A Belgian public health and scientific research organisation is building a multi-user data and analytics platform for health, animal and environmental data. As a Senior Solution Architect for the lakehouse data platform, you will shape the storage layer, including SQL databases and object storage, and connect it with ingestion, core systems and data science environments.
The mission
The platform must support data ingestion, processing, governance, analysis and dissemination across Belgium's health, animal and environmental data ecosystem. You will define open-source and sovereign technologies for a scalable storage architecture, covering data lakes, relational and NoSQL databases, data warehouses, backup and archiving. The architecture must support GDPR, NIS2, information security requirements and the European Health Data Space.
Working with the Data Office, technical teams and external partners, you will connect organisational architecture with detailed implementation decisions. Your scope includes a data platform architecture for health data, medallion layers from bronze to gold, and interoperability with data science workbenches, business intelligence, data service gateways and secure processing environments.
Your responsibilities
- Define the target storage and lakehouse architecture across BLOB storage, S3-compatible object storage, SQL RDBMS, data warehouses and NoSQL systems.
- Design the implementation of bronze, silver and gold data layers, including retention, archiving, backup and recovery for different data flows.
- Evaluate and test technologies such as PostgreSQL, MinIO, OpenStack, Apache Iceberg, Spark, dbt, Kubernetes and Docker against interoperability, multi-user and production requirements.
- Ensure that data architectures and flows meet GDPR, NIS2, data governance, confidentiality and European Health Data Space requirements.
- Guide engineering teams through design reviews, code assessments, technical decisions and implementation practices, resolving integration issues proactively.
- Document architecture decisions and act as the technical contact for internal services, management and external partners.
Your profile
Essential skills
- Bring at least 10 years of experience in data platform engineering, solution architecture, data storage, data modelling, database technologies and modern analytics platforms, including experience as a Data Platform Engineer.
- Apply strong expertise in data platform architecture, data ingestion, data lakes, data warehousing and ETL/ELT pipelines.
- Manage and advise on SQL database environments, including application management of SQL database environments and production-oriented operations.
- Design open-source data platform architecture without single-vendor lock-in, with practical knowledge of lakehouse architecture and European digital sovereignty initiatives.
- Select and implement technologies across PostgreSQL, MinIO, NoSQL, Spark, Iceberg, dbt, Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, Keycloak, Vault, Terraform and OpenStack.
- Communicate complex architecture and data governance topics clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders, while working independently and collaboratively.
Languages
- Dutch or French, CEFR B2 or higher.
- English, CEFR C1 or higher.
Education
- Master's degree in computer science, engineering, data management or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.