We are looking for a Principal Data Architect to join our Compliance Product, Strategic Programs, and Data organization. In this high-impact, highly motivated individual contributor, you will be the lead architect for Compliance data. You wont just be managing a program; you will be onboarding data contracts on the Data quality platform, and identify sources of truths for compliance reporting that connect our technical producers with our compliance consumers.
You will sit at the intersection of Engineering, Product, and Compliance, serving as the strategic architect who ensures our data is fit for purpose. From defining proximate source lineage to quantifying the impact of data quality on false-positive alerts, your work will directly influence how Coinbase manages risk in a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.
What you'll be doing (ie. job duties):
• Architect Data Governance Frameworks: Define and implement the end-to-end Compliance data risk framework, specifically addressing Data Quality (DQ), Usage Risk, and Lineage Risk for Compliance data. • Design & Enforce Data Contracts: Act as the primary architect for formal data contracts between Producers (Eng) and Consumers (Compliance, CX, IOS), defining content structure, control requirements, and change management protocols. • Map System-of-Capture Lineage: Work with systems owners to establish and maintain data lineage to satisfy regulatory requirements, ensuring full visibility from the point of data generation to regulatory reporting. • Quantify Data Impact: Develop metrics to measure the impact of poor data quality (e.g., false alerts, false negatives) to prioritize remediation efforts and technical debt. • Drive Cross-Functional Roadmap: Serve as the strategic bridge between Compliance SMEs, Platform Engineering, Data Engineering and Data Analytics to ensure data fit for purpose is baked into the technical design, not added as an afterthought. • Drive Targeted Wins: Eschew a boil the ocean approach in favor of a risk-based strategy, focusing on high-materiality data elements and processes that drive cultural change toward data ownership.
What we look for in you (ie. job requirements):
10+ years of experience in Data Architecture, Data Engineering, or Technical Program Management within a regulated Financial Services or FinTech environment.
Deep SME in Compliance Data: Direct experience with the nuances of AML, KYC, Sanctions, and/or Transaction Monitoring data structures.
Technical Design Literacy: Ability to navigate ETL pipelines, SQL, and data modeling discussions with Engineering teams while maintaining a non-technical reporting line.
Mastery of Data Lineage: Proven track record of mapping complex data flows across distributed systems to meet regulatory standards (e.g., BCBS 239 or similar).
Influence without Authority: Exceptional ability to align competing priorities between speed to market (Product) and data integrity (Compliance).
Risk-Based Thinker: Ability to design compensating controls to manage residual risk when perfect technical solutions are not immediately available.
Strategic Communicator: Experience presenting data risk profiles and remediation progress to senior leadership and/or external regulators.
Modern Data Stack Experience: Familiarity with cloud-native data environments (Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery) and how they handle lineage.
Technical Toolkit: Proficiency with SQL, Looker/Tableau, and metadata management tools (e.g., Collibra, Alation).
Nice to haves:
Advanced Certifications: CAMS (Anti-Money Laundering Specialist) or CDMP (Certified Data Management Professional).
Job #: P75991#LI-Remote