Associate Data Architect II

ob Title: Microsoft Fabric Architect (Azure & AI) Location: [City, State / Remote / Hybrid] Employment Type: [Full-time / Contract] Experience: 12+ years in data and analytics, with hands-on Microsoft Fabric and Azure delivery About the Role We are seeking a senior Microsoft Fabric Architect to design and deliver modern data and AI platforms for enterprise clients. You will own architecture across Fabric and Azure, lead solution design for complex programs, and bring AI-driven design and development practices into every engagement. This is a hands-on technical leadership role focused on building and delivering high-quality solutions. Key Responsibilities Architecture and Solution Design Define end-to-end data architectures across Microsoft Fabric (OneLake, Lakehouse, Warehouse, Data Factory, Real-Time Intelligence, Power BI) and Azure. Translate business requirements into target-state architectures, reference designs, and implementation roadmaps. Produce architecture artifacts such as solution blueprints, ADRs, data flow diagrams, and non-functional requirements (security, scalability, availability, cost). Evaluate platform options (Fabric vs. Synapse, Direct Lake vs. Import, batch vs. streaming) and document trade-offs clearly. Design Medallion Lakehouse patterns, data models, and integration strategies for enterprise-scale workloads. Azure Data Platform Leverage Azure services including ADLS Gen2, Azure Data Factory, Synapse, Azure SQL, Event Hubs, Key Vault, Azure Monitor, and Entra ID. Lead migrations from legacy platforms (SQL Server, SSIS, SSRS/SSAS, Teradata, Tableau, Cognos, on-prem Hadoop) to Azure and Fabric. Design integration with external platforms such as Databricks or Snowflake using OneLake shortcuts and mirroring, where applicable. Define infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and DevOps practices using Terraform or Bicep, Azure DevOps, or GitHub Actions. AI-Based Design and Development Design GenAI and agentic solutions using Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Foundry, and Copilot in Fabric. Architect RAG pipelines, vector search, prompt orchestration, and LLM evaluation frameworks. Apply AI-assisted engineering (Claude, GitHub Copilot, MCP-based tooling) to accelerate code generation, migration, testing, and documentation. Build AI-driven accelerators for self-service analytics, natural language querying, and automated BI conversion. Establish responsible AI practices covering data privacy, grounding, guardrails, and cost control. Delivery Leadership and Governance Guide engineering teams through build, testing, and production rollout, ensuring solutions match the approved architecture. Implement governance and security using Microsoft Purview, RLS/OLS, and sensitivity labels. Optimize performance and cost across Spark, SQL, semantic models, and Fabric capacity. Mentor engineers and architects, run design reviews, and set engineering standards. Estimation and Planning Contribute technical solution sections to RFP responses when needed. Build effort estimates, work breakdowns, and delivery timelines for new projects and phases. Estimate Azure and Fabric consumption costs and recommend capacity and licensing options. Required Qualifications 12+ years in data engineering, data warehousing, or BI, including 5+ years as a solution or data architect. Proven production delivery on Microsoft Fabric and Azure data services. Strong solution design and architecture skills with experience producing enterprise architecture documentation. Advanced proficiency in SQL, PySpark, Python, and Delta Lake. Deep Power BI expertise including semantic modeling, DAX, Direct Lake, and enterprise deployment. Hands-on experience designing or building AI and GenAI solutions on Azure. Experience with project estimation and contributing to RFP technical responses. Strong communication and stakeholder management skills. Preferred Qualifications Experience with Azure Databricks (Delta Live Tables, Unity Catalog, Workflows, Databricks SQL, Mosaic AI). Certifications: DP-600 or DP-700 (Fabric), Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305), Azure AI Engineer (AI-102), or Databricks Certified Data Engineer. Experience with Real-Time Intelligence, KQL, Eventstreams, and Data Activator. Familiarity with TOGAF or similar architecture frameworks. Experience building migration accelerators or reusable IP. Industry background in retail, healthcare, insurance, financial services, or telecom.