Business Data Architect – Digital Project Delivery (Azure Databricks Lakehouse)

Job Title: Business Data Architect – Digital Project Delivery (Azure Databricks Lakehouse) ==============================================================================================

Why this role

Southern Company is advancing Digital Project Delivery to improve how data is created, governed, integrated, and used across large capital projects, with a primary focus on generation. These projects generate and rely on complex data spanning engineering, design, construction, commissioning, asset handover, schedule, cost, contracts, and document controls.

When structured well, this data improves project execution, decision-making, risk management, reporting, and long-term asset value.

As the Business Data Architect for Digital Project Delivery, you will define how project and business data is structured, governed, and connected across the project lifecycle. You will also serve as a key architecture partner to the technology organization, helping shape the target-state Azure Databricks Lakehouse, integration approach, and platform capabilities needed to support project delivery data at enterprise scale.

You will help establish the data foundations that enable consistency across major capital programs, improve interoperability between systems and delivery partners, and support better visibility into project performance and outcomes. This is a highly visible, cross-functional role where your decisions will influence how Southern Company manages project information and digital delivery capabilities for years to come.

About the role

You will lead the business data architecture for Digital Project Delivery while partnering closely with enterprise architecture, platform engineering, integration teams, and cybersecurity to define how project data should be structured, governed, integrated, and delivered through the Azure Databricks Lakehouse and related enterprise platforms.

This role is expected to provide technically credible leadership on lakehouse design principles, data movement patterns, integration architecture, environment strategy, and platform/tool selection decisions that affect scalability, operability, security, and long-term supportability.

You will define the data domains, business structures, standards, and integration patterns needed to support major capital projects from planning and design through construction, turnover, and operations readiness.

You will partner with project teams, engineering, construction, supply chain, PMO, IT, enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, vendors, and business stakeholders to translate project delivery needs into scalable and governed data solutions.

This role leads the business data architecture for Digital Project Delivery and serves as a key partner to technology architecture and engineering teams in shaping the target lakehouse, integration, and information management capabilities required to support major capital projects.

The role ensures business data requirements are translated into scalable, secure, and governable platform and integration patterns across the enterprise. The role also helps drive architecture reviews, technology decision-making, and governance approvals required to enable new data platform capabilities, integration services, and supporting tools.

What you will do

Own the business data architecture and strategic direction for Digital Project Delivery, including core data domains, business definitions, information flows, and data standards across the capital project lifecycle.

Define and govern the data structures required to support major generation capital projects, including project, asset, engineering, document, model, cost, schedule, contract, materials, work package, commissioning, and turnover data.

Establish common business data models, taxonomies, hierarchies, reference data, and naming conventions to improve consistency and interoperability across projects, business units, systems, and external partners.

Partner with business and technical teams to map how project data is created, transformed, handed off, and consumed across engineering, procurement, construction, project controls, and operations.

• Lead the definition of business rules, data quality standards, stewardship expectations, and governance processes for critical project data elements.
• Define the target-state data architecture patterns for the Digital Project Delivery lakehouse, including domain-aligned data organization, layered/medallion design, curated data products, semantic consumption patterns, and lifecycle management of project data.

Define integration and information exchange patterns that support Digital Project Delivery use cases, including handoffs between project management, engineering design, construction management, document management, asset, and enterprise reporting systems.

• Lead evaluation and recommendation of data ingestion, replication, and integration patterns across source systems and the lakehouse, including batch, CDC, replication, API-based, file-based, and event-driven approaches, in partnership with enterprise integration and platform teams.]]
• Provide architecture leadership on technology choices that impact Digital Project Delivery data capabilities, including assessment of platform-native services and enterprise tools for data movement, replication, transformation, orchestration, and operational supportability (for example, evaluating when SSIS, GoldenGate, Azure-native services, Databricks-native capabilities, or other approved enterprise tools are appropriate).

Collaborate with enterprise architects and technology teams to align business data requirements with system architecture, platform capabilities, and enterprise data standards.

• Serve as the primary business architecture representative in discussions with the technology organization regarding lakehouse design, tool selection, nonfunctional requirements, environment strategy, operational model, and enterprise approval pathways for new capabilities or platforms.

Support the development of digital thread and lifecycle information management capabilities so project data can be trusted and reused from design through construction and into operations.

Partner with cybersecurity, privacy, records management, and compliance teams to ensure appropriate controls for access, retention, classification, and protection of project and engineering information.

Guide project teams and delivery partners in applying data standards and information management practices consistently across major capital programs.

Provide architectural oversight for vendors, EPC partners, consultants, and system integrators to ensure alignment with Southern Company’s Digital Project Delivery data standards and governance expectations.

Lead architecture reviews, maintain reference models and decision documentation, and build roadmaps that mature project data management capabilities over time.

• Develop architecture position papers, decision frameworks, and recommendation packages that support enterprise review boards, funding discussions, exception requests, and approval processes for data platform and integration capabilities (for example, helping secure approval for services such as LakeBase or other enabling technologies).

Help identify opportunities to improve project reporting, analytics, forecasting, and decision support through better business data design and governance.

Evaluate emerging capabilities, standards, and tools that strengthen digital delivery, information interoperability, and lifecycle data management for capital projects.

• Partner with platform engineering and data engineering teams to define implementation guardrails for observability, lineage, access control, DevSecOps, release management, and production support expectations within the lakehouse ecosystem.

What success looks like

A trusted and governed business data foundation for Digital Project Delivery across major generation capital projects.

