Principal Solutions Architect

Job Summary

We are seeking a Principal Solutions Architect - Data to provide architectural leadership across enterprise data, reporting, and analytics initiatives. The role will define scalable solutions across data platforms, integration services, semantic models, and business intelligence while ensuring security, governance, performance, and operational readiness.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end solution and data architecture, including target-state designs, conceptual and logical data models, integration patterns, data flows, security controls, lineage, and technology standards.
• Partner with enterprise architects and governance teams to guide solutions through Permit to Design, Permit to Build, and Permit to Operate, ensuring design, security, risk, infrastructure, support, and operational-readiness requirements are addressed.
• Define scalable engineering and integration patterns across Snowflake, cloud platforms, APIs, batch processing, and event-driven services, balancing resilience, performance, security, and cost.
• Own reporting and analytics architecture, including Performance Reporting, Client Reporting, Power BI, and semantic models. Establish standards for Import, DirectQuery, hybrid models, aggregation, incremental refresh, caching, and query optimization.
• Lead resolution of complex performance issues across source systems, data platforms, transformations, calculation layers, semantic models, and Power BI.
• Define measurable non-functional requirements for performance, scalability, availability, resilience, data freshness, observability, security, supportability, and cost.
• Establish reusable patterns for data modeling, metadata, lineage, data quality, auditability, governance, and access control to reduce technical debt.
• Provide architectural leadership across client, account, product, legal agreement, performance, benchmark, reference, and other strategic data domains.
• Act as a senior design authority by reviewing solutions, challenging technical choices, identifying risks and dependencies, mentoring teams, and communicating decisions to business and technology stakeholders.
• Maintain concise architecture deliverables, including diagrams, data models, integration flows, architecture decisions, deployment views, and operational-readiness documentation.

Required Experience and Qualifications

• Extensive experience designing and delivering enterprise-scale data platforms and data-driven applications.
• Deep expertise in Snowflake, data warehousing, relational and dimensional modeling, ETL/ELT, metadata, lineage, data quality, and audit controls.
• Strong experience with Power BI architecture, semantic models, DAX, Import and DirectQuery patterns, incremental refresh, aggregation, and performance optimization.
• Experience diagnosing performance across SQL, transformation, semantic, and visualization layers.
• Experience with cloud architecture, APIs, services, batch and event-driven integration, security, observability, and operational resilience.
• Proven ability to define target-state architecture, reusable technical patterns, roadmaps, and measurable non-functional requirements.
• Strong technical leadership, stakeholder management, facilitation, and communication skills.
• Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.

Technical Skills

• Data Analytics: Snowflake, advanced SQL, Power BI, semantic modeling, DAX, ETL/ELT, data warehousing, data modeling, performance optimization, metadata, lineage, and data quality.
• Cloud Integration: Microsoft Azure, cloud-native architecture, REST APIs, microservices, batch and event-driven integration, security, Key Vault/secrets management, observability, and resiliency patterns.
• Application Engineering: Python, FastAPI or similar service frameworks, React, TypeScript/JavaScript, and modern application architecture patterns.
• Architecture Governance: Solution and data architecture, architecture lifecycle governance including Permit to Design, Permit to Build, and Permit to Operate, non-functional requirements, security architecture, operational readiness, and architecture decision records.
• Engineering Practices: CI/CD, DevSecOps, source control, automated testing, infrastructure-as-code concepts, production supportability, and performance monitoring.
• Leadership: Architecture reviews, design authority, technical roadmaps, mentoring, stakeholder communication, and collaboration across engineering, security, infrastructure, data governance, and enterprise architecture teams.

Preferred Experience

• Investment management, asset management, financial services, or another highly governed data environment.
• Performance and client reporting, benchmark and reference data, account and client hierarchies, and legal-entity or agreement data.
• Modernization of legacy reporting and analytics solutions, architecture governance, data catalogs, business glossaries, and regulatory reporting.
• Applied knowledge of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and modern analytics within established security and governance standards.

Reasonable Accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact our HR Service Center or discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter.

Disclaimer: This job posting has been aggregated from external source. Role details, content, and availability are subject to change. Applicants are advised to confirm the latest information directly on the company website before applying.