Lead Cloud Architect

The work we do has an impact on millions of lives, and you can be a part of it.

We help protect our customers against life’s uncertainties. Regardless of where you work within the company, you’ll be helping provide protection and peace of mind when our customers need it most.

We are seeking a skilled individual to assist our team in designing and integrating our data platform with our existing cloud infrastructure. The candidate will be responsible for creating documentation and designs necessary for obtaining approval from various departments such as security, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise architecture. 

The ideal candidate should possess strong communication skills and a commitment to extensive documentation. They will collaborate with an existing development team that, while highly experienced and capable of implementing any design, expects to be involved in all design decisions without being accountable for the final product. 

Additionally, this role involves articulating the vision of the data platform to the wider data community, ensuring it meets business requirements and enhances self-service capabilities for business data teams. 

The candidate will also be charged with designing AI and Data Science delivery patterns for our data science team, recommending the infrastructure and tools needed to empower the data science team's success. 

Responsibilities

•  Strategic Leadership and Planning: Define and execute a comprehensive data strategy, ensuring alignment with our business goals and technological capabilities. Drive the development and implementation of plans to phase out legacy systems, transitioning to advanced, scalable data platforms. 
• Strategic Leadership: Guide the strategic direction for our data architecture, ensuring alignment with our business goals and technological capabilities. 
• Collaboration and Integration: Foster strong collaborative relationships across departments, including IT Security, Cloud Infrastructure, and Business Units, to ensure seamless integration and adoption of the data platform. 
• Innovation and Design: Spearhead the design of innovative data solutions that enhance data accessibility, reliability, and scalability. This includes leading the adoption of AI and Data Science delivery patterns. 
• Team Development: Lead and mentor a talented team of data architects and engineers, promoting a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous learning. 
• Stakeholder Engagement: Act as the primary advocate for the data platform, communicating its value and capabilities to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. 
• Technology Evangelism: Stay at the forefront of emerging data technologies and practices, integrating them into our ecosystem to drive continuous improvement and competitive advantage. 
• Organizational and Planning Excellence: Demonstrate exceptional organizational skills, with a proven ability to manage multiple priorities, stakeholders, and projects efficiently. 

What They Will Need

•  Educational Background: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field. A Master's degree or equivalent experience is highly desirable. 
• Proven Experience: At least 8 years of experience in data platform architecture, with a strong preference for candidates who have led cloud-based, large-scale data initiatives. 
• Technical Expertise: Deep understanding of cloud architectures (Azure, AWS) and experience with modern data technologies (e.g., Spark, AKS, Databricks). 
• Leadership Skills: Demonstrated ability to lead and grow teams, with a passion for mentoring and developing talent. 
• Strategic Thinking: Strong strategic and analytical capabilities, with the ability to translate business needs into architectural solutions. 
• Communication Mastery: Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, capable of engaging effectively across all levels of the organization. 
• Organizational Prowess: Highly organized and proficient in planning, with a strong track record of successfully managing complex projects and timelines. 

What Would Be Nice To Have

• Industry Credentials: Certifications in cloud architecture, data engineering, or related fields. 
• Innovation Track Record: A portfolio of innovative data projects that have delivered measurable business impact. 
• Broad Technical Acumen: Experience with a wide range of technologies including data modeling, container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes), and DevSecOps practices. 

Protective’s targeted salary range for this position is $119,500 to $151,015. Actual salaries may vary depending on factors, including but not limited to, job location, skills, and experience. The range listed is just one component of Protective’s total compensation package for employees.

This position also offers additional incentive opportunities through an annual incentive based on individual and Company performance.

We aim to protect our employees' wellbeing through a broad benefits offering. For example, we protect physical wellbeing through health, dental and vision insurance. We protect mental wellbeing through mental health benefits and an employee assistance program. We protect time away from work with a variety of paid time away benefits (e.g., paid time off, paid parental leave, short-term disability, and a cultural observance day). We protect financial wellbeing through contributions to healthcare accounts, a pension plan, and a 401(k) plan with Company matching. All employees are encouraged to protect their overall wellbeing by engaging in ProHealth Rewards, Protective’s platform to improve wellbeing while earning cash rewards.

Eligibility for certain benefits may vary by position in accordance with the terms of the Company’s benefit plans.

Diversity and Inclusion:

At Protective, we are committed to providing an inclusive culture where all employees are able to fully contribute and thrive. Our goal is to grow and develop our people, attract diverse talent and support strong, diverse communities.

We support diversity, equity, and inclusion by working to develop a culture of inclusion and belonging led by leaders who develop potential and embrace all skills and abilities. Our aim is to create an equitable environment for all leaders and employees that will drive performance and impact business strategy. In this way, we can increase overall diversity for leadership roles and pipelines of talent by maturing our hiring practices, robust development opportunities and focus on retention of key talent.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to being inclusive and attracting, retaining, and growing the talents of a diverse and inclusive workforce.

If you require an accommodation to complete the application and recruitment process due to a disability, please email [email protected] information will be held in confidence and used only to determine an appropriate accommodation for the application and recruitment process.

Please note that the above email is solely for individuals with disabilities requesting an accommodation. General employment questions should not be sent through this process.