Innovation and Technology Systems Architect

Department: Innovation and Technology DepartmentSalary: $108,851.00 - $156,473.59 Commensurate with Experience

Welcome to the City of Charlotte

Charlotte is America’s Queen City, opening her arms to a diverse and inclusive community of residents, businesses and visitors alike. Here you will find a safe, family-oriented city where people work together to help everyone thrive. The mission of the City of Charlotte is to deliver quality public services and promote the safety, health, and quality of life for all residents.

Our guiding principles include:

• Attracting and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce

• Valuing teamwork, openness, accountability, productivity, and employee development

• Providing all customers with courteous, responsive, accessible, and seamless quality services

• Taking initiative to identify, analyze, and solve problems

• Collaborating with stakeholders to make informed decisions

SUMMARY

Working Title: I&T Data Architect
Salary Range to Hire: $108,851 - $119,800 Commensurate with Experience

The City of Charlotte Innovation & Technology Services Department is seeking a strategic and technically proficient Data Architect to lead the design, governance, and optimization of enterprise data architecture for the organization. The Data Architect will play a pivotal role in enabling data-driven decision-making, supporting digital transformation, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

This role requires a forward-thinking professional capable of aligning data architecture initiatives with citywide business goals across public safety, public works, finance, transportation, permitting, and more. This role will work to reduce reputational risk and to improve trust in City data by strengthening quality, consistency, documentation, and accountability.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

·         Strengthen the City’s ability to deliver reliable reporting, analytics, artificial intelligence, and digital services by ensuring data are accessible, trusted, governed, secure, reusable, and aligned to business needs.

·         Develop and maintain enterprise data architecture standards, models, and documentation.

·         Map data flows across major City systems, applications, databases, integrations, and reporting tools.

·         Architect integrations between legacy systems, cloud platforms, and SaaS solutions such as Workday (ERP/HRIS), GIS (e.g., Esri), permitting systems, case management, Work and Asset Management (WAM), and public safety tools.

·         Support Cyber Security in the identification and validation of where restricted data are stored, how they move, who owns them, and how they are used

·         Partner with departments, application teams, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and analytics teams to improve data management practices.

·         Support I&T partners in assessing new technology initiatives for data architecture, integration, reporting, security, and long-term sustainability impacts.

·         Recommend improvements to reduce duplicate data, manual data movement, inconsistent reporting, and unmanaged integrations.

·         Support data governance efforts, including data definitions, stewardship, quality standards, retention, and access controls as well as document source systems, data lineage, integration patterns, metadata, and data dependencies.

·         Advise leadership on data risks, opportunities, and investment priorities.

• Embody a can-do attitude and a penchant for collaborative problem solving with data

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

·         Understanding principles around enterprise data architecture, data modeling, data integration, and data governance.

·         Demonstrated ability to apply experience with relational databases, data warehouses, data lakes, APIs, ETL/ELT processes, and cloud data platforms such as AWS, Snowflake, or similar technologies to support secure, reliable, and scalable enterprise data architecture.

·         Enterprise architecture concepts and how data architecture supports business applications and technology planning.

·         Data security, privacy, records retention, access control, and regulatory compliance (e.g., CJIS, HIPAA, FERPA, NIST).

·         Knowledge of metadata management, data lineage, master data management, and data quality practices and ability to establish enterprise visibility into where data resides, how it moves, and how it is used.

·         Business intelligence, analytics, reporting tools, and common public-sector data needs (e.g. CRM, MDM, addressing, asset management).

·         Knowledge of modern integration patterns, including APIs, file transfers, middleware, and event-based data movement.

·         Analyzing complex systems to understand data sources, dependencies, duplication, and integration needs and creating data models, data flow diagrams, architecture documentation, and technical standards.

·         Translating business needs into practical data architecture recommendations.

·         Evaluating technology solutions for data storage, integration, reporting, security, and governance impacts.

·         Ability to identify long-term impacts of technology and data decisions and identifying data risks and recommending practical improvements.

·         Ability to develop standards that balance governance, usability, security, and operational practicality.

·         Ability to work across organizational boundaries and build consensus around shared data practices while communicating technical data concepts clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.

·         Ability to explain risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations in a way that supports executive decision-making and organizing complex information into clear documentation, roadmaps, and decision materials.

Required Qualifications

·         Experience designing, documenting, or supporting data architecture, data models, databases, data integrations, or enterprise reporting environments.

·         Experience working with relational databases, data warehouses, APIs, ETL/ELT processes, and business intelligence platforms.

·         Experience analyzing how data moves between systems, applications, reports, and business processes.

·         Experience developing or applying data standards, governance practices, data quality rules, or documentation.

·         Experience working with technical teams, business users, vendors, and leadership to translate business needs into data solutions.

·         Experience creating technical documentation such as data flow diagrams, source-to-target mappings, system inventories, or architecture recommendations.

Preferred Qualifications

·         Experience in a large public-sector, utility, transportation, public safety, finance, or similarly complex enterprise environment.

·         Experience supporting enterprise architecture, technology governance, application modernization, or major system implementation projects.

·         Experience with cloud data platforms (e.g. AWS), data lakes, SQL Server, or similar tools.

·         Experience with metadata management, master data management, data lineage, data catalogs, or data stewardship programs.

·         Experience reviewing vendor systems or SaaS solutions for data storage, integration, reporting, security, and long-term support impacts.

·         Experience supporting open data, geospatial data, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, or digital service initiatives.

·         Experience helping establish a new data governance, data architecture, or enterprise data management function.

Minimum Education and Experience

Bachelor's Level Degree and five (5) years of related experience in data architecture, database administration, data engineering, business intelligence, systems integration, enterprise architecture, or data governance;

OR

Master's Level Degree and three (3) years of related experience in data architecture, data engineering, enterprise data management, analytics, information systems, computer science, public administration, or a closely related field;

OR

An equivalent combination of education and relevant experience that provides the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully perform the essential job duties.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes, but is not limited to: reference checks, social security verification, education verification, criminal conviction record check, and, if applicable, a credit history check, sex offender registry and motor vehicle records check.

Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidate’s written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report, motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.

Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination. During the selection process, candidates may be asked to take a skills test, and/or participate in other assessments.

The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or on the basis of actual or perceived gender as expressed through dress, appearance, or behavior.

Our culture is to serve the community honorably.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online.

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job.

You are welcome to visit the City of Charlotte Human Resources Department lobby, where self-service application kiosks are available. They are located in our office at 700 East 4th Street, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28202. We are open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EST), excluding official City holidays.

For questions about your application or the hiring process, please email [email protected].

The City of Charlotte is committed to making our services and programs accessible to all. Upon request, auxiliary aids, written materials in alternate formats, language access, and other reasonable accommodations or modifications will be provided. To make a request, please fill out the Innovation & Technology ADA request form or call 704.336.4120.

BENEFITS

The City of Charlotte provides a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees.

Clickhereto learn more about the City of Charlotte’s benefits.

The City of Charlotte is a drug and alcohol-free workplace.