Data Architect | Mandarin Speaking

Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Department: Technology

Workplace: hybrid

Employment Type: full

Description

The Architect Office is seeking an experienced solution architect/data architect to lead the data domain solution design across LifeByte's technology ecosystem. This role is pivotal in defining and executing our data strategy, bridging the gap between business requirements and technical implementation.

You will be responsible for designing scalable, secure, and high-performance data architectures that support our trading platforms, risk management systems, regulatory reporting, and business intelligence initiatives. Working closely with engineering, data, risk, and product teams, you will establish standards, reference architectures, and governance frameworks that enable safe, fast delivery at scale.

Key Responsibilities

Architecture & Solution Design

• Define end-to-end data platform architecture spanning ingestion, storage, processing, and serving layers, leveraging MySQL for OLTP workloads and Snowflake, StarRocks, and ClickHouse for analytical and reporting needs
• Design batch and real-time data pipelines for trading, risk, regulatory, and customer data, establishing clear SLAs with consumers
• Create reference architectures and decision frameworks for data-intensive services, determining optimal use cases for each technology (e.g., when to use StarRocks vs. ClickHouse for specific analytical workloads)
• Design data models and storage strategies balancing transactional consistency (MySQL), analytical performance (StarRocks/ClickHouse), and cost efficiency (Snowflake)

Technical Leadership

• Lead architectural reviews and provide strategic guidance to domain teams on data strategy, technology choices, and scalability
• Drive the adoption of modern architectural patterns including event-driven architecture, data mesh, and lakehouse paradigms
• Partner with engineering, analytics, and product teams to deliver robust, business-aligned data solutions
• Mentor data engineers and analysts on architectural best practices

Data Governance & Compliance

• Establish data governance frameworks including data classification, lineage tracking, quality standards, and security requirements across our MySQL and data warehouse environments
• Collaborate with Risk, Finance, and Compliance teams to ensure data architectures meet regulatory and audit requirements (e.g., MAS, FCA, GDPR, DORA)
• Define and promote golden sources of trusted data as the foundation for analytics and decision-making
• Implement data privacy, security, and governance principles to meet enterprise and regulatory expectations

Innovation & Strategy

• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend improvements to strengthen the organization's data ecosystem
• Optimize query performance and cost efficiency across Snowflake, StarRocks, and ClickHouse
• Provide strategic insights to senior leadership on leveraging data and analytics for competitive advantage
• Contribute to the evolution of our data strategy, ensuring alignment with business objectives and industry trends

Requirements

Experience & Domain Knowledge

• 7–14 years of experience in data engineering and/or data architecture, with at least 3+ years in an architecture or principal engineer role
• Proven track record designing and scaling data platforms in financial services, trading, or other regulated, high-volume environments
• Deep understanding of CFD/trading data domains: customer, account, transaction, trading, portfolios, positions, risk, and regulatory reporting
• Experience designing solutions in regulated environments with strong data privacy, security, and compliance requirements

Technical Skills

• Operational Databases: Strong experience with MySQL, including data modeling, replication, and integration with analytical platforms
• Data Warehousing: Deep expertise with Snowflake, StarRocks, and ClickHouse, including:
• Designing efficient table structures and partitioning strategies
• Query optimization and performance tuning
• Data ingestion patterns (batch and real-time)
• Cost management and workload optimization
• Data Processing: Experience with data integration tools and pipelines connecting MySQL to Snowflake/StarRocks/ClickHouse; familiarity with Kafka, Flink, or similar streaming technologies
• Data Modeling: Proficiency in data modeling techniques (3NF, dimensional, data vault) and tools; experience designing for both OLTP (MySQL) and OLAP (Snowflake/StarRocks/ClickHouse) workloads
• Data Governance: Understanding of data governance, metadata management, and data cataloging tools (e.g., Purview, Collibra, or similar)
• Programming: Strong SQL skills; proficiency in Python or Scala for data pipeline development

Soft Skills

• Excellent stakeholder management and collaboration skills across technical and business teams
• Strong ability to communicate complex architectural concepts to both technical teams and non-technical stakeholders
• Proven mentorship and coaching abilities for engineering teams
• Strategic thinking with ability to provide insights to senior leadership
• Experience influencing organizational practices, standards, and tool selection across multiple teams

Nice to Have

• Experience with specific financial industry data models (e.g., BIAN)
• Knowledge of real-time analytics architectures leveraging StarRocks or ClickHouse
• Experience with data quality frameworks and testing strategies for batch and streaming pipelines
• Familiarity with infrastructure as code, DevOps, and DataOps practices
• Relevant cloud certifications (AWS, AWS Lambda, AWS EMR, AWS Athena, AWS Glue)
• Experience with Snowpipe, Kafka, or other real-time data ingestion tools

Benefits

• Competitive salary and performance-based bonuses.
• Opportunities for career growth and development within a global company.
• Collaborative and inclusive work environment with exposure to cross-region operations.
• Health and wellness benefits.
• Flexible working arrangements.