Data Architect

Data Architect at World Food Programme

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

11 March 2026-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome)

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

WHY JOIN WFP?

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.
• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.
• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.
• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Reporting to the Head of Enterprise Architecture within the Digital Architecture Unit, the Data Architect will lead the design, governance, and evolution of corporate data platforms and data integration ecosystems. The role ensures alignment between business needs, enterprise architecture, and modern data engineering practices, supporting WFP’s mandate through scalable, secure, and high‑quality data solutions.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead the design and evolution of enterprise data architectures, including data lakes, data warehouses, data mesh/data fabric, and analytics platforms.
• Define data architecture principles, standards, patterns, and governance frameworks.
• Drive adoption of modern cloud data technologies across AWS and Azure.
• Design data models (conceptual, logical, physical).
• Integrate data domains with the WFP Digital Core and API ecosystem.
• Identify modernization and migration opportunities.
• Partner with DevOps teams to enhance CI/CD for data services.
• Support secure data architecture design including classification, encryption, lineage, and monitoring.
• Collaborate with cybersecurity teams.
• Promote enterprise-wide data quality and metadata governance.
• Lead architectural reviews for data-related proposals and provide coaching on data architecture to various teams.
• Maintain architecture documentation.
• Identify emerging technologies.
• Perform other related duties.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

University degree or a post-secondary education combined with a minimum of 8 years of equivalent working experience in software development or other related fields.

Experience:

• 8+ years in enterprise data ecosystems, cloud data architectures, data governance, modeling, API ecosystems, secure data solutions.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Broad, conceptual understanding of data architecture trends with demonstrated proficiency of technologies, frameworks and languages.
• Cloud-native services (AWS Glue, Redshift, Synapse), ETL/ELT, streaming, SQL, Python, CI/CD, metadata tools, communication skills.
• Knowledge of various data platforms on ERP. E.g. Datasphere on SAP
• In-depth knowledge of digital technology matters (e.g. APIs, SDK, DevOps, UX, big data, ETL, Analytics, AI & Cloud Solutions).
• Experience writing technical articles, giving presentations, explaining technology.
• Knowledge Transfer Management is required.
• Mastery in developing software solutions.
• Excellent Communications Skills.
• Coaching Skills is desirable.

Capabilities:

• Able to think creatively and strategically.
• Able to plan and organize work effectively.
• Able to articulate complex concepts in non-technical language.
• Able to coordinate multiple responsibilities simultaneously.
• Able identify and resolve problems.
• Well organized and detail oriented.
• Values diversity in the workplace, particularly valuing respectfulness and inclusively leveraging everyone's talents.

Languages:

Fluency in oral and written English with an intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is desirable.

Key skills/competency

• Data Architecture
• Cloud Data
• AWS
• Azure
• Data Governance
• Data Modeling
• ETL/ELT
• CI/CD
• SQL
• Python