Principal Data Architect - APJ Snowflake Data Platform

About the role

Alexion Japan is looking for a Principal Data Architect to lead the design, evolution and governance of the APJ enterprise data platform centred on Snowflake. The role defines the target architecture and technical standards for a scalable, secure and governed data ecosystem supporting data engineering, business intelligence, advanced analytics and AI use cases. It works closely with Data Engineers, BI and Analytics teams, business stakeholders and global technology teams, and requires deep hands-on Snowflake expertise.

Key responsibilities

• Define and evolve the APJ Snowflake architecture, including patterns for ingestion, transformation, storage, consumption and analytics, and for BI, data science and AI workloads
• Establish common architectural patterns and data-layer principles across enterprise data domains, and guide the design of reusable data products
• Define Snowflake security and access-control architecture, including role-based access control and separation of duties, and partner with Security and Identity teams
• Set standards for data ingestion and transformation with Fivetran and dbt, and review pipeline designs
• Act as technical design authority: lead design reviews, review proposals, define architecture standards and patterns, and partner with engineering teams on implementation
• Define principles for platform resilience, data protection and recoverability, and partner on business continuity and disaster recovery
• Design a data architecture that supports AI/ML and generative AI workloads, working with Data Science and AI teams

Required profile

• Deep hands-on Snowflake expertise, including architecture, security, advanced SQL, data modelling, performance and production troubleshooting
• Technically strong enough to challenge and guide Principal/Senior Data Engineers
• Japanese at business level: independent discussions with Japanese stakeholders and translation of business requirements into technical architecture
• English at business level: collaboration with APJ and global teams

Required skills

• Snowflake, dbt, Fivetran, modern ELT/ETL architecture
• Data warehousing, data modelling, data integration, data quality and data governance
• Git-based development and CI/CD concepts, cloud data architecture
• Preferred: pharmaceutical or life sciences experience, large-scale Snowflake platforms, Power BI, AI/ML and cross-market experience