What do we do

As a pioneer for digital transformation GFT develops sustainable solutions across new technologies – from cloud engineering and artificial intelligence to blockchain/DLT. With its deep technological expertise, strong partnerships, and comprehensive market know-how GFT offers advice to the financial and insurance sectors, as well as in the manufacturing industry. Through the intelligent use of IT solutions GFT increases productivity and creates added value for clients. Companies gain easy and safe access to scalable IT-applications and innovative business models.

Who are we

Having started in Germany in 1987, GFT Technologies has grown to become a trusted Software Engineering and Consulting specialist for the international financial industry, counting many of the world’s largest and best-known Banks as our clients. We are an organization that empowers you to not only explore but raise your potential and seek out opportunities that add value. At GFT, diversity, equality, and inclusion are at the core of who we are. Ensuring a diverse and inclusive working environment for all communities is one of the main pillars of our diversity strategy, based on our core values and culture. We have been certified for 2022/23 as a ‘Great place to work’ in the APAC region. So, if you want to have the opportunity to work with an outstanding and progressive organization this position could be right for you.

Sign-on Bonus: Eligible for candidates who are currently employed elsewhere and able to join GFT within 30 days of offer acceptance.

Role Summary

We are seeking an experienced Data Architect with a minimum of 10 years of experience in data engineering and architecture. As a Data Architect at GFT, you will define, design, and oversee the data architecture that underpins our clients’ digital transformation initiatives. You will play a critical role in ensuring that data is modeled, integrated, and governed effectively across multiple platforms, with a strong focus on scalability, performance, and compliance. You will collaborate with business stakeholders, solution architects, and data engineering teams to ensure our data strategies align with client objectives and regulatory standards. 

Key Activities

• Data Architecture Ownership: Define and maintain the enterprise data architecture blueprint, covering data lakes, warehouses, pipelines, metadata, and master data

• Data Modeling & Design: Design conceptual, logical, and physical data models that support analytical and operational use cases

• Technology Leadership: Evaluate, select, and integrate modern data platforms and tools (cloud-native and on-premises) to support evolving client needs

• Governance & Standards: Establish data governance, security, and quality frameworks in line with industry best practices and regulatory requirements (e.g., GDPR, PCI-DSS)

• Collaboration: Partner with data engineers, data scientists, and business teams to ensure alignment of data solutions with business goals

• Scalability & Performance: Architect high-performance data platforms capable of handling large-scale, real-time, and batch processing workloads

• Migration & Modernization: Lead the transition from legacy data systems to modern cloud-based architectures (AWS preferred)

• Thought Leadership: Stay current on emerging trends in data architecture, analytics, and cloud technologies, bringing innovation to client engagements

• Mentorship: Guide and mentor data engineers to adopt best practices in data engineering and architectural design. 

Required Skills

• Experience: 10+ years in data engineering/architecture, with at least 3–5 years in a data architect role

• Data Architecture Expertise: Proven experience in designing data lakes, data warehouses, and real-time/batch pipelines

• Modeling Tools & Methods: Strong knowledge of data modeling (dimensional, relational, NoSQL) and metadata management

• Cloud Platforms: Hands-on experience with AWS (Glue, Redshift, EMR, S3, Lambda) or equivalent cloud platforms

• Big Data & Processing: Expertise with distributed systems (Spark, Hadoop, Hive) and data orchestration (Airflow)

• Databases: Proficiency in both relational (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (DynamoDB, Redis) databases

• Security & Compliance: Solid understanding of data privacy, governance, and compliance frameworks

• Collaboration & Communication: Strong stakeholder management, with the ability to translate business needs into technical data strategies

Nice to have:

• Experience with streaming platforms (Kafka, Kinesis, RabbitMQ)

• Familiarity with data science platforms (Databricks, SageMaker)

• Exposure to BI and analytics tools (Tableau, Power BI, Looker)

• Certifications such as AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty or AWS Solutions Architect – Professional

• Experience in financial services or other regulated industries

What we offer you

You will be working with some of the brightest people in business and technology on challenging and rewarding projects in a team of like-minded individuals. GFT prides itself on its international environment that promotes professional and cultural exchange and encourages further individual development with the benefits below:

• Competitive salary
• 13th-month salary guarantee
• Performance bonus
• Professional English course for employees
• Premium health insurance
• Extensive annual leave

(Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to respond to every candidate individually. If you have not received a response from GFT regarding your application within 10 workdays, please consider that we have decided to proceed with other candidates. We truly appreciate your interest in GFT and thank you for your understanding.)