Chief Data Architect

Job Title: Chief Data Architect 

Job Code: 45932

Job Location: Melbourne, FL; Rochester, NY; Salt Lake City, UT; or remote 

Job Schedule: 9/80: Employees work 9 out of every 14 days – totaling 80 hours worked – and have every other Friday off

Job Description:

L3Harris is undertaking one of the largest-scale Data/AI implementations in the defense contracting sector. This multi-year, transformative program is building state-of-the-art AI applications on top of unified data. It is integrating ~100 legacy systems—including enterprise resource planning (ERP), product lifecycle management (PLM), supply chain, finance, operations, and specialized domain systems. The capabilities cover dozens of critical corporate use cases spanning program management, finance, operations, supply chain, engineering, and strategic planning.

The Chief Data Architect of the Unified Data Layer is a key senior contributor role that is foundational to the program's success. You will design the ontology strategy that enables seamless data integration and define the operating model and architectural principles and governance for cross-functional teams.

Essential Functions:

As Chief Data Architect, you will own the strategic design of the entire data and ontology architecture for enterprise Palantir implementation. You will work with a team of experienced architects to leverage leading tools to create a high-caliber, AI-leveraged engineering core.  You will work closely with IT leadership to establish enterprise standards, and embed architects within product teams to ensure consistent, rapid, compliant, and effective execution. Your decisions on data modeling, domain structures, metadata management, and system integration will directly enable the platform's ability to deliver value rapidly.

This is a hands-on role: you will spend time selecting architectural tools, designing architectures, reviewing key technical decisions, mentoring architects, and engaging directly with key senior stakeholders. You will operate at the intersection of strategy and execution, ensuring both vision and implementation align.

Team Building & Leadership

• Build a strong technical culture emphasizing principled design, collaborative problem-solving, continuous learning, and ability to balance speed, performance, and compliance.
• Develop a comprehensive training and mentorship program to rapidly build architect capability. Create architecture communities of practice and knowledge-sharing mechanisms.

Ontology & Data Architecture Strategy

• Design and roll out the architecture operating model and governance framework to efficiently and effectively work with cross-functional teams and ensure compliant, high-performance designs.
• Design the enterprise data ontology strategy—the core conceptual model that represents the organization's entities, relationships, and business concepts. This ontology will serve as the foundation for all Palantir workspaces and integrations.
• Define data integration architecture across ~100 legacy systems, establishing patterns for real-time and batch data flows, master data management, and data quality frameworks.
• Work with data teams to establish the metadata strategy, governance standards, and lineage tracking to ensure transparency and auditability across the platform.
• Define analytical and operational data models that support diverse use cases (financial analysis, supply chain optimization, engineering insights, strategic planning).

Enterprise Standards & Governance

• Partner with IT leadership to codify enterprise architecture standards, data governance policies, and integration patterns that all teams must follow.
• Define naming conventions, data classification schemes, security models, and compliance requirements (ITAR, etc.).
• Embed architectural standards in implementation teams to maintain consistency as teams implement independently.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Embed architects within product teams (developers, scrum masters, domain SMEs) to guide implementation decisions and translate architectural vision into executable requirements.
• Work with product development teams to validate approach and resolve technical constraints.
• Participate in the engagement of key business stakeholders across finance, operations, supply chain, and engineering to understand use cases to ensure the architectural strategy meets business objectives.

Technical Excellence & Decision-Making

• Lead design reviews for complex integration challenges, ontology extensions, and cross-cutting architectural decisions.
• Stay current with Palantir best practices, emerging data architecture patterns, and industry benchmarks.
• Drive architectural innovation while maintaining pragmatism about timelines, budgets, and technical debt.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree with a minimum of 15 years of prior related experience or Graduate Degree with a minimum of 13 years of prior related experience. In lieu of a degree, minimum of 19 years of prior related experience.

Preferred Additional Skills:

• Experience building and scaling engineering organizations, including hiring, training curricula, and career development frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience with Palantir or similar graph platforms; Palantir experience preferred.
• Proven ability to design ontologies, taxonomies, and data models that capture complex domain semantics and support multiple use cases.
• Experience integrating 10+ systems across heterogeneous platforms (ERP, PLM, databases, APIs, legacy systems).
• Excellent communication skills; ability to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders and define strategies that align business needs with technical constraints.
• Experience working in heavily regulated environments (defense, financial services, utilities, or healthcare); familiarity with DoD security standards a plus.
• Background in formal ontology methodologies or semantic modeling frameworks.
• Track record working with systems integrators and managing vendor relationships in large programs.
• Direct experience with large-scale Palantir implementations; familiarity with Palantir Ontology API, Foundry, and configuration frameworks.
• Background in one or more domains: supply chain, operations, financial systems, or defense/aerospace.
• Experience with MDM (Master Data Management), data quality frameworks, and data governance at enterprise scale.

In compliance with pay transparency requirements, the salary range for this remote role in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington, and the Greater D.C., Denver, or NYC areas is $191,000 - $354,500. The salary range for this remote role in Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New York State, Cleveland, Ohio, Vermont, and Virginia is $165,500 - $307,500. This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary, as final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to experience and geographic location. L3Harris also offers a variety of benefits, including health and disability insurance, 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts, EAP, education assistance, parental leave, paid time off, and company-paid holidays. The specific programs and options available to an employee may vary depending on date of hire, schedule type, and the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.