Job Title: Business Data Architect – Digital Project Delivery (Azure Databricks Lakehouse)

Why this role

Southern Company is advancing Digital Project Delivery to improve how data is created, governed, integrated, and used across large capital projects, with a primary focus on generation. These projects generate and rely on complex data spanning engineering, design, construction, commissioning, asset handover, schedule, cost, contracts, and document controls. When structured well, this data improves project execution, decision-making, risk management, reporting, and long-term asset value.

As the Business Data Architect for Digital Project Delivery, you will define how project and business data is structured, governed, and connected across the project lifecycle. You will also serve as a key architecture partner to the technology organization, helping shape the target-state Azure Databricks Lakehouse, integration approach, and platform capabilities needed to support project delivery data at enterprise scale. You will help establish the data foundations that enable consistency across major capital programs, improve interoperability between systems and delivery partners, and support better visibility into project performance and outcomes. This is a highly visible, cross-functional role where your decisions will influence how Southern Company manages project information and digital delivery capabilities for years to come.

About the role

You will lead the business data architecture for Digital Project Delivery while partnering closely with enterprise architecture, platform engineering, integration teams, and cybersecurity to define how project data should be structured, governed, integrated, and delivered through the Azure Databricks Lakehouse and related enterprise platforms. This role is expected to provide technically credible leadership on lakehouse design principles, data movement patterns, integration architecture, environment strategy, and platform/tool selection decisions that affect scalability, operability, security, and long-term supportability. You will define the data domains, business structures, standards, and integration patterns needed to support major capital projects from planning and design through construction, turnover, and operations readiness.

You will partner with project teams, engineering, construction, supply chain, PMO, IT, enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, vendors, and business stakeholders to translate project delivery needs into scalable and governed data solutions. This role leads the business data architecture for Digital Project Delivery and serves as a key partner to technology architecture and engineering teams in shaping the target lakehouse, integration, and information management capabilities required to support major capital projects. The role ensures business data requirements are translated into scalable, secure, and governable platform and integration patterns across the enterprise. The role also helps drive architecture reviews, technology decision-making, and governance approvals required to enable new data platform capabilities, integration services, and supporting tools.

What you will do

Own the business data architecture and strategic direction for Digital Project Delivery, including core data domains, business definitions, information flows, and data standards across the capital project lifecycle.

Define and govern the data structures required to support major generation capital projects, including project, asset, engineering, document, model, cost, schedule, contract, materials, work package, commissioning, and turnover data.

Establish common business data models, taxonomies, hierarchies, reference data, and naming conventions to improve consistency and interoperability across projects, business units, systems, and external partners.

Partner with business and technical teams to map how project data is created, transformed, handed off, and consumed across engineering, procurement, construction, project controls, and operations.

Lead the definition of business rules, data quality standards, stewardship expectations, and governance processes for critical project data elements.
Define the target-state data architecture patterns for the Digital Project Delivery lakehouse, including domain-aligned data organization, layered/medallion design, curated data products, semantic consumption patterns, and lifecycle management of project data.

Define integration and information exchange patterns that support Digital Project Delivery use cases, including handoffs between project management, engineering design, construction management, document management, asset, and enterprise reporting systems.

Lead evaluation and recommendation of data ingestion, replication, and integration patterns across source systems and the lakehouse, including batch, CDC, replication, API-based, file-based, and event-driven approaches, in partnership with enterprise integration and platform teams.]]
Provide architecture leadership on technology choices that impact Digital Project Delivery data capabilities, including assessment of platform-native services and enterprise tools for data movement, replication, transformation, orchestration, and operational supportability (for example, evaluating when SSIS, GoldenGate, Azure-native services, Databricks-native capabilities, or other approved enterprise tools are appropriate).

Collaborate with enterprise architects and technology teams to align business data requirements with system architecture, platform capabilities, and enterprise data standards.

Serve as the primary business architecture representative in discussions with the technology organization regarding lakehouse design, tool selection, nonfunctional requirements, environment strategy, operational model, and enterprise approval pathways for new capabilities or platforms.

Support the development of digital thread and lifecycle information management capabilities so project data can be trusted and reused from design through construction and into operations.

Partner with cybersecurity, privacy, records management, and compliance teams to ensure appropriate controls for access, retention, classification, and protection of project and engineering information.

Guide project teams and delivery partners in applying data standards and information management practices consistently across major capital programs.

Provide architectural oversight for vendors, EPC partners, consultants, and system integrators to ensure alignment with Southern Company’s Digital Project Delivery data standards and governance expectations.

Lead architecture reviews, maintain reference models and decision documentation, and build roadmaps that mature project data management capabilities over time.

