Senior Data Architect – 6‑Month Contract in Zurich

About the role

This is a high‑visibility, independent contract position reporting directly to senior leadership, including the CFO’s office. You will audit the existing data landscape, identify why current pipelines and governance have fallen short, and design a target‑state architecture that enables automated, trusted reporting on core commercial metrics.

Key responsibilities

• Audit and trace end‑to‑end data pipelines from source systems to executive BI dashboards.
• Diagnose technical root causes behind reporting gaps, manual workarounds, and governance shortfalls.
• Architect a target‑state enterprise data model, including master‑data/hierarchy mapping and a centralized semantic layer.
• Co‑design the solution with the Data Governance Lead and Director of Data.
• Deliver a working MVP for core sales‑reporting metrics within a three‑month window while laying the foundation for a longer‑term rollout.

Required profile

• Extensive experience as a Senior Data Architect or Data Engineer in complex, multi‑domain organisations.
• Proven track record in data lineage tracing, root‑cause diagnostics, and legacy pipeline audits.
• Deep experience with master‑data management, hierarchy/crosswalk mapping, and metrics‑as‑code frameworks.
• Platform‑agnostic cloud expertise (GCP, AWS, Azure, Snowflake, Databricks) and comfort working across fragmented multi‑cloud environments.
• Ability to operate independently, own ambiguous problems, and influence senior stakeholders including the C‑suite.
• Prior interim, consultancy or contract experience is strongly preferred.

Required skills

• Data lineage tracing tools and methodologies.
• Master‑data management and hierarchy mapping.
• Semantic‑layer design and metrics‑as‑code frameworks (e.g., dbt).
• Cloud platforms: GCP, AWS, Azure, Snowflake, Databricks.

What we offer

• 6‑month contract with strong potential for extension.
• On‑site work in Zurich with initial onboarding support.
• Competitive day‑rate paid on a contract basis.