DATA & GOVERNANCE ARCHITECT - DIGITAL SERVICES & TECHNOLOGY OFFICE

[What the role is]
Responsible for the design, implementation, and governance oversight of the overall technical architecture of the Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) Enterprise Data and AI platform scalability This role ensures the platform’s technical architecture is scalable, secure, and aligned with enterprise standards while embedding data governance, lineage, and quality practices across all layers.
This is a 2-year contract position with the Digital Services & Technology Office.
[What you will be working on]
Reporting to the Programme Manager of NP Data and AI platform, you will collaborate with various stakeholders, including respective schools and departments, and outsourced vendors) and will be responsible in the following areas of work:
Architecture
Lead the end-to-end architecture design for NP data Lakehouse and ensure detailed design and development is aligned with the enterprise architecture.
Translate business requirements, including application resiliency requirements, governance requirements, into application architectural specifications.
Design ingestion pipelines, medallion model (Bronze → Silver → Gold), and storage strategy in Delta Lake.
Define standards for integrating structured/unstructured sources (DBs, APIs, SharePoint, PDFs).
Architect and guide implementation of AI/ML and LLM integrations (Mosaic AI, Vector Search, Genie).
Ensure system scalability, performance optimization, and resilience.
Develop and maintain architecture guidelines, design patterns, and technology standards for the enterprise data platform.
Review solution designs produced by Platform & Security Engineers and Data Engineers and vendors, ensuring consistency with architectural principles.
Governance
Design and implement RBAC, lineage, tagging, and classification using tools such as DataBricks Unity Catalog.
Define encryption/tokenization standards and oversee secure views for Personally Identifiable Information access.
Ensure platform with compliance frameworks (PDPA/GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS).
Establish policies for data quality monitoring (Delta Live Tables expectations).
Collaboration
Work with Data Engineers to implement pipelines and secure data flows.
Work with Data and AI Analyst to align stakeholders’ requirements with Lakehouse design and governance.
Partner with Platform & Security Engineer to enforce encryption and key management.
Collaborate with engineering, governance, ICT School, and business units to ensure architectural designs support teaching needs, analytics requirements, and institutional priorities.
[What we are looking for]
4–8 years in data architecture, governance, or related fields.
Proven experience in cloud-native data platforms (Databricks, Snowflake, BigQuery, or similar).
Background in regulatory compliance and data governance frameworks.
Skills & Certifications
Certifications:
Degree in Computer Science/Engineering or related discipline.
Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional / Architect, DAMA or CDMP certification in Data Management is a plus.
Azure Solutions Architect / AWS Solutions Architect / GCP Architect is a plus.
Technical Skills:
Strong Spark, SQL, Delta Lake, and medallion architecture knowledge.
Governance: Unity Catalog (lineage, RBAC, classification), metadata management.
Cloud networking, IAM, and security integration.
Other Skills:
Relevant experience in GCC/GCC 2.0 is a plus.
Strong understanding of data quality frameworks.
Ability to define and enforce enterprise-wide governance policies.
Attributes
Strategic and meticulous.
Able to bridge business, compliance, and technology needs.
Strong leadership and stakeholder management.
Risk-aware, compliance-focused, and adaptable