Sr. Data Architect

A leading consulting firm is seeking an experienced Senior Data Architect for a 6 month contract to hire role in Salt Lake City, UT. This role will provide strategic and hands on expertise in enterprise data architecture, data modeling, data warehousing, and analytics design. The role will partner closely with Enterprise Architecture, Business Intelligence and Data Platform teams, application owners, database administrators, and business stakeholders to establish scalable enterprise data models and architecture standards that strengthen enterprise reporting and analytics capabilities. The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in conceptual, logical, and physical data modeling, dimensional modeling, SQL Server, semantic models, data integration, and governance, along with experience supporting modern cloud based analytics platforms. The consultant will also provide architectural guidance as the organization evaluates its future analytics platform while continuing to operate its existing Azure Synapse Analytics environment. You'll be part of a collaborative team delivering innovative analytics solutions that help organizations modernize operations and make smarter, data driven decisions. You'll have the opportunity to work on enterprise scale ERP and business intelligence initiatives, collaborate with experienced professionals, and leverage the latest Microsoft technologies to create impactful reporting solutions. If you're passionate about turning complex data into meaningful insights and want to help clients solve real business challenges through modern analytics, we'd love to hear from you. Your future duties and responsibilities How you'll make an impact . Design and maintain enterprise conceptual, logical, and physical data models, establishing canonical business entities, enterprise data domains, naming conventions, and reusable modeling standards. . Architect scalable enterprise data solutions supporting business intelligence, reporting, analytics, data warehousing, and institutional decision making requirements. . Design and optimize dimensional data models, including star and snowflake schemas, semantic structures, and reusable analytical models for enterprise reporting. . Evaluate existing data structures, warehouse models, and analytics architectures; identify gaps and recommend improvements for scalability, maintainability, performance, consistency, and reuse. . Partner with Business Intelligence, Data Platform, Enterprise Architecture, application, and DBA teams to resolve complex data design challenges and ensure alignment with enterprise architecture standards. . Define and recommend scalable ETL/ELT and enterprise data integration patterns, including integrations across ERP systems, enterprise applications, data platforms, and analytics solutions. . Establish and promote data governance, metadata management, architecture documentation, reference architectures, and data modeling standards while contributing to the organization's long term data strategy. . Mentor BI and Data Platform engineers, conduct architecture/design reviews, and provide knowledge transfer while supporting analytics modernization initiatives involving Azure Synapse, Microsoft Fabric, and other Azure Data Platform technologies. Required qualifications to be successful in this role What you'll bring . Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science, or a related discipline, with a minimum of 7+ years of enterprise data architecture and data modeling experience. . Expert level experience developing conceptual, logical, and physical data models, including enterprise data domains, canonical models, data modeling standards, and architecture documentation. . Extensive experience with dimensional modeling, enterprise data warehouse architecture, star/snowflake schemas, and scalable data structures supporting BI and analytics. . Strong hands on experience with SQL Server and T SQL, including complex data analysis, database design, performance considerations, and enterprise data integration. . Experience designing enterprise reporting, analytics, and semantic models, including Power BI semantic models or equivalent business intelligence technologies. . Strong understanding of ETL/ELT architecture, data integration patterns, metadata management, data lineage, data quality, and enterprise data governance practices. . Experience with modern cloud based analytics/data platforms, preferably Azure Synapse Analytics, Microsoft Fabric, and broader Azure Data Platform technologies; experience modernizing enterprise analytics platforms is highly desirable. . Strong architecture, analytical, documentation, communication, and mentoring skills; experience with higher education, Ellucian Banner ERP, DAMA practices, or relevant Microsoft/Azure certifications is an advantage.