Principal Data Architect

job summary:

Randstad is seeking a Principal Data Architect to lead the strategic design and technical evolution of the Labor Management Operations ecosystem for a major rail transportation leader in Washington, DC. As a key technical authority with over 15 years of experience, you will bridge the gap between legacy mainframe environments and modern, near-real-time streaming architectures. You will be responsible for defining the overall information architecture, ensuring data integrity across a complex portfolio, and setting the enterprise standards for data modeling, API contracts, and security. This is a high-impact role that combines visionary architectural leadership with deep technical expertise in high-performance database tuning and event-driven systems.

location: Washington, Washington, D.C.

job type: Contract

salary: $75 - 85 per hour

work hours: 9am to 5pm

education: Bachelors



responsibilities:

Architectural Leadership: Lead the design and implementation of the technical information architecture for the Labor Management ecosystem, ensuring alignment with enterprise security and performance standards.

Data Modeling: Create and maintain conceptual, logical, and physical data models, including standardized event schemas and API contracts.

Modernization & Integration: Analyze legacy mainframe data systems to inform future-state migrations and develop high-performance pipelines for real-time data transformation and Change Data Capture (CDC).

System Optimization: Perform advanced database programming and query tuning to maintain peak performance and verify data integrity across the portfolio.

Governance & Standards: Establish and implement policies for database management, security, and utilization, contributing directly to the refinement of Enterprise Information Management (EIM) standards.

Mentorship: Provide technical guidance, research new information technologies, and mentor engineering teams on best practices for information design and implementation.

qualifications:

Experience: Minimum of 15+ years of related work experience in Data Management, specifically within Labor and Transportation systems.

Industry Knowledge: Previous experience in the Rail industry is highly preferred.

Technical Mastery: Demonstrated expertise in Information Architecture, Data Modeling, and both Relational and NoSQL technologies.

Modern Stack: Proficiency with streaming technologies (e.g., Kafka, Kafka Schema Registry) and distributed systems architecture.

Legacy Systems: Proven ability to navigate and extract value from legacy environments, including mainframe architectures.

Education: Bachelor's degree in Information Technology or a related field required; Master's degree in Engineering or Computer Science preferred.

Communication: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical concepts to diverse stakeholders.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Race, Color, Religion, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, National Origin, Age, Genetic Information, Disability, Protected Veteran Status, or any other legally protected group status.

At Randstad Digital, we welcome people of all abilities and want to ensure that our hiring and interview process meets the needs of all applicants. If you require a reasonable accommodation to make your application or interview experience a great one, please contact

Pay offered to a successful candidate will be based on several factors including the candidate's education, work experience, work location, specific job duties, certifications, etc. In addition, Randstad Digital offers a comprehensive benefits package, including: medical, prescription, dental, vision, AD&D, and life insurance offerings, short-term disability, and a 401K plan (all benefits are based on eligibility).

This posting is open for thirty (30) days.