Lead Data Architect - Military veterans preferred

2025-09-05
Zendesk
Other

/yr

  employee   contract


Madison
Wisconsin
53562
United States


Location: Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America

Requisition ID: R32533

Position_Type: Full time

Job Description

Zendesk’s Enterprise & Solution Architecture team, within our CIO organization, is looking for an Enterprise Data Architect SME who will guide us in building digital data systems and platforms. In this role you will provide strategic direction, standard processes, frameworks, design patterns, and contribute to our data architecture implementation including leading MDM architecture roadmaps. Additionally, you will collaborate with Enterprise Data & Analytics, Product Architecture and Security teams to design best-in-class data movement, integration, and transformation models that effectively deliver accurate data to our teams!

This is a technical role working with innovative technologies while also being able to communicate sophisticated ideas to non-technical audiences. Collecting clear requirements is a key part of this role and will define the technical and practical strategy that teams employ across the enterprise. You will evaluate and design high-performance end-to-end data architectures, capture requirements, gaining consensus, and evolve data architecture as business strategies and technologies mature.

What You’ll be Doing:

  • Contribute to and make recommendations to Zendesk’s data ecosystem with a focus on multi-cloud architecture capable of supporting various data types; structured, semi-structured and unstructured data at the petabyte scale

  • Lead and create overall master data solution architectures, system landscapes (blueprints), governance workflows, and systems integration and implementation standards/patterns.

  • Collaborating with business stakeholders and technical teams to understand business processes, master data management requirements and challenges, maturity levels, and identify opportunities for the design of a best of breed MDM solution

  • Produce relevant solution design artifacts including but not limited to technical estimates, Reference Architecture blueprints, conceptual system designs, sequence diagrams, and data models.

  • Evaluate and support data solutions within and across a variety of data tools such as GCP Airflow, AWS Lambdas, Python, Cloud Functions, DBT, Astronomer.io, Workato

  • Lead and design best in class practices leading to implementation planning of data movement and integration patterns across our ecosystem, defining target architectures and tools

  • Provide leadership and standard methodologies for using native-first connectors over third-party for integrating our various workflows, applications and data.

  • Partner with team members to develop a Single View of Customer and Customer Data Platform (CDP) strategy

  • Act as an advisor for new and emerging technologies, patterns, and trends

What You’ll Bring to the Role:

Required:

  • Demonstrable experience with enterprise-wide architectures, integration, warehousing and highly proficient with relational database design, data streams, data modeling, and SQL

  • 10+ years of data architecture experience leading MDM roadmaps, defined business cases and implementation efforts

  • Deep understanding of master data management principles, data governance frameworks, and industry best practices

  • Creating ETLs and reverse-ETLs patterns and services to handle data from various data sources, formats, and use cases

  • Experience with streaming, batch and micro-batch data processing and workflows

  • Built and implemented “citizen integrator” (user self-service) operating models and solutions using iPaaS or related technologies

  • Ability to drive the practical evolution and innovation of infrastructure, processes, products and services by influencing decision makers, implementers, stewards, and owners of what direction should be taken

Preferred:

  • Enterprise data management experience including exposure to aspects such as analytics and data science, BI, MDM, governance, quality, security and issue management to enable effective engagement

  • Experiencing driving and leading major data modernization projects

  • Experience with principles such as reuse, deployment, scalability, observability, security, testing and high availability

  • Experience and expertise in the Lean-Agile principles and development

  • TOGAF, ITIL, AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner or similar certifications

  • Proficiency in visualization tools (Tableau, D3, Looker, etc.)

The US annualized base salary range for this position is $161,000.00-$241,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

Hybrid: In this role, our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection, collaboration, learning, and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.



About Us

Zendesk

Zendesk is on a mission to simplify the complexity of business and make it easy for companies and customers to create connections.

Our customer experience software unlocks the power of billions of interactions, enabling businesses to build rich, meaningful relationships with their customers.

More meaningful moments. Fewer Zoom calls.

What’s it like to work here? Our offices reflect the global cities we call home, and have spaces for collaboration, quiet, and events.

With our hybrid approach, you’ll experience flexibility and connection, collaboration, and learning with your team.

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Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

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