Unit Head – Data Architect (AVP/ VP) - TJ / 1913677

National Bank of Pakistan, one of the largest and leading banks in the country, is seeking a Unit Head – Data Architect (AVP/VP) to join its Digital Banking division in Karachi. The Bank is committed to supporting the financial well-being of the nation while driving sustainable growth and inclusive development through its extensive local and international branch network. This role is critical to advancing the Bank’s transformation into a future-ready, agile, and sustainable institution by leading enterprise data architecture initiatives aligned with its digital transformation strategy.

Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the development and execution of the enterprise-wide data architecture strategy, ensuring alignment with the Bank’s digital transformation goals and regulatory requirements.
- Oversee the management and maintenance of enterprise data models, ensuring data integrity, scalability, and consistency across business units and systems.
- Establish and enforce data governance standards, policies, and best practices to maintain secure, compliant, and high-quality data management.
- Define enterprise-wide data standards, including naming conventions, metadata standards, and modeling guidelines.
- Ensure synchronization between enterprise architecture, business architecture, application architecture, and data architecture.
- Design and implement enterprise Data Warehouse, Data Lake, and Lakehouse architectures.
- Define and standardize enterprise data integration patterns for batch, real-time, streaming, API-based, and event-driven data flows.
- Develop and maintain enterprise ETL/ELT architecture and data movement standards.
- Collaborate closely with data engineering, analytics, IT, and business teams to design scalable data integration and storage solutions that meet enterprise needs.
- Partner with Data Governance teams to implement robust data governance frameworks.
- Lead initiatives on data quality management, metadata management, data lineage, and Master Data Management (MDM) to ensure trusted and governed data.
- Mentor and lead the data architecture team, fostering technical excellence and continuous improvement.
- Manage vendor relationships and partnerships to deploy modern data architecture and advanced analytics tools.
- Stay abreast of emerging technologies in data architecture, cloud platforms, and advanced analytics to maintain a future-ready data ecosystem.
- Perform additional assignments as directed by supervisors.

Required Qualifications:
- Minimum graduation in Business Administration, Economics, Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or an equivalent degree from an HEC-recognized local or international institution.
- At least 6 years of relevant experience in banking, fintech, or financial institutions, including a minimum of 3 years in Data Architecture, Data Modeling, Data Warehousing/Lakehouse, Data Integration, Master Data Management (MDM), or Business Intelligence.
- Strong expertise in Enterprise Data Architecture, Data Warehouse, Data Lakehouse, Data Mesh, Data Fabric, and modern data platform architectures.
- Proven experience designing and implementing ETL/ELT solutions, enterprise data integration, API integration, Change Data Capture (CDC), event-driven architectures, and streaming data pipelines.
- Familiarity with cloud and hybrid data ecosystems such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Databricks, Snowflake, Microsoft Fabric, or Apache Spark-based platforms.
- Knowledge of enterprise integration technologies, including REST APIs, message queues, Kafka, event streaming, and microservices architecture.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, stakeholder management, presentation, and communication skills, with the ability to translate complex business requirements into scalable enterprise data solutions.

Preferred Qualifications and Benefits:
- A Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Engineering, Information Technology, or relevant certifications will be an advantage.
- Experience with cloud or hybrid data platforms, enterprise databases, BI ecosystems, data security/privacy, and banking regulatory requirements is preferred.
- The position is based in Karachi and offered on a contractual basis for three years, with the possibility of renewal at management’s discretion.
- Compensation and benefits will be provided according to the Bank’s policies.
- Only shortlisted candidates meeting the eligibility criteria will be invited for panel interviews.
- National Bank of Pakistan is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from all qualified individuals regardless of gender, religion, or disability.

Applications must be submitted within 10 working days of the job posting. Late applications will not be considered, and no travel allowance or daily allowance will be provided for interviews.