Data Architect – Healthcare

The Data Architect is responsible for designing, creating, and managing the Institute’s data infrastructure. In this role, you will develop data models, oversee data governance policies, and ensure efficient flow of data across systems. The Data Architect works closely with the rest of the data and project team to align data solutions with organization goals, ensuring scalability, security, and accessibility. You will oversee the integration of new technologies, optimize data processes and ETL, and continually enhance the data warehouse to meet the organization’s data needs.

About Us

At the Institute for Improved Health Outcomes (IIHO), we specialize in harnessing data and evidence to drive improvements in health care. With deep expertise collaborating across health systems and networks, we guide clinical practices, shape policy decisions, advance research initiatives, and promote knowledge exchange to improve patient outcomes.

Founded in 2004 as the Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute and continued today as IIHO, we are committed to transforming health care by providing reliable information, optimizing processes, and supporting continuous improvement to ultimately elevate the quality of health care for all.

Why Work Here

• At IIHO, we specialize in harnessing data and evidence to drive improvements in health care. With deep expertise collaborating across health systems and networks, we guide clinical practices, shape policy decisions, advance research initiatives, and promote knowledge exchange to improve patient outcomes.
• You will help to ensure the availability of complete, accurate and reliable data to the measurement team.
• You will use data in new ways. Your work will help improve the lives of Albertans by finding the dots and helping to connect them.
• Immerse yourself in the data and help us make new discoveries to improve the lives of patients across the province.

What You Will Do

• Data Integration and ETL (25%):
  Design and implement data integration processes, including Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) pipelines, to ensure data accuracy and availability.
• Problem Solving (15%):
  Analyze and resolve data-related issues and problems, ensuring data integrity, accuracy, and availability.
• Data Modeling and Design (10%):
  Create and maintain data models that align with business requirements, ensuring data integrity and consistency.
• Data Architecture Planning (10%):
  Develop and implement data architecture frameworks, standards, and policies to guide data management practices.
• Data Storage and Management (10%):
  Design and implement data storage solutions, including databases, data warehouses, and data lakes, to meet specific business needs.
• Performance Monitoring and Optimization (10%):
  Monitor data infrastructure performance, identify bottlenecks, and implement solutions to optimize performance.
• Data Security and Compliance (5%):
  Ensure data security and compliance with relevant regulations and industry standards.
• Documentation (5%):
  Prepare and maintain documentation for data models, architectures, and processes.
• Training (5%):
  Educate staff members on data management policies and procedures.
• Data Governance (5%):
  Develop and enforce data governance policies and procedures to maintain data quality and integrity.

Required Skills and Experience

Technical Skills:

• Expert understanding of relational databases, especially Microsoft SQL Server (familiarity with MySQL and Oracle a plus).
• Expertise with data warehousing and ETL processes (experience with Microsoft SSIS and T-SQL preferred).
• Experience with normalization and denormalization techniques.
• Designing schemas for transactional and analytical systems.
• Strong understanding of data warehousing concepts (e.g. data lakes, ETL pipelines, cross-platform data processing, slowly changing dimensions).

Soft Skills:

• A collaborative approach to problem-solving.
• Ability to interact and communicate with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to translate non-technical user requirements into robust and comprehensive technical solutions.
• Mentoring and coaching team members.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field (Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, Data Science) or equivalent.
• 5+ years of experience in similar or related role (e.g. Data Engineer, Database Administrator, Software Developer)

Desirable Skills and Experience:

• Experience working with large datasets, especially health care data (hospital discharge abstract, ambulatory care, physician claims, pharmacy, lab, diagnostic imaging, etc.).
• Experience working with unstructured or semi-structured data.
• Experience with data visualization using Microsoft SSRS, Power BI, Tableau or similar technologies.

Qualifications

Required

• Relational databases
• Data warehouse
• T-SQL
• Microsoft SQL Server
• Data modeling
• SSIS
• Data structures

Preferred

• MySQL
• Oracle
• Data visualization
• SSRS
• Power BI
• Big data
• Team management