Senior Data Architect – Digital Regulatory Assurance System (DRAS)
Client: Government of Alberta (GoA) – Environment & Protected Areas
Position: Data Architect
Location: Remote – Canada
Work Location: Remote; resource must work from within Canada
Maximum Rate: $100 CAD/hour
Contract Hours: 739.5 hours
Hours: 36.25 hours/week
Work Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8:15 AM–4:30 PM Alberta Time, with a 1-hour lunch
Expected Interview Dates: October 20–23, 2026
Travel: None
About the Role
The Government of Alberta is modernizing how it regulates and assures environmental outcomes across the province through the Digital Regulatory Assurance System (DRAS).
DRAS supports applications, approvals, compliance, and monitoring activities that protect Alberta’s air, land, water, and biodiversity.
The Government of Alberta is seeking an experienced Data Architect to design and lead data integration between DRAS, the Databricks-based Data Management Platform, and the Alberta Geospatial Platform.
The successful candidate will define how regulatory, environmental, and spatial data is modeled, integrated, governed, secured, and delivered across these platforms. The objective is to provide trusted, timely, high-quality, and reusable data for regulators, decision-makers, and Albertans.
The Data Architect will work within a multidisciplinary Agile team consisting of data engineers, developers, GIS specialists, business analysts, and product owners.
Key Responsibilities
Data Architecture & Design
Define and maintain the target-state data architecture for integrating DRAS, Databricks Data Management Platform, and the Alberta Geospatial Platform.
Design conceptual, logical, and physical data models for regulatory, environmental, and geospatial data.
Define enterprise integration patterns including:
Batch processing, Near-real-time integration, Event-driven architecture, REST/API-based integration, Change Data Capture (CDC)
Design Databricks Lakehouse architecture using:
Bronze/Silver/Gold medallion architecture, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Apache Spark, PySpark, SQL
Architect spatial data flows while preserving geometry, coordinate reference systems, spatial accuracy, and data integrity.
Data Integration & Delivery
Lead the architecture and design of data pipelines and interfaces between enterprise systems.
Work closely with data engineers, developers, GIS specialists, and technical teams during implementation.
Define data contracts, API specifications, interface agreements, and integration standards.
Resolve complex integration challenges involving:
Data quality, Schema changes, Latency, Data dependencies, System interoperability
Translate architecture into actionable requirements and user stories within an Agile/Scrum environment.
Participate in sprint planning, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, and other Agile ceremonies.
Data Governance, Security & Quality
Establish and apply data governance practices covering:
Metadata management, Data lineage, Data classification, Master data, Reference data, Data quality
Ensure architecture aligns with Government of Alberta security, privacy, information management, and records-management standards.
Apply appropriate role-based access controls (RBAC) and data-sharing policies.
Define data-quality rules, validation frameworks, monitoring approaches, and controls.
Perform and support threat and risk assessments and provide recommendations.
Leadership & Stakeholder Collaboration
Act as a trusted Data Architecture advisor to program leadership, product owners, business stakeholders, and technical teams.
Translate complex regulatory and business requirements into effective data architecture solutions.
Collaborate with Enterprise Architecture, Cybersecurity, GIS, platform teams, and other Government of Alberta ministries.
Ensure architecture aligns with Government of Alberta standards, enterprise roadmaps, and technology strategies.
Produce high-quality:
Architecture documents, Data models, Architecture diagrams, Decision records, Technical recommendations
Provide technical leadership, mentoring, planning, estimating, and presentations.
Explain complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.