The posting
Job Description
General Purpose of Job:
The Director, Data Engineering – Architect is responsible for defining and governing the enterprise data architecture strategy that powers the Quad/Rise Data Stack. This role provides architectural leadership across data ingestion, transformation, storage, governance, security, and activation platforms to ensure scalability, reliability, and long-term sustainability of the organization’s data ecosystem.
This individual serves as the senior technical authority for data platform design, establishing standards, patterns, and frameworks that enable advanced analytics, modeling, business intelligence, and client delivery. The Director ensures that all data systems are architected for performance, interoperability, compliance, and cost efficiency while anticipating future growth and technological evolution.
The role partners closely with Analytics, Information Security, Software Development, Product developers, and executive leadership to align architectural decisions with enterprise strategy and client needs.
Location: 4 days in office, Chicago or Sussex
Please note: This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship, including F-1 visa holders requiring CPT, OPT, or future H-1B sponsorship. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future immigration sponsorship.
Key Responsibilities:
Enterprise Data Architecture Strategy
Define and maintain the long-term architectural vision for the Quad/Rise Data Stack, including cloud data platforms, pipeline frameworks, governance layers, and integration strategies. Establish scalable, modular, and secure architecture patterns.
Platform & Infrastructure Design
Design and oversee implementation of:
- Enterprise data warehouse architecture
- Distributed processing frameworks
- Real-time and batch data ingestion pipelines
- API and data-sharing architectures
- Metadata management and lineage systems
Ensure architectural consistency across environments (development, staging, production).
Standards & Engineering Governance
Establish enterprise standards for:
- Data modeling and schema design
- Pipeline orchestration
- Code quality and version control
- Documentation and lineage
- Observability and monitoring
Drive adoption of best practices across engineering teams.
Scalability & Performance Optimization
Ensure systems are designed for high availability, resilience, and performance at scale. Lead capacity planning, workload optimization, and cost management initiatives across cloud infrastructure.
Data Governance & Compliance Alignment
Partner with Information Security and Compliance teams to embed governance, access controls, encryption standards, and auditability into architectural frameworks. Ensure designs support regulatory requirements and enterprise risk management policies.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Work closely with:
- Data Science and Analytics teams to enable advanced modeling and experimentation
- Software Engineering teams to integrate analytics platforms into client-facing solutions
- Product teams to translate business requirements into scalable technical designs
Act as the architectural liaison between business stakeholders and technical teams.
Technology Evaluation & Innovation
Continuously evaluate emerging technologies, tools, and methodologies to enhance platform capabilities. Lead proof-of-concept initiatives and guide build-versus-buy decisions.
Organizational Leadership
Mentor senior engineers and managers. Develop architectural talent within the Data Engineering function. Influence technical direction without direct ownership of all implementation teams.
Executive Communication
Provide architectural roadmaps, risk assessments, and investment recommendations to executive leadership. Translate complex system design concepts into business-aligned strategy discussions.
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field required. Master’s degree preferred.
Experience:
Minimum of 10+ years of experience in data engineering, distributed systems, or enterprise data architecture.
Minimum of 5+ years designing large-scale cloud-based data platforms.
Demonstrated experience leading architectural strategy across multiple teams or business units.
Experience in media, marketing analytics, or high-volume consumer data environments is a plus.
Certificates, Licenses, Registrations:
Preferred certifications:
- Cloud Architecture Certification (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
- Snowflake Architect Certification
- Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP)
- TOGAF or equivalent enterprise architecture certification
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:
Deep knowledge of:
- Cloud-native data architectures
- Lakehouse and warehouse platforms
- Distributed computing (e.g., Spark)
- Data orchestration frameworks
- API-driven data integration
- CI/CD for data platforms
- Strong understanding of data lifecycle management and system interoperability.
Technical Language/Platform: T-SQL, PySpark, Snowflake, cloud-native services (AWS/Azure/GCP), orchestration tools, infrastructure-as-code frameworks.
Systems Thinking: Ability to design cohesive systems across multiple technologies and teams while balancing performance, cost, risk, and scalability.
Leadership & Influence: Proven ability to influence technical strategy across cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority. Strong mentorship capabilities.
Communication Skills: Exceptional ability to communicate architectural vision, tradeoffs, and risk clearly to technical and executive stakeholders.
Organizational Skills: Ability to manage multi-year roadmaps, platform migrations, and complex modernization initiatives.
Strategic Orientation: Forward-thinking mindset with the ability to anticipate scaling challenges, emerging technologies, and evolving business requirements.
Employees can be expected to be paid an annualized salary range of $122,040-$170,000 base plus bonus, based on variations in knowledge, skills, experience, and market conditions.
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About Us
Rise is an award-winning, full-service Media Agency of Record that is backed by data and powered by people. We create omnichannel experiences using our proprietary tech stack and advanced analytics capabilities to help solve the unique struggles brands face today. This approach, with transparency at its core, specializes in omnichannel media, commerce and retail media, advanced in-home media, as well as content and creator marketing.
We offer "Risers" the opportunity to work in an ever-evolving industry that will foster learning and development, provide an innovative work environment with diverse projects and clients, career advancement paths a collaborative team environment, corporate social responsibility initiatives, an inclusive and diverse culture, plus association with a reputable media agency. We're looking for talent like you who can continue to elevate our work and culture.
We offer comprehensive benefits for eligible employees including medical, prescription, dental and vision insurance, 401(k) retirement savings, paid time off, holidays and additional benefits.
Rise and Quad are proud to be equal opportunity employers. We are committed to creating a place of belonging — a space where employees do not need to sacrifice who they are to exist and grow in our workplace. Rise and Quad do not discriminate on any unlawful basis including race, religion, color, national origin, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Rise and Quad also prohibit harassment of applicants and employees based on any of these protected categories.
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