Director, Data Lakehouse

The selected candidate for this position will report on-site 2-3 days a week.

The Director Data Lakehouse is a critical leadership role responsible for shaping and driving enterprise data strategy through the design implementation and oversight of its data and analytics platform.

This role leads the implementation and operation of the Data Lakehouse layers (i.e. Bronze Silver Gold) of a new Enterprise Data & Analytics Platform in Databricks. The main focus is to ensure that the organizations data assets are findable securely accessible interoperable reusable and reliable as well as optimized for analytics & AI in support of decision-making and operational excellence. This leader will align data management best practices with business priorities enabling the institution to leverage data as a strategic asset while fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. The role will help shape the organizations data culture and balance high-level strategic planning with hands-on involvement in projects operations and technical implementations. The role reports to the AVP Enterprise Data.

The Director will build lead coach and mentor a team of data engineers and architects while collaborating with business and technical stakeholders to ensure the platform aligns with organizational goals and supports a wide range of use cases including ML/AI and operational data stores.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership and Vision:

• Assist with development and execute the Enterprise Data & Analytics Strategy ensuring execution and development supports the organizations overall data and business goals.

• Lead the design implementation and operation of a scalable secure and high-performance enterprise data Lakehouse in Databricks that ingests and curates data from various internal and external data sources and delivers certified data in service of an evolving portfolio of data products and services.

• Define and enforce best practices for data Lakehouse architecture governance data quality and lifecycle management.

Team Leadership and Development:

• Build lead coach and mentor a team of data engineers architects and analysts focused on the data Lakehouse platform.

• Foster a culture of collaboration innovation and continuous learning within the team.

• Provide coaching career development and performance management to ensure the teams success.

Data Architecture and Interoperability:

• Design and oversee ELT and ETL processes on LakeFlow for the ingestion integration and interoperability of structured semi-structured and unstructured data across data Lakehouse layers enabling easy access real-time processing and advanced analytics.

• Ensure that the Lakehouse architecture is flexible scalable and aligned with the organizations evolving data needs.

Data Governance Security and Compliance:

• Implement and enforce data governance policies to ensure high-quality secure and compliant data usage across the lake house.

• Work with legal and compliance teams to ensure data security privacy and regulatory requirements (e.g. GDPR FERPA HIPAA etc.) are met.

• Implement and manage data cataloging lineage tracking and metadata management processes.

Analytics Enablement:

• Work closely with data scientists business analysts and other stakeholders to ensure the Lakehouse supports both batch and real-time analytics needs.

• Lead the development and implementation of MLOps enabling enterprise grade analytics machine learning and data science in support of data-driven decision-making.

• Ensure the platform supports self-service data exploration reporting and visualization capabilities for business users.

Collaboration and Stakeholder Management:

• Engage with cross-functional teams (e.g. IT operations business intelligence and product teams) to understand their current and emerging data needs and ensure the data Lakehouse platform capabilities are in alignment.

• Serve as the point of contact regarding the data Lakehouses performance enhancements and strategic direction.

• Advocate for the data Lakehouse within the organization educating stakeholders on the platforms benefits and capabilities.

Innovation and Futureproofing:

• Stay informed about emerging technologies trends and best practices in data management cloud computing and big data and lead continuous improvement.

• Lead the evaluation and adoption of modern technologies and tools to enhance Lakehouses capabilities scalability and performance.

• Drive continuous improvements to ensure the platform is future-ready evolving to meet the organizations growing data needs.

Budget and Resource Management:

• Develop and manage the approved budget for the data Lakehouse team and platform ensuring efficient resource allocation.

• Monitor and control project timelines scope and costs to deliver data Lakehouse initiatives on time and within budget.

Skills:

• Demonstrated integrity energy the ability to energize others and to execute and deliver on goals and objectives.

• Must be collaborative and influential a self-starter results-focused and have the ability to prioritize.

• Advanced communication skills for engaging technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Facilitation Negotiation Collaboration and Presentation skills.

• Dedicated to understanding and meeting the needs of customers through tailored platform solutions and data-driven insights and influence strong user adoption.

