Job Title: Data Architect
Job Location: Galway, Ireland
At MetLife, we’re leading the global transformation of an industry we’ve long defined. Founded in 1868, MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. We have operations in more than 40 countries and hold leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
We are one of the largest institutional investors in the U.S. with $669 billion of total assets under management as of December 31, 2021, ranked #50 on the Fortune 500 list, and honoured to have been named to Fortune magazine's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies" for three consecutive years.
MetLife employees are united by purpose, guided by empathy and inspired by one another’s unique backgrounds and perspective to make a difference in the lives of our customers, communities, and the world at large.
With our purpose at our core—Always with you, building a more confident future—sustainability at MetLife means sustaining people’s lives. Sustainability is central to our business strategy and is ingrained across our operations. With the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) as a guide, we are deploying the strength of our people, products, services and investments to sustain our customers, our colleagues, our communities and our shareholders.
MetLife Ireland which is located in both Dublin and Galway City Centres. Dublin is our Operational Headquarters for our Europe Region. In addition, both Dublin and Galway have a significant number of our colleagues that are focused on supporting our broader EMEA and Global functions. They are homes to our Actuarial, Audit, Compliance, Finance, IT, Legal, Operations, Risk and Treasury Teams.
Role Value Proposition:
Enterprise Architecture ensures a holistic strategy and approach to technology solutions, by working broadly and globally across the company. We drive MetLife toward a simplified and consistent architecture, globally, thereby driving quality, agility, and cost-effectiveness. We support all areas of MetLife in developing and implementing the MetLife and GTO strategy - Business Units, Global Operations, Application Development, Info Sec, Data and Analytics and Infrastructure.
MetLife is seeking a Lead Architect to support enterprise and data domain architecture across the global portfolio. In this role you will be a critical member of a dedicated team responsible for defining technology standards and documenting the guardrails and patterns related to data for use in solution architectures throughout MetLife. You will have the opportunity to drive innovative solutions using cutting-edge technologies, and you will have the responsibility to ensure that systems are designed with security, resilience, and performance in mind. You will get to partner with and build relationships with teams that span various business, technology, and enterprise domains in the support of building enterprise scale solution architectures.
Key Responsibilities:
Enterprise Data Architecture
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Define and maintain the enterprise data architecture vision and roadmap.
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Develop architecture principles, standards, patterns, and reference architectures.
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Ensure alignment between data strategy and business objectives.
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Govern enterprise-wide data architecture decisions and design reviews.
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Drive architectural consistency across regions, platforms, and programmes.
Data Platform Strategy
Lead architecture for cloud-based data platforms.
Define scalable architectures supporting:
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Data Warehousing
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Data Lakes
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Lakehouse Platforms
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Real-time Data Processing
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Advanced Analytics
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AI/ML Enablement
Evaluate emerging technologies and establish adoption roadmaps.
Guide platform modernisation programmes and technical transformations.
Solution Architecture & Design
Design end-to-end data solutions from source systems to consumption layers.
Define integration patterns for:
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APIs
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Event-driven architectures
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Batch processing
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Streaming architectures
Ensure solutions meet non-functional requirements including:
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Scalability
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Resilience
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Performance
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Security
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Operability
Data Governance & Security
Partner with Data Governance teams to establish:
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Metadata management
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Data lineage
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Reference data management
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Master data management
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Data quality frameworks
Ensure compliance with privacy, security, and regulatory requirements.
Define standards for sensitive data handling and protection.
AI, Analytics & Data Enablement
Define architecture patterns supporting AI and advanced analytics.
Design semantic and consumption layers enabling self-service analytics.
Support enterprise data products and business data domains.
Enable trusted and governed data consumption across the organisation.
Key Stakeholders: Solution Architects from Regional and LOB Architecture teams, Governance Partners across areas such as Data & Analytics, Global Security, Global Infrastructure, Privacy, Legal, etc.
Essential Business Experience and Technical Skills:
Required:
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Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline (CS, EE, ME, Math or equivalent)
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5+ years’ experience in Software Engineering or Architecture, and strong technical experience with building enterprise scale data solutions
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3+ years’ experience with Data Engineering or Architecture with hands-on experience of cloud data platforms
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Exposure to modern AI concepts such as generative AI and machine learning
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Strong analytical skills with demonstrated ability to apply analysis to actionable insights
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Demonstrated expertise in security, operational, and resiliency architecture principles
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Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives requiring engagement and support from partner organizations
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Excellent verbal and written communication skills with focused attention to details, as well as demonstrated professionalism and time/task management skills
Preferred:
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Experience designing and building solutions utilizing generative AI and machine learning, including addressing responsible use of AI considerations
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Experience architecting enterprise data solutions around SaaS and PaaS technologies and services
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Broad knowledge of Big Data concepts, design patterns and technologies
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Experience with BI, Reporting, and Analytics.
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Extensive experience with information architecture, data integration, data management, and database technologies
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Cloud PaaS technologies, ADF, Azure Data Lake Storage, Event Streaming platforms, Databricks, Kubernetes, web APIs, API security protocols, etc., with preferred experience in Azure
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Strong Software Development Life Cycle knowledge and experience, particularly Agile and DevOps
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IT Experience in enterprise-scale organizations in an architecture role
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Knowledge of multiple architecture disciplines, or an equivalent combination of education and work experience
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Demonstrated influencing and negotiating skills
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Demonstrated business acumen especially in insurance and financial industries and systems
MetLife is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to attracting, retaining and maximizing the performance of a diverse and inclusive workforce. It is the policy of MetLife to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination on any basis protected by law. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, religions and sexual orientations. We strive to find the best candidate for all positions and a diverse range of applicants ensures we widen our talent pool in order to achieve this. Any applicants with disabilities and neurodiverse conditions, please do let us know about your reasonable adjustments to ensure that we can best meet your needs.
Travel
Negligible
Business Category
Global Technology & Operations
Number of Openings
1
At MetLife, we’re leading the global transformation of an industry we’ve long defined. United in purpose, diverse in perspective, we’re dedicated to making a difference in the lives of our customers.
We ensure to reward and recognise our employees for their contributions and accomplishments at work. We value our employees’ commitment to their work by offering competitive and extensive compensation and benefits package. This includes 25 paid holidays, performance-based bonus, health insurance, income protection and pension benefits. MetLife will also assist in the funding of professional fees for employees where it is relevant and aligned to your position within the organisation. MetLife reserve the right to make a judgement on whether the subscription is relevant or not to your role as well as cease the payment at any time. This type of subscription will not incur “benefit in kind” tax.
Bring your true self to work every day, receive the development and support you need to perform at your best, opportunities to advance your career and surround yourself with like-minded people. Join MetLife.
Benefits We Offer
Our Ireland benefits address holistic well-being with programs for physical and mental health, financial wellness, and support for families. We are committed to employee care by delivering comprehensive inclusive offerings and cultivating an environment that drives professional growth, purposeful work, and a supportive culture. Our benefits package includes hybrid work, career development and professional qualification support, full private health insurance for employees and their immediate family members, income protection, defined contribution pension benefits and much more!
About MetLife
Recognized on Fortune magazine's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies" and Fortune World’s 25 Best Workplaces™, MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies; providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to individual and institutional customers. With operations in more than 40 markets, we hold leading positions in the United States, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Our purpose is simple - to help our colleagues, customers, communities, and the world at large create a more confident future. United by purpose and guided by our core values - Win Together, Do the Right Thing, Deliver Impact Over Activity, and Think Ahead - we’re inspired to transform the next century in financial services. At MetLife, it’s
#AllTogetherPossible. Join us!
