Data Architect - Enterprise Data Strategy & Architecture

Data Architect - Enterprise Data Strategy & Architecture

Durban, South Africa | Posted on 15/09/2026

We are seeking an experienced Data Architect to lead the development of an Enterprise Data Strategy and establish a scalable, secure, and governed data architecture capability. The successful candidate will partner with business stakeholders, IT leadership, security teams, architects, and data owners to define a future-state data environment that enables digital transformation, advanced analytics, AI, data science, and business intelligence initiatives.

This role combines strategic data leadership with hands‑on architecture, governance, and roadmap development.

Responsibilities

Enterprise Data Strategy

• Develop and define an enterprise-wide data strategy aligned to business objectives.
• Assess current data capabilities, maturity, and opportunities.
• Create a multi-year roadmap for data transformation and modernization.
• Identify and prioritize strategic data initiatives that drive business value.
• Align data strategy with organizational policies, standards, privacy, and compliance requirements.
• Develop current-state and target-state enterprise data architectures.
• Create conceptual, logical, and high-level physical data models.
• Define enterprise data architecture principles, standards, and best practices.
• Design architecture patterns for data integration, storage, governance, and consumption.
• Assess existing data platforms and recommend future-state technologies.
• Identify opportunities to improve data pipelines, data flows, and information management processes.

Data Governance & Data Management

• Establish enterprise data governance frameworks and operating models.
• Define data ownership, stewardship, and accountability structures.
• Develop recommendations for data quality management and controls.
• Define metadata management and master data management requirements.
• Recommend data classification, retention, security, and access management standards.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory, privacy, and information security requirements.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Facilitate workshops and interviews with business and technology stakeholders.
• Collaborate with executive leadership, architects, data owners, and vendor partners.
• Present findings, recommendations, and strategic roadmaps to senior management.
• Build alignment across business units on enterprise data priorities and governance standards.

Discovery & Assessment

• Current-State Data Landscape Assessment
• Data Flow and Integration Assessment
• Data Maturity Assessment
• Gap Analysis and Opportunity Assessment
• Enterprise Data Strategy
• Data Maturity Development Plan

Governance

• Data Governance Framework
• Data Ownership Model
• Data Stewardship Model
• Data Quality Framework Recommendations
• Data Security and Classification Framework
• Target-State Data Architecture
• Data Architecture Principles and Standards
• Technology and Platform Recommendations
• Data Integration Improvement Recommendations

Qualifications

• Matric and a Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related discipline.
• TOGAF
• DAMA CDMP
• AWS Data & Analytics Certifications
• Google Cloud Data Certifications

Experience

• Minimum 8-10 years' experience in Data Architecture, Data Management, or Enterprise Architecture roles.
• Strong experience establishing Data Governance frameworks and operating models.
• Experience conducting Data Maturity Assessments and roadmap development.
• Experience engaging senior business and executive stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of data security, privacy, compliance, and risk management.
• Experience supporting AI, advanced analytics, business intelligence, data science, and digital transformation initiatives.

Technical Expertise

Strong knowledge of:

• Data Governance & Data Management
• Data Modeling (Conceptual, Logical, Physical)
• Master Data Management (MDM)
• Metadata Management
• Data Quality Management
• Data Warehousing & Data Lakes
• Data Integration & ETL/ELT Solutions
• Data Security & Privacy FrameworksBusiness Intelligence & Analytics Platforms
• Data Strategy and Transformation Programs

#J-18808-Ljbffr