver: $140,000 - $200,000
Minneapolis: $136,000 - $195,000
Sacramento: $145,000 - $210,000

Health, dental, vision, 401(k) and additional wellness programs are available. Comprehensive benefit options include physical, financial, social, and emotional well-being support.

CLA is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, protected veteran status, national origin, or any other characteristic protected by law.