Principal Data Architect at Syndesus – Newport Beach, California

Principal Data Architect – Modern Data Platforms & Data Mesh San Jose, CA | Newport Beach, CA | Hybrid (2–3 days onsite)
Role OverviewWe are seeking a highly experienced, hands-on Principal Data Architect to define the strategic vision for a next-generation, petabyte-scale data platform and lead the transition from centralized to decentralized data management. This is a principal-level role — the bar goes well beyond senior. We are looking for someone with demonstrated long tenure at complex, large-scale data environments who has driven real architectural transformation, not just advised on it.The core mandate is data decentralization — moving from a monolithic data warehouse model to a Data Mesh paradigm — alongside modernizing data security, governance, and real-time capabilities. Consulting backgrounds and serial short-tenure candidates will face significant additional scrutiny; we want people who have gone deep and have the organizational impact to show for it.
What You'll DoStrategic Architecture & Data Mesh

• Lead the design and implementation of a scalable, decentralized Data Mesh architecture; define domain boundaries, data products, and federated governance standards
• Drive the organization from centralized to decentralized data management — change management experience is as important as technical depth
• Establish data contracts and self-service analytics capabilities across the organization

Hands-On Engineering Leadership

• Architect and prototype resilient data pipelines using Databricks, Snowflake, and Spark, ensuring high availability and low latency
• Drive adoption of open table formats (Delta Lake, Apache Iceberg) for ACID compliance, time travel, and schema evolution across the data lakehouse
• Troubleshoot complex performance bottlenecks in distributed systems

Data Security & Governance

• Architect advanced data security patterns including dynamic data masking, tokenization, and row-level security
• Implement centralized discovery and access control using Unity Catalog or equivalent enterprise data catalogs
• Implement technical controls for data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA) including encryption at rest and in transit

Real-Time & Event-Driven Systems

• Design and deploy high-throughput streaming architectures using Kafka or Pulsar for real-time data ingestion and processing
• Deep understanding of workflow orchestration tools (Airflow, dbt, Dagster)

MLOps & Analytics Integration

• Build robust MLOps pipelines and feature stores bridging data engineering and production AI/ML
• Collaborate with data scientists to operationalize machine learning models end-to-end

Technical Leadership & Culture

• Mentor senior data engineers and architects; foster a culture of technical excellence and "Data as a Product" thinking
• Treat data pipelines as code — strict CI/CD, unit testing, and version control practices expected

About YouExperience & Background

• 10+ years of software and data engineering experience, with a significant portion in technical leadership or architecture
• FAANG or Big Tech background strongly preferred
• Proven track record at large-scale enterprise environments — petabyte-scale data infrastructure is the baseline expectation
• Long tenure at key roles is a strong positive signal; we are not looking for contract-to-contract backgrounds or candidates with a pattern of 1–2 year stints
• Consulting backgrounds are not disqualifying but will be scrutinized — be prepared to speak specifically to what you owned vs. what you touched

Technical Requirements

• Data Mesh: proven experience transforming monolithic data warehouses into decentralized Data Mesh architectures including federated governance
• Platforms: deep hands-on expertise with Databricks and Snowflake including compute optimization and cost management
• Big strong proficiency in Apache Spark, Delta Lake, Iceberg, and Hudi
• Coding: expert-level Python, SQL, and Scala/Java nice to have
• Streaming: Kafka or Kinesis; orchestration via Airflow, dbt, or Dagster
• Governance: hands-on with Unity Catalog, Alation, or Collibra
• MLOps: solid understanding of model registry, feature stores, and model serving

Location & Work ModelHybrid position based out of San Jose, CA or Newport Beach, CA — candidates must be within commutable distance of one of these two offices. Onsite 2–3 days per week expected. Out-of-area candidates considered only in exceptional circumstances and held to a significantly higher bar.
CompensationCompetitive base compensation commensurate with experience. 25% target bonus. Full benefits including medical/dental/vision, retirement plans, paid parental leave, and paid time off.