The State of Wisconsin is looking for an Enterprise Architect IV

Top Skills & Years of Experience:

• Industry experience with IT and information management – 10 years

• Experience as a data architect or an architect leading complex technology solutions (includes data modeling) – 5 years

• Experience working with both business and IT teams to co-design solutions that deliver measurable business value

• Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, or equivalent required

Nice to Have Skills:

• Experience defining and implementing data architecture for cloud solutions

• Experience with public sector systems (insurance, pension), modernization projects, and data analytics ecosystems

Interview Process: Online interview via Teams (2 rounds).

Onsite or Remote? No WI residency required. Open to nationwide candidates. This position can work 100% remote within the continental US.

Job Description

We have an immediate opening at the Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) for a Data Architect and Data

Modeler. ETF is a state agency that is recognized as a leader in providing public employee benefit systems. This position

provides leadership in data architecture and modeling with a strong focus on understanding business needs and

ensuring data solutions support agency priorities across a multi-year, multi-phase modernization effort and other

mission-critical initiatives. The modernization effort includes a “best of breed” implementation with different vendor

solutions including enterprise content management (ECM), health insurance, pension, and other benefits systems.

It is essential for an enterprise data architect/modeler to have both a business and technical focus because their role

serves as a critical bridge between organizational goals and the systems that support them. A strong business focus

ensures that data strategies and models align with the needs of stakeholders, support decision-making, and drive value

across departments. At the same time, a deep technical understanding is necessary to design scalable, secure, and

efficient data architectures that integrate with complex IT ecosystems. This dual focus enables the architect to translate

business requirements into actionable technical solutions, ensure data quality and consistency, and future-proof the

organization’s data assets in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Focus Areas

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate closely with business leaders, technical teams, and vendors to understand business goals, processes,

and data needs, ensuring architectural decisions are business-aligned.

• Translate business objectives into data architecture requirements, partnering with technical staff to assess

feasibility and execution.

• Define and guide the agency’s enterprise data architecture, including the creation and ongoing maintenance of

enterprise data flows, with a focus on how data moves across systems to support core business operations,

analytics, and decision-making.

• Provide direction and oversight for the design of data solutions, while leveraging technical staff to execute on

specific implementation details and configurations.

• Ensure understanding, application, and enforcement of enterprise data standards across systems and teams.

• Recommend phased approaches to integrating new data sources and platforms in alignment with the agency’s

modernization roadmap and long-term data strategy.

• Lead data integration and migration planning to ensure accurate and efficient transitions between systems.

• Collaborate with data stewards and data owners to provide regular updates on project progress and status.

• Develop and maintain documentation on data architecture, data flows, and data models to ensure clarity and

consistency.

• Contribute to data governance frameworks that ensure data quality, consistency, and compliance with relevant

policies and regulations.

• Provide updates to leadership on architecture progress, risks, and contributions to agency-wide data and

modernization efforts.

• Contribute to and help evolve the agency’s enterprise data strategy, ensuring it supports both current needs and

future growth.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• Experience in pension, retirement, or benefit distribution systems including health insurance and related data

processes

• Proficient in creating and maintaining Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs)

• Experience enforcing enterprise data standards and managing enterprise vs. local data usage

• Experience working with both transactional data models and applications, as well as data lake architectures and

solutions

• Proficiency with ERwin Data Modeler for developing, documenting, and maintaining logical and physical data

models in support of enterprise architecture.

• Strong business acumen with the ability to understand, synthesize, and translate business needs into high-level

data architecture strategies.

• Ability to collaborate with technical teams in the implementation of architecture, relying on their expertise for

detailed solution design and execution.

• Extensive experience leading data efforts in complex, multi-system environments, with a focus on integration

and business impact.

• Deep understanding of enterprise data management disciplines: data governance, master data, metadata,

lineage, and quality.

• Knowledge of data architecture principles, reference architectures, and best practices for both on-premises and

cloud-based solutions.

• Experience with data modeling tools and working with technical staff who focus on data integration

technologies.

• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to engage with business and technical

stakeholders at all levels.

• Strategic mindset with attention to data enablement, not just system architecture.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business, or related field (or equivalent

experience).

• Minimum 10 years of experience in IT or data-related roles, with 5+ years in a lead data architecture capacity.

• Experience working with both business and IT teams to co-design solutions that deliver measurable business

value.

• Preferred: Experience with public sector systems (insurance, pension), modernization projects, cloud data

platforms, and data analytics ecosystems.