Architect Lead, Data Architecture

Journey with us! Combine your career goals and sense of adventure by joining our incredible team of employees at Royal Caribbean Group. We are proud to offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, and excellent career development opportunities, each offering unique ways to explore the world.

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Royal Caribbean Group’s IT Architecture Team has an exciting career opportunity for a full time Architect Lead, Data Architecture position, reporting to the AVP, Enterprise Architecture & Engineering.

Position Summary

The Architect Lead reports to the director of Enterprise Architecture. This individual is responsible for designing and guiding the enterprise-wide application architecture aligned with business strategies and supporting multiple operational domains. They collaborate with stakeholders to translate business needs into scalable, secure IT solutions, oversee solution integration, and ensure compliance with architectural standards. They provide technical leadership, documentation, and strategic insights to drive long-term technology evolution. The role requires collaboration across various teams and close cooperation with the Engineering Managers, Product Owners, and other Enterprise Architects.

This position entails leading the application architecture and selecting the appropriate technology for systems and applications within the company's product portfolio. Responsibilities include supporting proposal preparation, solutions recommendations for approval, and reviewing technical designs to ensure adherence to architecture practices and alignment with the company's technological vision.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Design scalable, secure application architectures aligned with business goals.
• Apply architectural frameworks to align IT with strategic objectives.
• Monitor regulatory and business changes to adjust architecture plans.
• Translate stakeholder needs into technical designs and solutions.
• Guide integration of COTS and custom solutions to ensure consistency.
• Evaluate emerging technologies for enterprise fit and growth.
• Review and approve designs to ensure compliance with standards.
• Support deployment of IT solutions aligned with architecture.
• Convert business needs into technical requirements with dev teams.
• Maintain architecture documentation, diagrams, and data models.
• Embed security, privacy, and compliance into all designs.
• Identify architectural risks and drive process improvements.
• Research tech trends and recommend innovative solutions.
• Analyze cost impacts of technology and architecture changes.
• Manage architectural changes to meet evolving needs.
• Stay current on architecture tools, trends, and practices.
• Communicate project updates, risks, and initiatives to leadership.
• Advise on product selection, roadmaps, and build vs. buy decisions.
• Lead estimation efforts to ensure project accuracy and quality.
• Perform other duties as assigned in support of business goals.

Qualifications, Knowledge and Skills

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Engineering, Computer Science, IT, Math, or equivalent.
• 8+ years in software development and IT architecture, including 3+ years in application architecture.
• Deep knowledge of architectural principles, patterns, and frameworks (e.g., enterprise, solution, cloud, security).
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native services.
• Strong proficiency across web technologies, APIs, integration platforms, IAM, AI/ML, and personalization systems.
• Skilled in system architecture design, scalability, and security alignment with business goals.
• Proficient in programming languages and tools across architectural domains (cloud, data, application, security).
• Ability to design efficient, scalable, and secure solutions; strong grasp of algorithms and data structures.
• Experience leading cross-functional, globally distributed teams.
• Skilled in translating business requirements into cloud and technical designs.
• Familiarity with physical data design, data relationships, and database structure validation.
• Knowledge of platform architecture, including OS, hardware, and programming environments.
• Proficient in security best practices, identifying vulnerabilities, and implementing controls.
• Ability to troubleshoot and implement networking solutions within policy frameworks.
• Experienced in end-to-end technology integration across diverse systems and products.
• Conducts architecture reviews, testing, and debugging to ensure performance and integrity.
• Communicates architecture designs and decisions clearly to stakeholders at all levels.
• Actively monitors emerging technologies and industry trends to inform architecture strategy.
• Recognized as a product and platform expert; supports long-term technology roadmaps.
• Coaches engineers, reviews solutions, and guides adherence to standards and tools.
• Supports complex product integration and technical implementation planning.

We know there's a lot to consider. As you go through the application process, our recruiters will be glad to provide guidance, and more relevant details to answer any additional questions. Thank you again for your interest in Royal Caribbean Group. We'll hope to see you onboard soon!

It is the policy of the Company to ensure equal employment and promotion opportunity to qualified candidates without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, sexuality, gender identity or expression, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Royal Caribbean Group and each of its subsidiaries prohibit and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment.

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