• Proven record of leading large-scale data and analytics platform initiatives in complex federated organizations working with cross-functional teams and consultants.

• Eagerness to innovate within a collaborative environment bringing a proactive and adaptable approach to evolving business needs.

• Experience with building and delivering curated and governed data products and establishing data contracts between data producers and consumers.

• Exceptional hands-on leadership team-building and coaching skills with strategic thinking and the ability to align technical solutions with current and emerging business needs.

• Ability to see the big picture and align platform functionalities with evolving portfolio of data products and services.

• Strong analytical skills with a data-driven approach to decision-making and problem-solving.

• Experience with building global multitenant environments and data marketplaces.

• Experience operating in cross-functional teams within shared governance organizations.

• Expertise in designing implementing and operating modern enterprise data platforms including data lakes warehouses and cloud-based analytics tools.

• Deep experience in data architecture dimensional modeling and data engineering.

• Strong understanding of data governance master data management quality management and compliance frameworks.

• Deep knowledge in data architecture data engineering methodologies cloud computing and REST APIs

• Solid understanding of Agile DevOps and CI/CD MLOps DAMA TOGAF.

• Demonstrated high level of expertise with Databricks is a top requirement.

• Consuming data into data lakes from PeopleSoft Salesforce Workday D2L Five9 EntraID.

• Experience interfacing data form data Lakes with MDM tools like Profisee Purview Atlan Reltio Alation Attacama.

• Experience designing and delivering data to consuming analytical and operational systems.

• Experience interfacing data with NEO4J

• Working knowledge of Erwin Data Modeler

• PL/SQL Python Scala Rust Cypher GraphQL GQL

• Azure DevOps GitHub

• Travel 3 times per year for strategy and team meetings to Adelphi MD.

Education & Experience Requirements:

Education:

• Bachelors Degree in Information science and technology Library and Information Science Computer Science or a related field.

Experience:

• 7 years of experience implementing and operating Databricks data lakehouses.

• 5 years of experience leading data lakehouse teams.

• Knowledge of educational research and on-line higher education is preferred.

• Experience with modern diverse technology stacks and integration of AI/BI technologies are strongly preferred.

Preferred Experience Requirements:

Education:

• Masters Degree in Information science and technology Library and Information Science Computer Science or a related field.

Certifications:

• Databricks certifications are extremely desirable.

All submissions should include a cover letter and resume.

The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination. UMGC is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race color national origin age marital status sex sexual orientation gender identity gender expression disability religion ancestry political affiliation or veteran status in employment educational programs and activities and admissions.

Workplace Accommodations:

The University of Maryland Global Campus Global Campus (UMGC) is committed to creating and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive working environment for people of all abilities. UMGC is dedicated to the principle that no qualified individual with a disability shall based on disability be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services programs or activities of the University or be subjected to discrimination. For information about UMGCs Reasonable Workplace Accommodation Policy or to request an accommodation applicants/candidates can contact Employee Accommodations via email at.

Benefits Package Highlights:

• Generous Time Off:Enjoy 22 days of paid vacation 15 days of sick leave 3 personal days and 15 paid holidays (16 during general election years). For part-time employees time off rates will be prorated based on the number of hours worked.
• Comprehensive Health Coverage:Access to health care medical with vision dental and prescription plans for both individuals and families effective from the 1st of the month following your hire date.
• Insurance Options:Term Life Insurance Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance and Long-Term Disability (LTD) Insurance. Part-time employees working less than 0.5 FTE are not eligible for LTD.
• Flexible Spending Accounts:Available for medical and dependent care expenses.
• Retirement Plans:Choose between the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) or the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS).
• Supplemental Retirement Plans: include 401(k) 403(b) 457(b) and various Roth options. The university does not provide matching funds.
• Tuition Remission:Immediate availability for Regular Exempt Staff. Spouses and dependent children are eligible for undergraduate tuition remission after two years of service. NOTE: For part-time employees (at least 50 percent of the time) tuition remission benefits are prorated.

Hiring Range: