AWS DATA ARCHITECT - ODS, Madrid

AWS DATA ARCHITECT - ODS

AWS DATA ARCHITECT - ODS

Country: Spain Open Digital Services is the software development company of Santander Group powering the next generation of banks by creating innovative banking products and implementing them in collaboration with Santander Group Affiliates. Santander Group is one of the worlds largest financial institutions and the Eurozones leader, were committed to being the best Digital Bank with Branches in the industry. Our mission at ODS is to design and support an advanced digital and omnichannel platform, ensuring the best customer experience using cutting-edge technology. Openbank, our flagship partner, is where we develop our most advanced concepts first. Be part of our Best-in-Class team and help us create unique value for our customers!

THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE

Open Digital Services is looking for an AWS Data Architect based out of Madrid. As an AWS Data Architect within the Data Management department, you will play a key role in designing, evolving and governing the architecture of the ODS Datalake and its cloud-based data ecosystem. You will define scalable, secure and production-ready data architectures that support analytics, reporting, machine learning, operational processes and business-critical decision-making across the organization. You will work closely with Data Engineering, Machine Learning, Architecture, Product, Security, Operations and business stakeholders to translate technical and business needs into robust architectural solutions. This role requires a strong background in AWS data services, modern data lake/lakehouse architectures, distributed processing, data governance and production reliability. To succeed in this role, you will be responsible for:

• Designing and evolving the architecture of the ODS Datalake and cloud-based data platforms, ensuring scalability, reliability, security and long-term maintainability.
• Defining architectural standards, patterns and best practices for data processing and storage across the data ecosystem.
• Leading the design of AWS-based data solutions using services such as S3, Glue, Athena, EMR, Redshift, Lake Formation, Kinesis, IAM and related cloud-native technologies.
• Partnering with Data Engineering teams to ensure data pipelines and distributed processing solutions are aligned with architectural principles and production standards.
• Supporting data quality, lineage, metadata, observability, security and access control principles across the Datalake.
• Collaborating with Machine Learning and Analytics teams to ensure data foundations are reliable, well-structured and fit for advanced analytics and AI/ML use cases.
• Reviewing technical designs, challenging architectural decisions and providing guidance to engineering teams.
• Identifying technical risks, architectural debt, performance bottlenecks and scalability issues, proposing pragmatic solutions.
• Promoting engineering excellence, automation, documentation and operational discipline.
• Acting as a technical reference for AWS data architecture, Datalake evolution and cloud-native data platform design.

WHAT YOULL BRING

Professional Experience

• 7+ years of experience in Data Architecture, Data Engineering, Big Data, Cloud Architecture or related technical domains. Required
• Strong hands-on experience with AWS data ecosystems and cloud-native data architectures and experience with AWS Services such as EMR, Glue, LakeFormation, Athena, EC2, etc. Required
• Experience defining architectural standards, technical patterns and best practices for data platforms. Required
• Experience working in complex technical environments with multiple engineering, architecture, security and business stakeholders. Required
• Experience in banking, fintech or regulated environments. Preferred
• Experience supporting international or multi-entity data platform rollouts. Preferred

Language

• Professional English. Required
• Fluent Spanish. Preferred

Hard Skills

• Strong knowledge of AWS data services, especially S3, Glue, Athena, EMR, Redshift, Lake Formation, Kinesis and IAM. Required
• Strong understanding of modern data lake, lakehouse and cloud-native data platform architectures. Required
• Strong understanding of data governance, metadata management, lineage, data quality, observability and access control. Required
• Understanding of security, privacy, compliance and operational reliability principles in cloud data environments. Required
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code or cloud automation tools such as CloudFormation, Terraform or similar. Preferred
• Familiarity with DevOps/DataOps practices, CI/CD, testing, monitoring and production support in data environments. Preferred
• Familiarity with ML platforms, MLOps or AI/GenAI data enablement. Preferred

Soft Skills

• Strong architectural thinking, with the ability to balance scalability, security, cost, performance and delivery needs. Required
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Required
• Strong stakeholder management skills and ability to influence engineering, architecture, security and business teams. Required
• Ownership mindset and ability to drive architectural decisions in complex or ambiguous environments. Required
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to identify pragmatic solutions to technical challenges. Required
• Ability to mentor and guide technical teams on data architecture, AWS best practices and engineering standards. Required
• Curiosity and willingness to stay up to date with new cloud, data platform and lakehouse technologies. Required

AWS, Glue, LakeFormation, Athena,