Lead Data Architect

Job description

**Company Overview** We exist to make food the world loves. But we do more than that. Our company is a place that prioritizes being a force for good, a place to expand learning, explore new perspectives and reimagine new possibilities, every day. We look for people who want to bring their best — bold thinkers with big hearts who challenge one another and grow together. Because becoming the undisputed leader in food means surrounding ourselves with people who are hungry for what’s next. **Overview** - As a Lead Data Architect, you will help shape how connected data drives business action across General Mills by designing scalable, sustainable data solutions and advancing modern data architecture practices. - You will work closely with data engineers, business analysts, architects, and cross-functional partners to define technical direction, enable strategic initiatives, and bring new data capabilities to life across global teams. - This is a strong opportunity to influence data strategy, modernize the data engineering ecosystem, and mentor technical talent in a highly collaborative environment. **Key Accountabilities** - Act as a data and analytics leader with strong technical and domain expertise to guide architecture decisions and delivery outcomes. - Collaboratively develop technology and capability roadmaps that support long-term data strategy and business priorities. - Evaluate, implement, and deploy emerging data engineering technologies, processes, and practices. - Partner with business analysts and architects to define technical architectures for strategic projects and initiatives. - Lead the design and implementation of scalable data pipelines, data modelling and data quality frameworks. - Develop communication and education plans that help technical teams adopt technologies and processes across the data engineering ecosystem. - Contribute as an active member of product teams to support current solutions and shape future capabilities. - Mentor and guide data engineers, fostering innovation, technical excellence, and strong engineering practices within the team. - Assist in hiring & onboarding **Minimum Qualifications** - Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience in a relevant field. - Experience: 12+ years of total work experience in data architecture, data engineering, or related technology roles. - Strong experience with modern cloud platforms, preferably Google Cloud. - Hands-on experience in ETL, data warehousing, data quality, data observability, and structured and unstructured data systems. - Strong technical skills in SQL, Python, BigQuery, Composer, Dataflow, dbt, Data Modelling, Orchestration, and Prompt Engineering. - Familiarity with software engineering and delivery tools such as Git, GitHub Actions, Jira or Azure DevOps, along with Agile ways of working. - Proven ability to partner with business stakeholders, design solutions to meet business needs, and explain architecture trade-offs clearly. - Strong soft skills including communication, collaboration, adaptability, problem-solving, and ownership. **Preferred Qualification** - Strong hands-on coding skills in Python and SQL. - Experience developing procedures and scripts for data loading, transformation, and migration. - Familiarity with Kafka and distributed computing tools. - Broader experience with cloud technologies, with Google Cloud preferred. - Strong awareness of AI, AI in data engineering. **ELIGIBILITY** Applicants must meet minimum age qualifications in the country in which the job is located.