Technical Architect

Company Description

Citizant is a leading provider of professional IT services to the U.S. government. We seek to address some of our country's most pressing challenges in the areas of Agile application development, Enterprise Data Management, Enterprise Architecture, and Program Management support services - focusing on the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Treasury. We strive to hire only ethical, talented, passionate, and committed "A Players" who already align with the company's core values: Drive, Excellence, Reputation, Responsibility, and a Better Future. No matter how large we grow, Citizant will retain its collaborative, supportive, small-company culture, where successful team effort to address external and internal customer challenges is valued above all individual contributions.

About the Role

We're seeking a Technical Architect to help design and mature an enterprise data capability that includes data governance and standards, portfolio oversight for data initiatives, scalable data architecture and quality controls, and a secure, high-performing analytics platform (real-time and batch).

This role blends architectural leadership with hands-on collaboration across engineering, security, and stakeholder teams to ensure data solutions are reliable, compliant, well-governed, and operationally sustainable.

Key Responsibilities:

Data Governance, Standards, and Operating Model

• Develop, implement, and enforce data governance policies and standards to ensure data integrity, security, and compliance.
• Create governance mechanisms to prioritize and approve data-focused projects, including decision workflows, escalation paths, and oversight forums (e.g., Project Review Board).
• Build practical governance artifacts: project tracking, approval processes, a data project management framework, standardized templates, and documentation/version control practices.
• Deliver training and documentation on data management best practices, pipelines, orchestration tools, and platform integrations to improve stakeholder self-sufficiency and maintainability.

Portfolio Management for Data Initiatives

• Prioritize, manage, and deliver data projects through effective resource and risk management.
• Develop capacity-planning approaches and workflow mechanisms for requesting/allocating/reallocating resources, and support financial performance tracking for data initiatives.

Data Architecture & Quality Engineering

• Define architecture principles and guidelines to support hybrid, on-prem, and multi-cloud environments; perform current-state assessment and gap analysis.
• Design modular, layered data architectures (e.g., data lakes/warehouses/marts) and build pipeline frameworks supporting both batch and real-time ingestion.
• Map data flows across systems/APIs/clouds to identify risks and inefficiencies; implement automated data classification by sensitivity/criticality/compliance requirements.

Data Analytics Platform, Dashboards, and Secure Integrations

• Develop and implement data pipelines that integrate data from IT systems, applications, and devices; automate ingestion and processing workflows.
• Design and implement a scalable analytics platform that supports real-time and batch processing; deliver advanced analytics (predictive modeling, trend identification, statistical analysis).
• Build interactive dashboards and reports for operational and IT metrics (performance, utilization, incident response, ticket resolution, SLA adherence) with deep-dive filtering and exploration.
• Ensure seamless integration with key IT tools (e.g., CMDB, ticketing, monitoring, cloud platforms) and support secure, governed API/data-sharing environments.

Security, Compliance, and Continuous Monitoring (Data-Focused)

• Implement robust encryption protocols and compliance processes across cloud/on-prem/hybrid environments, including policy-based access restrictions tied to data sensitivity and clearance requirements.
• Establish continuous auditing/monitoring for data usage, access violations, and compliance adherence; support compliance reporting and validation (e.g., FISMA, NIST, GDPR, HIPAA as applicable).

Required Experience

• 15-20 years enterprise/cloud architecture; Zero Trust, SaaS-first, IAM, DevSecOps/IaC; TOGAF and/or cloud architect certification preferred. AND 5+ years of federal enterprise architecture
• Experience architecting and delivering data platforms/pipelines and analytics solutions (batch + real-time).
• Experience implementing data governance standards, documentation, and stakeholder training.
• Strong background in data architecture, data flows/integration, and data quality controls.
• Demonstrated ability to embed security and compliance into data design (encryption, access controls, auditing/monitoring, compliance reporting).

Education

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data/Analytics, Engineering, or related field.

Certifications

• TOGAF Certified
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
• Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
• CISSP or CAP

Preferred Certifications:

DevSecOps

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator
• DevOps Institute DevSecOps Engineer

Zero Trust

• CISA Zero Trust training

Data platforms

• Snowflake
• Databricks
• Azure Data Engineer
• Open Group ArchiMate
• Open Agile Architecture

Security Requirements (Required)

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Must possess or be able to obtain/maintain a Public Trust background investigation

Citizant offers a competitive benefits package, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k)
• Generous PTO
• Company-paid life and disability insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Tuition Assistance & Professional Development Program

Additional information

Citizant strives to be an employer of choice in the Washington metropolitan area. Citizant associates accept challenging and rewarding work and in return receive excellent compensation and benefits, as well as the opportunity for personal and professional development.

Citizant is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran status, or disability status.