"The financial services sector is rapidly evolving, especially in payments and merchant services where data drives competitive advantage. Companies are seeking senior data architects who can design robust, scalable data platforms to support these critical operations. This full\u2011time role offers a chance to shape the data landscape for commercial banking across multiple US hubs.\n\n# Job Summary\nWe are looking for a Senior Data Architect to lead the design, implementation, and governance of data solutions for commercial banking, with a focus on payments and merchant services. The role will operate in a hybrid environment across Dallas, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, collaborating with cross\u2011functional teams to ensure data reliability, security, and scalability.\n\n# Top 3 Critical Skills Table\n| Skill | Why it's critical | Mastery Level |\n|-------|-------------------|--------------|\n| Data Modeling & Architecture | Enables coherent, enterprise\u2011wide data structures that support complex banking transactions. | Senior |\n| Cloud & Hybrid Data Platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure) | Powers scalable, secure data pipelines for high\u2011volume payments processing. | Senior |\n| Payments & Merchant Services Domain Knowledge | Guarantees compliance, fraud detection, and optimal data flow specific to commercial banking. | Senior |\n\n# Interview Preparation\n1. **How would you design a data lake for high\u2011volume payment transactions?**\n - *What the interviewer is looking for:* Understanding of ingestion, storage tiers, security, and downstream analytics.\n2. **Explain the trade\u2011offs between using a relational database vs. a NoSQL store for merchant data.**\n - *What the interviewer is looking for:* Ability to evaluate consistency, scalability, and query patterns.\n3. **Describe your approach to data governance in a hybrid (on\u2011prem + cloud) environment.**\n - *What the interviewer is looking for:* Knowledge of metadata management, lineage, and regulatory compliance.\n4. **What strategies would you employ to ensure low\u2011latency data delivery for real\u2011time fraud detection?**\n - *What the interviewer is looking for:* Experience with streaming platforms, caching, and near\u2011real\u2011time pipelines.\n5. **Can you walk us through a complex data migration you led within a banking context?**\n - *What the interviewer is looking for:* Project management, risk mitigation, and technical execution skills.\n\n# Resume Optimization\n- Senior Data Architect\n- Commercial Banking\n- Payments\n- Merchant Services\n- Data Modeling\n- Cloud Architecture (AWS/Azure)\n- Hybrid Data Platforms\n- Data Governance\n- ETL/ELT pipelines\n- Big Data & Real\u2011time Analytics\n\n# Application Strategy\nWhen emailing the recruiter, start with a brief greeting, attach your polished resume, and explicitly highlight your top skills that match the role. Make sure to mention related skills you possess, such as **Data Modeling**, **Cloud Architecture**, and **Payments Domain Knowledge**, and reference any projects where you built or modernized data platforms for financial services.\n\n# Career Roadmap\n| Current Role | Typical Experience | Core Focus | Next Position |\n|--------------|-------------------|------------|---------------|\n| Senior Data Architect | 7\u201110 years in data engineering/architecture | Enterprise data strategy, governance, and payments\u2011specific solutions | Lead Data Architect / Data Architecture Manager |\n"