Data Solution Architect

Role: Data Solution Architect Location: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Onsite)

up to 40,000 SAR pm dependent on experience Engagement Type: Full-Time, 12 month Contract

About Our Client Our client is a leading organization undertaking a massive, mission-critical data transformation.

On their behalf, we are seeking an elite Data Solution Architect to pioneer the design, implementation, and hardening of a massive enterprise on-prem Data Lakehouse.

This is a high-visibility role for a true visionary who thrives in deep-tech enterprise environments, blending advanced architectural strategy with hands-on technical governance.

Role Summary As the Data Solution Architect, you will lead the end-to-end architecture of a production-grade, on-prem Data Lakehouse utilizing Cloudera CDP 7.3.1 .

You will define the Target State Architecture (TSA) across platform, data, integration, and security layers.

Your core mission will be establishing a structured Medallion model (Bronze/Silver/Gold) and a robust Lambda Architecture that converges high-throughput batch processes with low-latency streaming paths.

Additionally, you will architect a custom, metadata-driven Declarative Rules Engine for enterprise-wide business validations and design a highly secure, audit-ready Data Governance framework utilizing Cloudera Shared Data Experience (SDX).

Architecture & Platform Topology (CDP 7.3.1): Lead the HLD/LLD for the Lakehouse.

Size clusters, define storage/compute topologies (HDFS/Ozone, YARN), and strategically select table formats/engines based on workload fits ( Iceberg, Hudi, Kudu, HBase, and Phoenix ).

Establish performance guardrails against small-file issues and optimize compaction.

Medallion & Data Modeling: Define data contracts, schema evolution rules, folder/table naming conventions, and DQ checkpoints across Bronze, Silver, and Gold layers.

Unify serving models for OLAP (Impala) and low-latency lookups (Phoenix).

Lambda Architecture (Batch + Speed): Design batch pipelines using Informatica BDM (DEI) and Spark/Hive for bulk ingestion and SCD Type 1/2 processing.

Concurrently, design real-time streaming paths using NiFi/Kafka, Hudi (for incremental upserts), and Kudu/HBase for sub-second access.

Declarative Rules Engine: Architect a JSON/YAML or DB-driven rules engine to manage validations, survivorship, and PII handling.

Ensure the runtime engine is seamlessly callable via Informatica maplets, Spark, and streaming processors.

Enterprise Governance & Security: Harden perimeter security via Knox, Kerberos, TLS, and AD/LDAP.

Implement Ranger RBAC, tag-based policies, and row/column masking.

Stand up Apache Atlas for end-to-end lineage capture and data classifications.

DevOps, Observability & DR: Establish CI/CD pipelines for cluster configs and rules packs.

Build comprehensive SLA/SLO dashboards in Cloudera Manager.

Architect a resilient Disaster Recovery plan using BDR/Replication Manager and lead semi-annual DR drills.

Stakeholder Leadership: Act as the technical authority at Architecture Review Boards (ARB).

Collaborate with Domain SMEs, Security, and Platform Teams.

Mentor and guide engineering teams on SQL optimization and pipeline best practices.

10+ years of dedicated data architecture/engineering experience, with at least 3 5+ years specifically architecting production-grade environments on Cloudera (CDH/CDP) .

Lakehouse Delivery: Proven track record of designing and delivering on-prem Lakehouses leveraging Medallion and Lambda architectures.

Informatica Expertise: Deep understanding of Informatica DEI (BDM) suite for framework design, parameterization, and pushdown execution to Spark/Hive.

Storage & Query Engines: Practical, deep technical exposure to Apache Iceberg, Apache Hudi, Apache Kudu, HBase + Phoenix, Hive 3, and Impala (including partitioning, compaction, and cost-based tuning).

Security & SDX: Expert-level knowledge of Kerberos, TLS, AD/LDAP, Ranger policies, and Atlas lineage tracking within the Cloudera SDX ecosystem.

Rules & Frameworks: Experience designing metadata-driven rules engines and DQ frameworks for both streaming and batch data.

Operations: Strong Linux fundamentals, Git, and CI/CD automation.

Advanced Kafka patterns (exactly-once processing, schema registry, compaction) and CDC from relational databases.

Familiarity with Apache Ozone, KMS/Key Trustee, and security compliance in air-gapped deployments .

Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) mindset: managed SLOs, error budgets, and chaos/drill exercises.

Relevant certifications: Cloudera CDP Certified Architect, Informatica Certifications, or Security certifications (e.g., CISSP/CCSP).

operating within strictly regulated environments (PII, PCI, SOX).

What Success Looks Like (Key Metrics & KPIs)

High Availability: Maintaining $ge 99.9%$ platform availability for production clusters.

Data Integrity: Achieving $ge 95%$ end-to-end lineage coverage across the ecosystem with zero critical access violations.

Data Quality: Ensuring $ge 99.5%$ completeness for priority data entities.

SLA Adherence: Keeping pipeline SLA adherence $ge 98%$ for both batch and real-time streams.

Resiliency: Maintaining strict RPO/RTO parameters validated by at least two successful DR drills annually.

Platform: Cloudera CDP 7.3.1 (Cloudera Manager, HDFS/Ozone, YARN, Hive 3, Impala, Spark, NiFi, Kafka, Ranger, Atlas, Knox).

Formats: Iceberg, Hudi, Kudu, HBase, Phoenix, Parquet, ORC, Avro.

ETL/Automation: Informatica BDM, Git, Jenkins/Azure DevOps, Ansible/Terraform.

Metadata/Backends: PostgreSQL, MySQL.

If you are an elite Data Architect looking to make a lasting impact on a large-scale enterprise transformation in KSA, we want to hear from you.

Please submit your CV along with a summary of your experience delivering Cloudera CDP on-prem architectures.