Data Architect Fabric Platform Lead

About Mother Parkers

Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee stands as one of North America's top tea and coffee producers, committed to enhancing the beverage experience for its customers. Serving major retailers and foodservice chains, the company leverages cutting-edge technology and innovation to support customer growth and product quality. The team is passionate about their craft, proud of over a century of success, and eager to shape a promising future.

Role Overview

Reporting directly to the Senior Manager of BI Analytics & Applied AI, the Data Architect & Fabric Platform Lead is a pivotal role tasked with defining and overseeing the enterprise data architecture and the Microsoft Fabric platform. This position champions technical leadership around data engineering, platform upgrades, governance, and solution design to establish scalable, secure, and dependable data foundations that power reporting, analytics, AI, and informed business decisions. Leading the Microsoft Fabric ecosystem's advancement at Mother Parkers, the role sets architecture standards, drives modernization, mentors technical teams, and collaborates closely with business and IT stakeholders to deliver robust data solutions. The role is accountable for the BI organization's Data Engineering & Platform capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the strategy and roadmap for enterprise data architecture and the Microsoft Fabric platform.
• Convert business needs into scalable architectures, solution designs, and actionable implementation plans.
• Design and oversee systems such as OneLake, Lakehouse, Data Warehouse, Medallion Architecture (Bronze, Silver, Gold), Data Pipelines, Semantic Models, and enterprise data products.
• Architect enterprise data platforms that support reporting, analytics, automation, and AI.
• Create parameterized ingestion frameworks for batch, incremental, and near real-time data integration from diverse sources including databases, APIs, files, ERP systems, and other applications.
• Enhance data pipeline and query performance through advanced engineering techniques including partitioning, incremental loading, Direct Lake architecture, and scalable patterns.
• Implement CI/CD, deployment automation, source control, and environment management with Azure DevOps and Microsoft Fabric tools.
• Establish data engineering standards, reusable frameworks, governance processes, and best practices throughout the BI team.
• Define and enforce protocols for data quality, security, metadata management, lineage, documentation, dictionaries, and lifecycle management.
• Manage platform resources including Microsoft Fabric and Azure capacity, performance monitoring, and cloud cost optimization.
• Support organization-wide initiatives in data governance, cybersecurity, compliance, and enterprise architecture within analytics.
• Develop AI-ready data architectures that facilitate machine learning, generative AI, Copilot, and other AI initiatives.
• Offer architectural guidance for AI, advanced analytics, and data science to ensure scalability and security.
• Set technical standards for reusable AI-ready datasets and enterprise data products.
• Lead architecture reviews, code audits, mentorship, and knowledge-sharing among data engineering and analytics teams.
• Collaborate with business and technology partners to align technical solutions with corporate goals and standards.
• Research emerging technologies to propose innovations enhancing scalability, governance, automation, and value.
• Drive modernization projects, including migrating and optimizing legacy BI, database, and integration systems into Microsoft Fabric.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, Software Engineering, Data Engineering, Information Systems, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• At least 7 years' background in Data Architecture, Data Engineering, Warehousing, Business Intelligence, or associated domains.
• Minimum 2-3 years in a Data Architect, Technical Lead, or Senior Data Engineering Lead role.
• Proven ability to design and deploy large-scale cloud data platforms.
• Experience leading architecture efforts, platform upgrades, and managing technical teams.
• Familiarity with Agile, Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid project management methods.
• Preferred experience in CPG, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Procurement, or ERP-influenced settings.
• Expertise with Microsoft Fabric components including OneLake, Lakehouse, Warehouses, Data Pipelines, Notebooks, Semantic Models, and cloud data platforms.
• Strong understanding of Medallion Architecture, Data Warehousing, Lakehouse principles, and cloud-native data patterns.
• Proficient in T-SQL, SSIS/DTS, relational databases, and enterprise data modeling.
• Hands-on experience with Python, Spark/PySpark, REST APIs, and modern data engineering methodologies.
• Capability in crafting scalable data ingestion systems for varied data formats and enterprise apps.
• Solid knowledge of database, ETL/ELT, and query performance tuning techniques.
• Competence in data preparation and modeling for BI and analytics objectives.
• Advanced Power BI skills including Power Query, M Query, DAX, Semantic Models, Direct Lake architecture, Import Models, aggregations, and star schema design.
• Comprehensive grasp of Data Governance, Quality, Master Data Management, Metadata, Security, and Lineage standards.
• Experience managing Azure and Fabric usage, performance, and cost optimization.
• Implementation experience of CI/CD pipelines, source control, release management, and deployment automation using Azure DevOps.
• Understanding of AI concepts including Machine Learning, Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Copilot architecture, and enterprise AI data frameworks.
• Experience designing data architectures to support AI, predictive analytics, and advanced analytics use cases.
• Proven track record in conducting architecture and code reviews as well as mentoring technical teams.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, communication, and documentation skills.
• Ability to juggle multiple priorities in a fast-moving environment.
• Knowledge of ERP systems, especially Dynamics 365 and/or CRM, considered a valuable asset.

Compensation and Benefits

• Competitive Total Rewards package including health benefits starting day one.
• Employer-matched retirement savings plans.
• Optional Health or Wellness Spending Accounts.
• Employee discounts on company coffee and tea products.
• Annual Safety Shoes program emphasizing workplace safety.
• Tuition Assistance program supporting ongoing learning and self-development.
• Salary range for this position is between $132,000 and $140,000 annually.

Additional Information

This role is for a current or newly created vacancy. The hiring process incorporates AI-enabled tools to assist in selections but all final hiring decisions are made by people. Mother Parkers does not accept unsolicited resumes from agencies or search firms. Only candidates meeting minimum qualifications will be contacted. The company is committed to accommodations for persons with disabilities during any phase of the hiring process. Applicants consent to the company's privacy policy regarding information handling.