Clear and reusable data structures, definitions, and standards that improve consistency across projects and delivery partners.

Improved quality, traceability, and usability of project information across engineering, construction, turnover, and handover to operations.

Reduced integration complexity and better alignment between business processes, project systems, and reporting needs.

Stronger decision support through better visibility into project cost, schedule, scope, risk, and asset-related data.

A practical roadmap that aligns Digital Project Delivery data investments with business priorities, project execution needs, and long-term asset value.

• A clearly defined target-state lakehouse and integration architecture, with documented design principles, tool recommendations, and approved patterns for ingestion, storage, transformation, governance, and consumption.
• Stronger alignment and decision velocity between business and technology organizations on platform direction, architectural standards, and enabling capabilities needed for Digital Project Delivery.
• Technology and platform decisions that are well-justified, supportable, secure, and aligned to enterprise standards while still meeting project delivery needs.

What you bring (required)

Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related discipline, and at least 8 years of progressive experience in data architecture, data engineering, or analytics platform engineering, including at least 3 years in a senior architecture or technical leadership role.

Platform

A deep understanding and experience running an enterprise-scale Azure Databricks Lakehouse, with hands-on depth in Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, and Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2.

Data movement

You have designed and delivered CDC and replication from source systems into a lakehouse or warehouse, supporting batch and near-real-time loads

Modeling and governance: You are strong in data modeling (dimensional, Data Vault, or canonical models) and in governing data quality, metadata, lineage, and security controls such as role-based access, classification, and masking.

Standards leadership

You have established architecture standards, run architecture reviews, and driven adoption of engineering practices across delivery teams.

Communication

You communicate and influence effectively with executives, engineers, vendors, and business stakeholders, and you can balance business priorities, risk, and cost in your decisions.

• Architecture decision-making: You have experience evaluating and recommending data platform, integration, and tooling options based on business fit, technical fit, operational supportability, security, cost, and enterprise alignment.
• Enterprise partnership: You are comfortable working across business, enterprise architecture, infrastructure, cybersecurity, integration, and platform engineering teams to drive approvals, resolve tradeoffs, and establish implementation direction.
• Integration strategy: You understand common enterprise data movement and orchestration patterns and can credibly compare options such as ETL/ELT, replication, CDC, APIs, messaging, file exchange, and platform-native integration services.

What sets you apart (preferred)

Experience supporting Digital Project Delivery, capital project information management, or major project data programs in the utility, energy, EPC, industrial, or infrastructure sectors.

Familiarity with generation project delivery processes and data associated with engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, startup, and handover to operations.

Experience working with project delivery, engineering, asset, document, model, or construction systems such as Primavera, Unifier, EcoSys, Hexagon, Bentley, Autodesk, Procore, Aconex, OpenText, or similar platforms.

Knowledge of digital twin, digital thread, asset lifecycle information management, BIM/CDE concepts, or handover information requirements for capital projects.

Understanding of utility business processes, governance expectations, and regulatory considerations relevant to generation capital investments.

Experience working in Agile, hybrid, or product-oriented delivery models within large enterprises.

Master’s degree, architecture certification, data management certification, or relevant utility / project delivery certifications.

• Experience shaping or governing Azure-based data platforms and enterprise integration patterns in partnership with central IT or platform organizations.
• Familiarity with architecture review boards, technology exception processes, security review processes, and enterprise platform approval workflows.
• Experience comparing or implementing enterprise data movement technologies such as SSIS, GoldenGate, Informatica, Azure Data Factory, event streaming, or similar tools in a lakehouse or warehouse context

What we value

Business value mindset. You deliver business outcomes, not just technical solutions.

Ownership and accountability. You take personal responsibility for commitments and follow through without needing close oversight.

Collaborative leadership. You build trust across business and technology teams and influence constructively at every level.

Constructive courage. You challenge assumptions and raise concerns early, with diplomacy and candor, even when it is unpopular.

• Stewardship and integrity. You act as a trusted steward of enterprise data, holding to high standards of security, compliance, and integrity.
• Technical judgment. You make practical, well-reasoned architecture decisions that balance flexibility, standardization, delivery speed, supportability, and risk.

About Southern Company

Southern Company (NYSE: SO ) is a leading energy provider serving 9 million customers across the Southeast and beyond through its family of companies. Providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy with excellent service is our mission.

The company has electric operating companies in three states, natural gas distribution companies in four states, a competitive generation company, a leading distributed energy solutions provider with national capabilities, a fiber optics network and telecommunications services.

Through an industry-leading commitment to innovation, resilience and sustainability, we are taking action to meet customers' and communities' needs while advancing our goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our uncompromising values ensure we put the needs of those we serve at the center of everything we do and are the key to our sustained success.

We are transforming energy into economic, environmental and social progress for tomorrow. Our corporate culture has been recognized by a variety of organizations, earning the company awards and recognitions that reflect Our Values and dedication to service. To learn more, visit www.southerncompany.com .

Southern Company invests in the well-being of its employees and their families through a comprehensive total rewards strategy that includes competitive base salary, annual incentive awards for eligible employees and health, welfare and retirement benefits designed to support physical, financial, and emotional/social well-being.

This position may also be eligible for additional compensation, such as an incentive program, with the amount of any bonus/awards subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable incentive plan(s). A summary of the benefits offered for this position can be found here https://seo.nlx.org/southernco/pdf/SOCO-Benefits.pdf .

Additional and specific details about total compensation and benefits will also be provided during the hiring process.

Southern Company is an equal opportunity employer where an applicant's qualifications are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other basis prohibited by law.