Data Architect

At Caribou Coffee we create day-making experiences that spark a chain reaction of GOOD! This is our purpose. Our team brings this to life by focusing on what's really important around here - TEAM, GUEST, BUSINESS! It's that simple. If you're ready to work somewhere you can be yourself while making an impact on your community, creating life-long relationships, and serving the best coffee around, join our herd! Apply today and be part of the 'Bou Crew!

Position Overview:

The Data Architect designs how Caribou Coffee stores, models, secures and shares its enterprise data. This role is essential to establishing and maintaining a trusted, secure, and well-governed enterprise data foundation that enables teams across the organization to make informed decisions using consistent and reliable information.

The Data Architect sets the target architecture for the Microsoft Fabric data platform and the standards that guide how data is built on it: the data models, integration patterns, governance framework and security model. This role provides technical mentorship and hands-on support in a collaborative environment with Technology team members, as well as partners with the Business Intelligence & Data Analytics team on semantic model design, with application owners and vendors on source systems, and with Security and Legal on data protection.

Success is measured through data that is accurate, documented and protected; a platform that can take on new sources and uses, including AI, without rework; and design decisions the business can trust.

Core Responsibilities:

Enterprise Data Architecture

• Owns the target-state architecture and roadmap for the enterprise data platform, including lakehouse and warehouse design and the bronze, silver and gold (medallion) layer standards.
• Evaluates data technologies and recommends investments, weighing cost, risk and fit with Caribou's Microsoft platform.
• Publishes reference architectures and design patterns for ingestion, integration and storage.
• Collaborates with Business Intelligence and Analytics (BIDA) team, application development teams, and other business partners at every step of the data journey, from inception to retirement.

Data Modeling Standards & Design

• Designs conceptual, logical and physical data models for core business domains such as sales, guests, loyalty, products, labor and supply chain.
• Sets standards for dimensional modeling, slowly changing dimensions, keys and naming in the gold layer.
• Reviews and approves designs for new data sources and major pipeline changes before they are built.
• Works with data analysts to design and tune Power BI semantic models for accuracy and speed, including Direct Lake star schemas.
• Sets the standards that connect gold-layer tables to the semantic layer, so every report draws on the same definitions.

Data Governance and Security

• Owns the data governance framework and the Microsoft Purview platform, including the data catalog, lineage, classification and sensitivity labels.
• Defines the security and access model for the platform, including workspace roles, row- and object-level security, and the handling of payment card (PCI) and personal data.
• Sets data retention, archival and recovery requirements with Legal, Security and business data owners.

Platform Requirements and Capacity Planning

• Defines requirements for Fabric capacity, environments (development, test and production), Git branching and deployment, which the Senior Data Engineer operates within.
• Plans capacity and cost against business growth and new workloads, and recommends changes before limits are reached.

Business Partnership & Technical Leadership

• Collaborates with application owners and vendors, such as POS, loyalty, guest experience and supply chain systems, to assess how system changes affect data, and sets data contracts for key feeds.
• Represents data architecture on IT projects so new systems account for data needs from the start.
• Provides mentorship to the Senior Data Engineer through design reviews and shared standards.
• Serves as backup for platform operations and pipeline support when the Senior Data Engineer is unavailable.
• Prepares enterprise data for AI use, making sure data is described, governed and fit for tools such as Microsoft Copilot and AI agents.
• Assists in projects and team initiatives as needed, such as implementation work to advance company objectives.

Skills and Requirements:

• Brings the Core Values to life in all that you do: Support One Another, Make Fun Happen, Be Yourself, Take Ownership, Serve with Love.
• Sees how data moves across systems, processes and business functions, and designs for the whole rather than a single project.
• Makes and explains design decisions, weighing cost, risk and long-term upkeep.
• Explains technical choices in plain language to engineers, analysts and business leaders.
• Builds trust across Technology, Business Intelligence and business teams without direct authority.
• Stays hands-on enough to build, troubleshoot and support the platform.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years in data engineering, data warehousing or data architecture, including at least 2 years designing architecture for a cloud data platform.
• Expert knowledge of dimensional modeling and lakehouse design, including medallion architecture and Delta tables.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Fabric or Azure data services (Data Factory, Synapse, Data Lake), with strong SQL, enough to support the platform day to day.
• Experience setting up data governance and catalog tools, such as Microsoft Purview, Collibra or Alation.
• Experience designing access and security controls for sensitive data, such as payment card or personal data.
• Experience designing Power BI semantic models, including star schemas and performance tuning.

Preferred:

• Microsoft certifications such as Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate (DP-600), Fabric Data Engineer Associate (DP-700) or Azure Solutions Architect Expert, or the DAMA Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP).
• Experience with Python or PySpark.
• Experience in restaurant (QSR), retail, hospitality or other multi-unit businesses.
• Experience bringing in SaaS data through APIs, data sharing (such as Snowflake) or mirroring.
• Experience preparing data for AI and machine learning use.

Physical Requirements:

The physical requirements for this position include sitting, standing, bending, lifting, and moving intermittently during working hours. These physical requirements must be accomplished with or without reasonable accommodation.

The duties of this position may change from time to time. Caribou reserves the right to add or delete duties and responsibilities at the discretion of Caribou or its managers. This job description is intended to describe the general level of work being performed. It is not intended to be all-inclusive.

Caribou Coffee Operating Company, Inc. and itsaffiliatesare proud to be Equal Opportunity Employersto all applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type based on any characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

Compensation Range:

*Starting pay is subject to Local and State Minimum Wage regulations.

**Ranges reflect what employer reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for such position.

The physical demands for this position are reaching, lifting up to 50 pounds, sitting, standing, for 4 to 8 hours, bending, and moving intermittently during working hours. These physical demands may be accomplished with or without reasonable accommodations.

The duties of this position may change from time to time. Caribou Coffee reserves the right to add or delete duties and responsibilities at the discretion of the company or its managers. This job description is intended to describe the general level of work being performed. It is not intended to be all-inclusive.

Caribou Coffee Operating Company, Inc. and its affiliates are proud to be Equal Opportunity Employers to all applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type based on any characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

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