Principal Data Architect (Snowflake)

At Sparq, we help companies solve the right problems—not just build more technology. We’re a modern product engineering partner blending strategy, craftsmanship, and speed to help organizations modernize confidently in the age of AI. From data ecosystems to digital products and AI acceleration, we turn complexity into clarity and ideas into impact. If you’re driven to build what’s next, lead with empathy, and deliver excellence without ego, you’ll feel right at home at Sparq. *C2C is not available* *Must be authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship* **Why you will enjoy Mondays again:** - Opportunity to work alongside a talented, diverse team in a collaborative and creative environment - Ongoing investment in your growth through training, mentorship, and industry certifications - Hands-on exposure to cutting-edge technologies across multiple industries - Recognition programs and employee awards within an inclusive culture that celebrates great work, including our AI Innovators Program - Remote or hybrid work options - Competitive salary + bonus opportunities - Robust benefits package, matching 401(k) plan, and substantial PTO - Tuition reimbursement **A Day in the Life:** We are seeking a Principal Data Architect with deep Snowflake expertise to lead the design and evolution of a modern, cloud-native data platform. You will be responsible for architecting medallion/lakehouse patterns, enforcing data governance across sensitive and regulated datasets, and translating architectural decisions into clear commercial trade-offs for stakeholders. This is a hands-on architecture role with real influence over platform direction. - Design and evolve scalable Snowflake-based data architectures incorporating medallion and lakehouse patterns with robust schema evolution strategies - Architect and implement data governance and security frameworks including classification, tagging, RBAC, and dynamic data masking for PII and regulated data using Snowflake Horizon - Lead integration design across the ingestion stack, including Fivetran, CData, dbt, Snowpark, and Salesforce as a primary source system - Collaborate with Azure data platform teams to design storage, networking, and private connectivity patterns, with strong knowledge of Azure SQL source systems - Actively leverage AI tools to streamline work and champion AI adoption across your team - Build consumption and cost forecasting models; articulate architectural trade-offs and their business implications to executive stakeholders - Define and enforce standards for data modeling, pipeline design, data quality, lineage, and observability across the platform - Partner with data engineering, analytics, security, and compliance teams to ensure platform decisions align with regulatory requirements - Mentor engineers and elevate system-level thinking across the team **What it takes:** - Deep, hands-on Snowflake architecture experience; SnowPro Advanced: Architect certification strongly preferred - Proven track record designing medallion/lakehouse patterns and managing schema evolution at enterprise scale - Strong Azure data-platform experience including storage, networking, and private connectivity, with knowledge of Azure SQL source systems - Expert-level understanding of data governance and security: classification, tagging, RBAC, dynamic data masking, and Snowflake Horizon for sensitive and regulated PII - Hands-on familiarity with the modern ingestion tool landscape: Fivetran, CData, dbt, Snowpark, and Salesforce as a data source - Ability to build consumption and cost forecasts and translate technical decisions into commercial trade-offs for executive audiences - Hands-on experience using AI tools to enhance daily work, or a strong desire to do so, including a willingness to experiment, learn, and champion AI adoption within your role - Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex architectural concepts to technical, business, and executive stakeholders - Expos…