Architect of Data Architecture

Our vision for the future is based on the idea that transforming financial lives starts by giving our people the freedom to transform their own. We have a flexible work environment, and fluid career paths. We not only encourage but celebrate internal mobility. We also recognize the importance of purpose, well-being, and work-life balance. Within Empower and our communities, we work hard to create a welcoming and inclusive environment, and our associates dedicate thousands of hours to volunteering for causes that matter most to them.

Chart your own path and grow your career while helping more customers achieve financial freedom. Empower Yourself.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time, including CPT/OPT.

The Data Architect will serve as a hands-on technical expert and solution architecture contributor, helping design Empower ’s cloud and data architecture. This role will partner with enterprise architects, senior architects, business leaders, IT teams, and Empower ’s Innovation Lab to shape solution architectures, support modernization initiatives, explore emerging technologies including Generative AI and Advanced Analytics, and translate experimentation into practical patterns and recommendations for delivery teams.
What you will do:

-
Partner with Enterprise Architects, Senior Architects, and cross functional teams, including business stakeholders, to shape solution architectures aligned to a unified IT data strategy.

-
Contribute to Empower ’s technology roadmap by documenting target state architectures, reference architectures, and key dependencies for supported initiatives.

-
Design and support modernization and migration of complex systems to scalable, secure, and cost optimized cloud architectures, working with delivery teams through implementation.

-
Evaluate and prototype new technologies and applications, challenge existing approaches constructively, and provide input into business cases and recommendations.

-
Apply and help operationalize architectural standards, best practices, and governance expectations, supporting consistent adoption through guidance and enablement.

-
Collaborate closely with business and engineering teams to design end to end solutions that meet strategic, technical, and operational objectives.

-
Provide architectural guidance in process design, system orchestration, and enterprise integration to enable cohesive and efficient technology ecosystems.

-
Champion security, resilience, and scalability as core design principles across data platforms and data solutions.

-
Contribute to architecture discipline maturity by producing reusable patterns, decision documentation, and lessons learned that improve consistency and delivery speed.

-
Support full stack development teams through solution design and implementation, improving long term scalability, performance, and cost outcomes.

What you will bring :

-
Bachelor’s and/or master’s degree in computer science or related field, such as information systems, mathematics, or software engineering, or equivalent experience.

-
At least 5 years of experience delivering data-intensive solutions, for example in data engineering, analytics engineering, data platforms, BI, or related roles.

-
At least 1 year of demonstrated solution design ownership for moderately complex initiatives, gained as an architect or as a senior engineer or technical lead responsible for end-to-end design, architectural trade-offs, and guiding implementation.

-
Proven experience in multiple data focused roles, including Data Engineer, ETL/ELT, Data Architect, Database Administrator, BI or Analytics Engineer, Data Science, data governance, or a similar field.

-
Competency in architecture frameworks, performance optimization, and addressing cross cutting concerns including availability, caching, monitoring, scalability, and security.

-
Stro