Lead Data Architect

About Us

At J.Jill, we believe our associates should be seen, valued, and celebrated. We support the advancement of our associates by harnessing their unique contributions to grow and improve, and our success is guided by a culture that values keeping it simple and making it matter. J.Jill is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing an inclusive and professional workplace free from discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at J.Jill are based solely upon business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy and pregnancy related conditions, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, sexual orientation, sexual and reproductive health decisions, age, marital status, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status or any other legally protected status. J.Jill provides reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals, in accordance with applicable laws.  If you need to inquire about an accommodation to assist with completing the application process, please email [email protected].

Overview

J. Jill is strengthening its data, analytics, and master data management capabilities to support consistent enterprise reporting, better business decisions, and artificial intelligence. The Lead Data Architect owns the technical architecture for the Databricks Lakehouse, master data management, data governance, and the AI capabilities built on that foundation.

Responsibilities

Enterprise Data Architecture and Databricks Platform

• Develop and maintain the enterprise data, analytics, and AI architecture roadmap, including target-state patterns for integration, data analytics, migration, master data, and data lifecycle management across cloud and on-premises platforms.
• Own the end-to-end Databricks Lakehouse architecture, including medallion layers, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, workspace and cluster policies, orchestration, role-based access, observability, recovery, and cost management.
• Design and build material components using PySpark and SQL; establish reusable patterns for ingestion, change data capture, transformation, data products, schema evolution, testing, and deployment.
• Define authoritative sources, ownership, publishing patterns, and downstream responsibilities for customer, product, inventory, vendor, location, and transactional data.

Master Data Management

• Architect enterprise master data to consolidate data sources, field definitions and values, repository and distribution strategy, customer identity resolution, golden records, householding, customer history, and appropriate lakehouse-as-CDP patterns.
• Own master data architecture for item, customer, vendor, and location, including canonical models, match and merge logic, survivorship, hierarchy management, and system-of-record decisions.
• Define the interface between the MDM platform and lakehouse so governed master data supports operational, analytics, and AI needs without duplicating business rules.

Data Governance Quality and Stewardship

• Lead the enterprise data governance and stewardship forum with business data owners, Legal, Compliance, Security, and technology teams; define ownership, decision rights, approvals, and escalation paths.
• Maintain a business glossary and metadata catalog covering definitions, schemas, lineage, ownership, classification, and approved uses, including data held or processed by third parties.
• Establish measurable standards for data accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, uniqueness, validity, reconciliation, and observability; route issues to accountable owners and address root causes.
• Ensure shared business intelligence measures use governed sources and consistent calculations.

Privacy, Security, Compliance and Lifecycle

• Define data classification, access, encryption, masking, consent, retention, and handling controls based on sensitivity, business value, and applicable requirements.
• Partner with Legal and Compliance to translate CCPA, CPRA, GDPR, audit, and retention requirements into verifiable technical controls, including Unity Catalog policies and right-to-delete workflows.
• Coordinate data creation, maintenance, archival, and deletion across production and third-party systems, and define compliant nonproduction refresh and masking strategies.

Strategic Data Integration and AI Enablement

• Define data contracts for Merch planning and allocation systems, ecommerce, product lifecycle management, finance, customer platforms, and other strategic consumers, including grain, ownership, cadence, quality, security, reconciliation, and change management.
• Design governed return paths for forecasts, recommendations, segments, and other derived outputs from the lakehouse to operational systems.
• Define approved Databricks AI and GenAI patterns, including AI/BI Genie, retrieval-augmented generation, feature management, and model serving, and establish a roadmap for customer segmentation, propensity, churn, and lifetime value capabilities.
• Govern AI-assisted development through approved tools, security and intellectual property controls, code-review standards, team enablement, and measured productivity and quality improvements.

Technical Leadership and Business Partnership

• Set architecture and engineering standards, lead design and code reviews, and make timely decisions on patterns, exceptions, technical debt, and production outcomes.
• Mentor data engineers, marketing technology engineers, analysts, and other contributors; provide hands-on leadership for work requiring architecture depth.
• Facilitate decisions with merchandising, planning, marketing, finance, digital commerce, supply chain, customer, Legal, and Compliance stakeholders, explaining technical concepts clearly to business audiences.

Benefits, Tailored for You.

• Bonus eligible
• 401(k) retirement plan with discretionary match and tuition reimbursement.
• Medical, dental, vision, company paid LTD/STD, and generous amount of paid time off.
• Office includes amenities such as a café, fitness center, free parking and Red Line shuttle.
• Generous associate discount; group discounts on auto, pet and homeowner insurance.
• Discount Marketplace for travel, consumer products, food, auto buying, etc.
• Associate resource groups.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, data management, statistics, mathematics, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 10 years of experience in data architecture, engineering, management, stewardship, or related roles, including at least 5 years with enterprise data architecture, lakehouse platforms (eg Databricks, Snowflake, Microsoft Fabric) , Data modeling, SQL, governance, and data quality, with demonstrated technical leadership through architecture decisions, reviews, mentoring, stakeholder facilitation, and direct delivery.
• At least 4 years of hands-on production Databricks experience at scale, including ownership of a medallion or equivalent lakehouse architecture from design through operation.
• Strong PySpark and SQL skills with practical experience in Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, workflow orchestration, production pipelines and change data capture from relational sources such as Oracle and SQL Server.
• Experience designing Retail product repository, customer data platform, identity resolution, or MDM capabilities and working with ERP, ecommerce, customer, product, inventory, and transactional data.
• Demonstrated knowledge of metadata, lineage, lifecycle management, privacy, and technical controls for access, consent, masking, retention, and deletion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced Databricks, data management, governance, or data quality certification.
• Retail, fashion, apparel, or direct-to-consumer experience across merchandising, inventory, order management, customer, marketing, and ecommerce data.
• Experience integrating Retail planning, ECOM, CDP, and Finance platforms with a Lakehouse or enterprise data platform.
• Hands-on experience with MLflow, feature stores, model serving, Azure data services, and commercial MDM, CDP, or PIM/PLM platforms.

Physical Requirements

• Sedentary work, prolonged periods of time working at a desk and on a computer.  
• Ability to communicate information and observe details at close range.
• Light to moderate lifting may be required

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by associates assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of this position.

Our Brand

At J.Jill, we’re redefining what it means to dress and live with ease. As a women-led, Boston-based lifestyle brand with 200+ stores nationwide, we design thoughtful, inspired apparel and accessories that celebrate the totality of all women. We’re entering an exciting chapter of growth — expanding our footprint, reaching new customers, and deepening long-standing relationships. We're seeking bold thinkers and doers to join us. With competitive pay and benefits, a supportive culture, and the chance to make a real impact, this is more than a job, it’s an opportunity to bring our ethos keep it simple, make it matter to life in new and inspiring ways.

Compensation: 130000 to 150000 (USD)