Lead Data Architect

Overview
WRS Health is seeking a hands-on and strategic Lead Data Architect to lead our data platform initiatives on Amazon Web Services (AWS) with a strong emphasis on healthcare data, data lake strategy, and AI enablement. You will architect and manage scalable, secure, and high-performance data systems that support both traditional analytics and modern ML workloads, including embedding models and vectorized data retrieval.
Voted #1 EHR by PC Mag, WRS Health delivers a fully integrated cloud-based EMR and practice management solutions to its clients. We bring solutions to physicians by providing constant enhancement of our products and services including EHR, practice management, marketing, patient coordination and billing.
Responsibilities
Strategic Data Platform Leadership
Define and implement an enterprise-wide data architecture strategy that supports interoperability,
AI /ML readiness, and regulatory compliance
Lead the evolution of our AWS-based data lake architecture, supporting structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data types—especially FHIR-formatted JSON healthcare data
Cloud Data Lake & Storage Optimization
Design and maintain scalable, secure, and cost-effective data lakes using Amazon S3, AWS Glue, Athena, Redshift, and Lake Formation
Leverage Mountpoint for S3 to enable high-performance, POSIX-compliant access to S3 objects, including vectorized data files
Optimize data storage and retrieval strategies for performance and cost-efficiency, including partitioning, file formats (e.g., Parquet, ORC), and compression techniques
AI/ML Enablement and Vector Infrastructure
Collaborate with data science teams to implement embedding models, vectorization pipelines, and real-time inference architectures
Design and manage vector storage systems (e.g., S3-based, FAISS, Pinecone, or Amazon OpenSearch) to support semantic search, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and intelligent data access
Ensure vectorized data pipelines are aligned with model training, evaluation, and deployment strategies
Architect systems to ingest, process, and store FHIR-compliant JSON data from EHRs, APIs, and HL7 sources
Ensure conformance with healthcare interoperability standards and optimize for queryability and downstream analytics
Implement data normalization and enrichment pipelines for use in both clinical and operational contexts
Healthcare Data Architecture & Interoperability
Architect systems to ingest, process, and store FHIR-compliant JSON data from EHRs, APIs, and HL7 sources
Ensure conformance with healthcare interoperability standards and optimize for queryability and downstream analytics
Implement data normalization and enrichment pipelines for use in both clinical and operational contexts
Security, Compliance & Governance
Lead efforts to ensure data security at rest and in transit using AWS-native encryption, IAM, VPC controls, and bucket policies
Implement and manage data access controls, audit logging, and role-based security models across AWS environments
Oversee data governance including lineage, cataloging, and stewardship with tools such as AWS Glue Data Catalog, Lake Formation, or third-party platforms
Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration
Build and lead a high-performing team of data architects and engineers
Work closely with stakeholders from engineering, data science, product, and compliance teams to deliver data initiatives
Promote data literacy and foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement
Qualifications
Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or related field
8–12+ years of experience in data architecture with 3–5 years in a technical leadership role
Proven experience architecting AWS-based data lakes and analytics pipelines
Deep understanding of healthcare data standards (FHIR, HL7) and working with FHIR JSON objects in large-scale systems
Expertise with embedding and vectorization models, semantic search, and managing vector storage solutions
Hands-on experience with Amazon S3, Mountpoint for S3, and optimizing S3-based workloads for performance and cost
Strong background in data security, encryption, access control, and compliance frameworks (HIPAA, HITRUST)
Preferred Qualifications
AWS certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Big Data or Data Analytics – Specialty)
Familiarity with open-source vector databases (e.g., FAISS, Weaviate) and
MLOps
pipelines
Experience in clinical systems integration,
claims
processing, or population health analytics
This is an independent contractor position.
Location: Remote
Hours: Available during standard US business hours (9am-5pm EST or 8:30am-4:30pm EST)
This job description is intended to describe the general requirements for the position. It is not a complete statement of duties, responsibilities or requirements. Other duties not listed here may be assigned as necessary to ensure proper operations of the department.
Job Details
Seniority level: Director
Employment type: Full-time
Job function: Information Technology
Industries: Wireless Services, Telecommunications, and Communications Equipment Manufacturing
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