Develop architecture position papers, decision frameworks, and recommendation packages that support enterprise review boards, funding discussions, exception requests, and approval processes for data platform and integration capabilities (for example, helping secure approval for services such as LakeBase or other enabling technologies).

Help identify opportunities to improve project reporting, analytics, forecasting, and decision support through better business data design and governance.

Evaluate emerging capabilities, standards, and tools that strengthen digital delivery, information interoperability, and lifecycle data management for capital projects.

Partner with platform engineering and data engineering teams to define implementation guardrails for observability, lineage, access control, DevSecOps, release management, and production support expectations within the lakehouse ecosystem.

What success looks like

A trusted and governed business data foundation for Digital Project Delivery across major generation capital projects.

Clear and reusable data structures, definitions, and standards that improve consistency across projects and delivery partners.

Improved quality, traceability, and usability of project information across engineering, construction, turnover, and handover to operations.

Reduced integration complexity and better alignment between business processes, project systems, and reporting needs.

Stronger decision support through better visibility into project cost, schedule, scope, risk, and asset-related data.

A practical roadmap that aligns Digital Project Delivery data investments with business priorities, project execution needs, and long-term asset value.

A clearly defined target-state lakehouse and integration architecture, with documented design principles, tool recommendations, and approved patterns for ingestion, storage, transformation, governance, and consumption.
Stronger alignment and decision velocity between business and technology organizations on platform direction, architectural standards, and enabling capabilities needed for Digital Project Delivery.
Technology and platform decisions that are well-justified, supportable, secure, and aligned to enterprise standards while still meeting project delivery needs.

What you bring (required)

Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related discipline, and at least 8 years of progressive experience in data architecture, data engineering, or analytics platform engineering, including at least 3 years in a senior architecture or technical leadership role.

Platform: A deep understanding and experience running an enterprise-scale Azure Databricks Lakehouse, with hands-on depth in Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, and Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2.

Data movement: You have designed and delivered CDC and replication from source systems into a lakehouse or warehouse, supporting batch and near-real-time loads

Modeling and governance: You are strong in data modeling (dimensional, Data Vault, or canonical models) and in governing data quality, metadata, lineage, and security controls such as role-based access, classification, and masking.

Standards leadership: You have established architecture standards, run architecture reviews, and driven adoption of engineering practices across delivery teams.

Communication: You communicate and influence effectively with executives, engineers, vendors, and business stakeholders, and you can balance business priorities, risk, and cost in your decisions.

Architecture decision-making: You have experience evaluating and recommending data platform, integration, and tooling options based on business fit, technical fit, operational supportability, security, cost, and enterprise alignment.
Enterprise partnership: You are comfortable working across business, enterprise architecture, infrastructure, cybersecurity, integration, and platform engineering teams to drive approvals, resolve tradeoffs, and establish implementation direction.
Integration strategy: You understand common enterprise data movement and orchestration patterns and can credibly compare options such as ETL/ELT, replication, CDC, APIs, messaging, file exchange, and platform-native integration services.

What sets you apart (preferred)

Experience supporting Digital Project Delivery, capital project information management, or major project data programs in the utility, energy, EPC, industrial, or infrastructure sectors.

Familiarity with generation project delivery processes and data associated with engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, startup, and handover to operations.

Experience working with project delivery, engineering, asset, document, model, or construction systems such as Primavera, Unifier, EcoSys, Hexagon, Bentley, Autodesk, Procore, Aconex, OpenText, or similar platforms.

Knowledge of digital twin, digital thread, asset lifecycle information management, BIM/CDE concepts, or handover information requirements for capital projects.

Understanding of utility business processes, governance expectations, and regulatory considerations relevant to generation capital investments.

Experience working in Agile, hybrid, or product-oriented delivery models within large enterprises.

Master’s degree, architecture certification, data management certification, or relevant utility / project delivery certifications.

Experience shaping or governing Azure-based data platforms and enterprise integration patterns in partnership with central IT or platform organizations.
Familiarity with architecture review boards, technology exception processes, security review processes, and enterprise platform approval workflows.
Experience comparing or implementing enterprise data movement technologies such as SSIS, GoldenGate, Informatica, Azure Data Factory, event streaming, or similar tools in a lakehouse or warehouse context

What we value

Business value mindset. You deliver business outcomes, not just technical solutions.

Ownership and accountability. You take personal responsibility for commitments and follow through without needing close oversight.

Collaborative leadership. You build trust across business and technology teams and influence constructively at every level.

Constructive courage. You challenge assumptions and raise concerns early, with diplomacy and candor, even when it is unpopular.

Stewardship and integrity. You act as a trusted steward of enterprise data, holding to high standards of security, compliance, and integrity.
Technical judgment. You make practical, well-reasoned architecture decisions that balance flexibility, standardization, delivery speed, supportability, and risk.

