Principal Data Architect

Company: Metric5
Location: Washington
Posted on: February 21, 2026

Job Description:

Job Description Job Description Metric5 provides a range of technical services to our clients, including data management, data architecture, data quality, and other data services, enabling our customers to maximize the value of their data and make better data-informed decisions. We need a client-facing technical leader who can also assist in the development of Metric5 products and services that span our customer base. Our customers are users of Databricks and other COTS products, as well as a number of open-source data tools and environments. The Principal Data Architect is a high-impact, senior-level role responsible for defining and driving the technical vision, strategy, and roadmap for our modern data platform that supports Federal Government customers, including DHS/USCIS, USPTO, and Treasury. This role requires a blend of deep architectural expertise, strategic oversight, and hands-on technical leadership, along with exceptional coordination, communication, and collaboration with internal teams and customer stakeholders. The consultant will serve as the technical authority and a key liaison, ensuring that platform development aligns precisely with customer priorities and mission objectives. Key Responsibilities Strategic & Visionary Leadership • Architectural Roadmap: Define and articulate a multi-year technical vision and roadmap for the data lake, encompassing data ingestion, processing, storage, governance, and consumption layers. Design and maintain complex conceptual, logical, and physical data models that align business requirements with scalable technical architecture. • Customer Service & Priority Alignment: Act as the primary technical interface for customer stakeholders, ensuring all architectural decisions and development activities directly address and prioritize the customer's mission-critical needs and objectives. • Innovation & CoE Leadership: Serve as a technical leader in driving innovation across the data platform and actively implement initiatives defined by the existing Center of Excellence (CoE) and Innovation teams. Technical Oversight, Coordination, & Collaboration • Team Collaboration & Mentorship: Collaborate closely with cross-functional development, data science, and engineering teams (DevSecOps, AWS, Databricks) to translate architecture into actionable implementation plans, providing guidance and mentorship to ensure technical excellence and adherence to standards. • Technical Coordination: Coordinate and synchronize technical activities across multiple workstreams (data ingestion, graph services, and data consumption) to manage interdependencies, mitigate risks, and ensure the timely delivery of integrated solutions. • Solution Design (Databricks Focus): Lead end-to-end technical design and architecture reviews, focusing on optimal use of Databricks E2/Delta Lake features. • Interface Management: Architect robust and secure interfaces for both internal and external data exchange, managing technical discussions with various data source owners (internal/external to USCIS). • Code Review & Quality: Lead code and design reviews to uphold high-quality standards, ensuring scalability, security, and maintainability across the Python, Scala, Apache Groovy, and PL/SQL code base. Required Technical Experience Data Platform & COTS Expertise (Growth Areas) • Unified Data Analytics Mastery: Expert-level proficiency and architectural experience with Databricks E2, Delta Lake, and MlFlow. • Graph Data Services & Identity Resolution: Mandatory, deep, and proven experience in architecting solutions centered on Graph Data and Entity Resolution, specifically leveraging Senzing (Senzing Runtime API v3.10.2). • Social/Unstructured Data: Familiarity with integrating and utilizing platforms like Sprinklr and CopyStorm into the Delta Lake architecture. Experience in Dimensional Modeling (Star/Snowflake) and Data Vault. Cloud Architecture (AWS Mastery) • Core Services: Expert-level knowledge of AWS foundational services, including S3, EC2, RDS (PostgreSQL), ELB, DMS, and EBS. • Data Warehousing/Querying: Extensive experience designing and optimizing solutions using AWS Redshift, AWS Athena, and AWS Glue. • Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Proficiency in defining and managing infrastructure using CloudFormation Templates (CFT). Development & DevOps Environment • Languages: Expert-level proficiency in at least two of the primary data lake languages: Python, SQL, Scala, or Apache Groovy. • CI/CD: Experience with Jenkins/Liquibase deployment strategies across AWS Commercial Cloud and OpenShift. • Containerization/Orchestration: Experience with OpenShift, Docker/Kubernetes, and optionally EKS. Qualifications Mandatory Requirements • Citizenship & Clearance: Must be a U.S. Citizen and capable of obtaining/maintaining appropriate government clearance. • Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related field. • 12 years of progressive experience in data architecture, with at least 5 years in a senior or principal role defining data lake or modern data warehouse strategies. Highly Desired Experience & Soft Skills • Federal Experience: Prior experience supporting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), or similar federal customers is highly valuable. • Communication & Coordination: Proven track record of successful coordination and communication with diverse teams (developers, product owners, QA, and customer leadership) in a complex enterprise environment. • Collaboration Focus: Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, foster a collaborative team environment, and drive consensus on complex technical decisions. • Demonstrated experience in a technical leadership capacity, specifically driving architecture around Databricks/Delta Lake and Graph Data Services. About Metric5 Metric5 is a small business with big company benefits. We have a passionate team of smart, fun, caring professionals, and we are here for the long haul. Join our growing team in a business where your contributions make an enormous impact. Our organization offers a comprehensive employee benefits package, continuous professional development, with a best in class company culture that is enjoyable to work in and supports the growth of each of our professionals. Our benefits include: Health & Dental Insurance with 100% of individual coverage paid for by the company Vision Insurance Life & Short Term Disability Insurance 401k with company match (employees are immediately vested) Paid Vacation 9 Paid Holidays per year (plus 2 paid floating holidays) Parental Leave Employee Bonuses Professional Development Reimbursement Program Tuition Assistance Program Metric5 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

Keywords: Metric5, Towson , Principal Data Architect, IT / Software / Systems , Washington, Maryland