Data Solutions Architect
Activate
About Activate Global
Activate empowers scientists to reinvent our world and address climate change by bringing their research to market. We partner with leading funders and research institutions—including a groundbreaking new partnership with the National Science Foundation—to offer the Activate Fellowship, providing the funding, technical support, networking, community, and time that scientists need at the outset of their entrepreneurial journey.
The results are game changing: Activate Fellows have launched 147 new companies since 2015. These companies have raised nearly $1.9B in follow-on funding, created more than 1,800 U.S.-based high-tech jobs, reached scientific breakthroughs, and defined new market categories. Activate supports fellows in Berkeley, CA; Cambridge, MA; New York, NY; Houston, TX; and across the U.S. through Activate Anywhere.
Activate exists to create a better future, for all. In service of this purpose, we are building a foundation of equity and inclusivity across our business, including our operations, our fellowship, our partnerships, and our brand.
Position Summary
Reporting to the COO the Data Solutions Architect builds and maintains data-centric solutions—tools, products, and integrations—used internally by Activate staff and by external audiences (our fellows, alumni, partners, and investors). They partner closely with the Technical Product Manager and Data Solutions Engineer, and work with internal stakeholders to shepherd an ecosystem of custom solutions and customized off-the-shelf software products to streamline business workflows and provide the best possible online experience for our fellows and partners. Key to our users’ success are the tools and framework to ensure Activate’s data repositories are accurate and up-to-date.
Responsibilities
Technical Leadership
- Partner with the Technical Product Manager to set the product roadmap and complete work using an agile methodology
- Design overall architecture for all systems / tools
- Educate and teach power users in other departments to use no-code tools consistent with overall architecture and policies, through design reviews, demos, and other kinds of communication
- Support build/buy decisions for major pieces of functionality
- Codify best practices into standard playbooks and training for all users
- Mentor coworkers, both within the Data Solutions team and in other departments
Engineering Excellence
- Build data-driven tools that streamline critical workflows within the organization
- Create working prototypes that address key user problems
- Iterate on solution implementations based on user feedback
- Write high-quality code when necessary to automate/script application features
- Create and maintain automated data integrations between various tools and products
- Troubleshoot and debug tools, products, integrations, and even user trainings
- Monitor systems, define and enforce data quality policies
- Create technical documentation to accurately represent solution implementations
- Make ongoing enhancements and fixes to existing tools and products
Ideal Candidate
- Has a minimum of 7 years of experience creating data-centric solutions
- Has a solid understanding of at least one popular CRM platform (Hubspot and/or Salesforce strongly preferred)
- Is comfortable building on top of at least one popular online database platform (Airtable strongly preferred)
- Is proficient in at least one modern programming language (JavaScript strongly preferred) + SQL
- Experience working in a microservices environment
- Can produce clear technical writing for non-technical audiences, articulating the trade-offs of decisions and building intuition for how the platform wants to be used
- History of designing for quality upfront, not just as an afterthought
- Is comfortable working in a dynamic, fast-paced work environment
- Is detail-oriented with a track record as a self-starter and follow through on projects
- Has excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Is willing to be scrappy, experiment, and learn from failures
- Believes in the power of science innovation to combat climate change and create a sustainable, resilient, equitable global economy
This is a full-time position with competitive salary and a comprehensive suite of benefit offerings.
Encouraging Applications from All Backgrounds
We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. Activate Global, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.