About the company

Southern Company owns regulated electric and natural gas utilities that serve homes and businesses across the southeastern United States, chiefly through Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power. Its Southern Nuclear unit runs eight nuclear reactors at three plants in Georgia and Alabama for its sister utilities. The electric utilities generate power from gas, nuclear, coal, hydro and solar plants and deliver it over their own transmission and distribution lines, while state regulators set the rates customers pay and the returns the company earns. A separate gas arm distributes natural gas in several states. Southern Company was formed in 1945 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Atlanta, Georgia

Founded

1912

Get referred to Southern Company

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

Profits are climbing: earnings for April through June 2026 reached $1.2 billion, up from $0.9 billion a year earlier.
Cheap federal debt funds expansion: a $26.5 billion Energy Department loan in February 2026 backs 16 gigawatts of projects.
A long build-out means years of project work: Southern raised its five-year spending plan to $81 billion in February 2026.

What critics are saying

Growth leans on a few tech giants: Google, Meta and Microsoft anchor its 10 gigawatts of large-load contracts.
Household bills draw political heat: Georgia's governor joined a July 2026 pledge to shield residents from data-center power costs.
Labor talks are coming: union contracts covering about 32% of Southern staff expire between 2026 and 2030.

What makes Southern Company unique

Southern built the only US reactors finished since 2016: Vogtle Units 3 and 4, in service by April 2024.
Georgia Power's prices are set by elected officials: voters choose the five Public Service Commissioners who approve its rates.
Southern's gas business reaches beyond its power region: its Nicor Gas utility serves northern Illinois.

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Benefits

Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
401(k) Retirement Plan
401(k) Company Match
Performance Bonus
Tuition Reimbursement
Hybrid Work Options

Company News

Interesting Engineering

Oct 16th, 2026

World's first fast-spectrum molten chloride reactor experiment nears critical testing.

World's first fast-spectrum molten chloride reactor experiment nears critical testing. Southern Company, INL and CORE POWER are working to close a major knowledge gap in advanced nuclear engineering. A nuclear experiment backed by the U.S. Department of Energy could deliver crucial operating data for next-generation reactors as early as 2027. The Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE) aims to test a fast-spectrum molten chloride salt reactor under sustained fission conditions. Its results could help engineers move the technology closer to commercial use. The DOE has approved additional cost-shared funding to accelerate the experiment's final development stage. Southern Company, Idaho National Laboratory and CORE POWER are collaborating on the project through the department's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. Testing a different reactor design. Unlike conventional reactors, which typically use solid fuel, molten salt reactor designs can dissolve nuclear fuel in liquid salt. MCRE will investigate a chloride-based system that operates with a fast neutron spectrum. Fast neutrons retain more energy than the thermal neutrons used in many conventional reactors. This difference influences how nuclear fuel behaves and how a reactor sustains fission. Engineers need experimental evidence to understand those effects and refine their designs. MCRE aims to become the world's first fast-spectrum molten chloride reactor experiment to achieve criticality. That milestone occurs when a reactor sustains a controlled nuclear chain reaction. Idaho National Laboratory will help researchers gather direct measurements of the reactor's behavior during operation. Associate Laboratory Director Jess Gehin said engineers currently rely on models to predict how this reactor design will perform.

TEISS

Oct 15th, 2026

Southern Company says attacker accessed data on 400,000 utility accounts through online portal.

Southern Company says attacker accessed data on 400,000 utility accounts through online portal. Southern Company, the Atlanta-based electric and natural gas holding company, disclosed a data breach affecting about 400,000 utility customer accounts after an unauthorized third party accessed limited information through its online customer portal. The company issued a public statement Oct. 5, 2026, and is notifying affected customers by mail and email. About 300,000 of the affected accounts belong to Georgia Power customers, and another 100,000 belong to Alabama Power, which has a customer base of 1.6 million. Mississippi Power customers were also named in the public notice, but the company did not release a figure for them. The information involved varied by individual and may include names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, the last four digits of business tax identification numbers and other basic account details. The company said the attacker did not gain access to bank account numbers, payment card numbers or driver's license numbers. Southern Company said it took immediate steps to stop the unauthorized activity when it detected it and has engaged law enforcement. The company has not said when the intrusion occurred or how the attacker gained access to the portal, and the attacker's identity has not been publicly confirmed. Customers are being offered one year of free credit monitoring. Southern Company serves millions of customers through subsidiaries that include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power. Two law firms, Edelson Lechtzin LLP and Ademi LLP, said they are investigating potential claims related to the breach.

