Enterprise Data Architect
- Location
- Atlanta, GA, US
- Level
- Staff / principal
- Experience
- 3+ years
- Education
- Bachelor's degree
- Job function
- Real Estate/Architecture › Architecture › Architect
Posted Nov 5, 2026Last confirmed open Nov 6, 2026
About this role
The Enterprise Data Architect will play a strategic role in shaping the future of our enterprise data ecosystem, driving architectural standards, governance, automation, and analytics enablement across the organization.
This is a unique opportunity to help establish and evolve a clean, scalable, and governed data foundation to support initiatives such as ERP integration, AI/ML enablement, SOX compliance and future acquisitions.
How You Will Impact Smurfit Westrock
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Data Architecture & Strategy
- Lead the design and execution of the enterprise-wide data architecture and roadmap, ensuring alignment with business goals, IT strategy, and compliance requirements.
- Establish target-state data capabilities across data ingestion, processing, consumption, governance, and security, for both on-prem and cloud platforms.
- Develop scalable, modular, and metadata-driven architectures that support analytics, reporting, and real-time operational workflows.
Data Governance & Management
- Define and enforce enterprise data standards, governance policies, and stewardship models in partnership with business and IT stakeholders.
- Lead master data management (MDM) strategy and implementation to ensure data consistency and integrity across systems.
- Drive compliance with regulatory mandates such as SOX, GDPR, and data privacy frameworks, ensuring data traceability and audit readiness.
Integration & Pipeline Standardization
- Establish architectural principles and reusable patterns for modern, automated data pipelines, supporting self-service BI, AI/ML, and operational analytics.
- Drive integration standardization across source systems (ERP, MES, CRM, WMS, etc.) and data platforms using scalable frameworks and automation tools.
Analytics & AI/ML Enablement
- Architect the foundation for analytics modernization, including support for real-time data, embedded analytics, and data science workloads.
- Define the platform strategy and readiness roadmap for AI/ML enablement, ensuring data pipelines are clean, governed, and scalable for model training and inference.
Enterprise & Organizational Leadership
- Act as a strategic advisor to business and IT leaders on all matters related to data architecture and governance.
- Facilitate workshops and governance councils to align stakeholders, define guardrails, and foster a data-driven culture.
- Mentor architects, analysts, and business users to improve data literacy, architecture maturity, and adoption of best practices.
- Lead enterprise data harmonization for M&A activity, ERP programs, and cross-platform integrations.
What You Need to Succeed
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- Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (Master's preferred).
- 10+ years in Information Technology, with 3+ years in enterprise data architecture or equivalent leadership role.
- Proven experience delivering enterprise-scale data strategies, architectures, and governance frameworks.
- Deep knowledge of:
- Data Lake, EDW, Data Warehouse, and MDM architectures
- Metadata management, data lineage, data quality frameworks
- Integration patterns (ETL/ELT, API, event streaming, batch, real-time)
- Compliance and governance standards (e.g., SOX, GDPR, CCPA)
- Architecture frameworks and modeling (TOGAF, DAMA, ArchiMate, etc.)
- Preferred Platforms and Tools:
- Palantir, Databricks, Snowflake, AWS Glue/Redshift, Azure Synapse
- Qlik, Informatica, SAP, Boomi, MuleSoft
- DataOps and CI/CD pipeline tooling
- Data cataloging and lineage tools (Collibra, Alation, etc.)
- Leadership and Soft Skills:
- Strong interpersonal and executive communication skills
- Ability to translate architectural direction into actionable strategy
- Experience leading cross-functional teams and CoEs
- Adept at stakeholder engagement and change enablement
What We Offer
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- Corporate culture based on loyalty, integrity, & respect.
- Comprehensive training with numerous learning and development opportunities.
- An attractive salary reflecting skills, competencies, and potential.
- A career with a global packaging company where Sustainability, Safety and Inclusion are business drivers and foundational elements of the daily work.
Prefer to apply directly?
Apply on Smurfit Westrock