Data Architect is needed for a
contract opportunity with SOC's client in
Melbourne, FL
Duration:6 months, with potential extension based on performance and program needs.
Location: Primarily remote. First two weeks on-site in Melbourne, FL strongly preferred to accelerate ramp-up and relationship-building.
Job Description:
Hands-on data engineer with deep ontology and pipeline experience in Palantir Foundry, embedded directly inside the client Scrum team. This is not a strategy role. Candidates who skew toward stakeholder coordination, framework authorship, or data strategy without sustained hands-on build experience are not a fit, regardless of resume keyword density.
Functionally, the role is a senior Foundry data engineer who owns ontology and pipeline design decisions within an assigned Scrum team and partners with the Unified Data Layer (UDL) Architecture function on cross-cutting design questions.
Engagement Context
Our client is executing a large-scale enterprise transformation centered on the UDL, built on Palantir Foundry. Data Architect roles will be added to embed ontology and pipeline depth into Scrum teams and to accelerate path-to-production work across multiple priority workstreams.
Core Responsibilities
- Design, build, and maintain Foundry pipelines using Pipeline Builder and Code Repository, with appropriate selection between the two based on scale, sustainment needs, and team conventions.
- Own ontology decisions within the assigned workstream, including object types, action types, link types, and property design, in coordination with the UDL Architecture team for cross-cutting impacts.
- Use Foundry Solution Designer to communicate end-to-end solution design in support of Software Development Lifecycle reviews.
- Translate business requirements provided by the Business Solutions Architect (BSA) into technical specifications and JIRA tickets ready for development, identifying upstream source systems, transformation logic, and join keys.
- Identify opportunities to reuse existing objects, pipelines, and action types before building new ones; flag and plan regression testing where reuse touches existing capabilities.
- Validate output through primary key checks, row-count verification, branch comparison in Contour, and source-to-target reconciliation; stand behind data quality with end users.
- Participate in architecture review touchpoints with the UDL Architecture team prior to development kick-off, ensuring designs meet standards and patterns before code is written.
- Partner closely with the Development team, as well as O&M and Data Operations teams, on data connection setup, ingestion patterns, and environment hygiene.
- Operate within an agile cadence: daily stand-ups, sprint planning, retros, and JIRA status updates aligned with UDL team conventions.
Required Experience
- Three or more years of hands-on Palantir Foundry development experience, with at least one significant production deployment involving ontology design from inception.
- Three or more years working in Foundry Ontology Manager.
- Demonstrated depth in Pipeline Builder and Code Repository, including local and Global/Foundry branching, code review, and breakpoint debugging on real pipelines.
- Demonstrated experience employing both dataset health checks and data expectations in Code Repositories and Pipeline Builder.
- Experience in batch and incremental transforms; familiarity with lightweight transforms and polars.
- Working fluency in Contour and SQL Studio for exploratory analysis and validation.
- Strong SQL and Python or PySpark fundamentals; comfort with Spark-based transformations at scale (datasets greater than one million rows).
- Proven track record of mapping multiple heterogeneous source systems into a unified ontology, including identifying composite join keys and resolving fan-out issues.
- Experience operating in agile teams with formal sprint cadences, JIRA-driven workflows, and Scrum Master coordination.
- Ability to communicate technical decisions in plain language to non-technical product owners and business analysts.
Note on transferable experience: Candidates without the full Foundry tenure above may still be considered where they bring strong, senior, transferable data engineering experience (e.g. PySpark, Spark SQL, common Python wrangling and transform libraries, or comparable platforms such as dbt, AWS Glue, or Databricks). For transferable profiles, a higher overall years-of-experience bar applies, and Foundry ramp time should be expected.
Strongly Preferred
- Ex-Palantir Forward Deployed Engineer, or Palantir-certified Data Engineer or Application Developer.
- Experience refactoring legacy ontology or pipeline debt without disrupting downstream consumers.
- Prior work in a large, multi-vendor, multi-stakeholder enterprise environment with concurrent priorities.
- Domain familiarity with finance, cost, or program data (e.g. P&L, cost-to-serve, cash, or program execution data) is a plus, though not required.
What This Role Is Not
- To save vendors and candidates time, the following profiles will not pass screening:
- Data Strategist or Data Strategy Consultant profiles whose recent experience is framework authorship, governance committee design, or coordination across teams rather than hands-on build.
- Enterprise Architect profiles whose Foundry exposure is limited to oversight or review rather than building.
- Generalist BI Developers without Foundry-specific pipeline and ontology experience.
Employment Pre-requisites
The following requirements must be met to be eligible for this position: successful completion of a background investigation, and drug urinalysis.
SOC, a Day & Zimmermann company, is an Equal Opportunity Employer, EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability.
#DZFED
#INDSOC
Estimated Min Rate: $63.00
Estimated Max Rate: $90.00