Chief Executive Group

Oct 5th, 2026

Southern Company CEO Chris Womack: 'never stop raising the bar'

Southern Company CEO Chris Womack: 'never stop raising the bar' Womack leads the energy company with one maxim above all others: Great is not good enough if you stop getting better. There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who receive an award and see it as a chance to take a break. And those who see it as a reason to work that much harder. Southern Company CEO Chris Womack is most assuredly in the latter category. He leads his prolific energy company with one maxim above all others: Great is not good enough if you stop getting better. Womack knows what he's talking about. Southern Company, which serves more than nine million customers across the U.S., was recently ranked No. 1 in the oil and gas industry on Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies list. That's a real feather in the cap. Womack and his staff achieved this mark through the idea that "getting better" is not just a slogan. Instead, Womack pushes his staff to clearly define "better," benchmark it and show others how to achieve it. Of course, this is the kind of focus that comes from someone who has been with an organization for several decades. Indeed, the Alabama-born CEO has had Southern Company on his business card since 1988. Let that sink in - that's 38 years of service. "We challenge ourselves very, very forthrightly about not becoming complacent," Womack explained to me on a recent episode of the Corporate Competitor Podcast. "Especially in terms of not relishing being No. 1." Athletes will tell you. Any team can come from behind to beat you. No lead is totally safe. Womack, a former player for Western Michigan University on the baseball diamond, knows that well. That's why he doesn't believe any victory is worth a day off. "We have to keep getting better," he told me. "We have to keep moving the bar, raising the bar, elevating the bar, stepping up our game to continue to be successful." Womack talked about all this and more on the podcast, including: - Be adaptable. He believes that adaptability is a strength for both individuals and businesses. The CEO, who had to adapt when he left rural Alabama for college in Michigan, benefited from being malleable then. As a hitter, you never know what pitch is coming at you next. The same is true in business. - Vulnerability is not weakness. Over the years, Womack has learned that sharing stories, fears, hopes - these things strengthen bonds and relationships. They demonstrate a shared humanity. So, as a leader in business, he doesn't shy away from vulnerable moments. He leans into them. "We're all in this together," he says. - Employees are people. In the old days, many companies told their employees to leave their baggage at the door. But Womack calls this practice "completely unrealistic," adding, "that's not real life." Instead, he fosters an environment where employees are free to express what's going on in their lives outside of the job. That way their workplace feels more like home. Over the last 30 years, longtime Associate Editor for Sports Illustrated and 13-time New York Times Best-Selling Author Don Yaeger has been blessed to interview the greatest winners of its generation. He has made a second career as a keynote speaker and executive coach, discerning habits of high performance to teach teams how to reach their full potential.

Carpenter Media Group

Oct 1st, 2026

Georgia regents name former Southern Company leader Fanning as next chancellor.

Georgia regents name former Southern Company leader Fanning as next chancellor. Published 1:28 pm Thursday, October 1, 2026 By Ty Tagami, Capitol Beat News Service | Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... | ATLANTA - Georgia's Board of Regents formalized the hiring Thursday of the next leader of the state's 25 public colleges and universities, naming Thomas A. Fanning as chancellor. The former president and CEO of Southern Company will take control of the University System of Georgia on Jan. 1, the day after Sonny Perdue retires. The regents named Fanning sole finalist last month. "As a proud USG graduate, I know firsthand the transformative power of this system," Fanning said in a statement. The Georgia Tech graduate, who went on to earn a master's degree there, said his priorities are to ensure college remains accessible, to support innovation and to drive the state's economy with talented graduates. Fanning led Southern Company from 2010 to 2023. He also chaired the Cybersecurity Advisory Committee of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. After leading the university system for four years, Perdue announced his retirement in April, prompting a five-month search for his successor. Perdue served as agriculture secretary for President Donald Trump during his first term in the White House and as Georgia's first Republican governor since Reconstruction starting in 2003.

[your]NEWS

Sep 15th, 2026

Southern Company secures record $26.5B DOE loan for data centre power build-out

The US Department of Energy has approved a $26.5 billion loan to Southern Company through Georgia Power and Alabama Power, the largest in the agency's history. Georgia Power receives approximately $22.4 billion whilst Alabama Power gets roughly $4.1 billion. The 30-year loans will finance over 16 gigawatts of power capacity, including gas turbines, nuclear upgrades, batteries, and 1,300 miles of transmission infrastructure. Officials tout $7 billion in customer savings and $300 million annual interest cost reductions for Southern Company. The financing targets data centre growth and manufacturing expansion. Critics argue the subsidised borrowing costs benefit shareholders whilst construction costs enter the rate base, ultimately paid by customers. Current rate freezes in Georgia and Alabama have expiration dates. The loan reduces Southern Company's borrowing costs but doesn't guarantee lower household bills, as assets remain company-owned and ratepayer-funded.

Southern Company

Business Data Architect - Digital Project Delivery, Azure Databricks Lakehouse

About the job