AI Data Architect

About the role

The Co-operative Bank of Kenya is hiring an AI Data Architect, reporting to the Head of Artificial Intelligence. The role defines how the Bank's data is structured, integrated, governed and managed so that it remains trusted, consistent, secure and reusable across the business. It sets up enterprise data models, data platform architecture and data standards supporting operational reporting, analytics, regulatory requirements and AI use cases.

Key responsibilities

• Define the target architecture and transition roadmap for enterprise data platforms, including data warehouses, data lakes or lakehouses, real-time streaming and integration patterns.
• Design conceptual, logical and physical data models for priority data products, analytical solutions and AI use cases.
• Define architecture patterns for data ingestion, storage, transformation, sharing, retention, archival and deletion across batch, streaming and real-time use cases.
• Work with business data owners and Data Governance teams on metadata, lineage, master and reference data and authoritative sources.
• Guide Data Engineers in building scalable, reusable and governed data products, rationalising legacy stores and planning migrations to the target platform.
• Build data designs with security, privacy, access control, encryption, retention and regulatory compliance by design, including the Data Protection Act, 2019.
• Review data solution designs and source system changes, present data architecture at the Architecture Review Board, document decisions and ensure risks and technical debt have owners and remediation plans.
• Maintain data models, data cataloguing and architecture artefacts, and give technical guidance to delivery squads, Data Engineers, Data Scientists and stakeholders.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Management, Engineering, Mathematics or a related field; a master's degree is an added advantage.
• At least 7 years of experience in data management, data engineering, database design, analytics or architecture, including at least 3 years in data architecture or a senior data modelling role.
• Demonstrated experience designing enterprise data models and modern analytical data platforms.
• Preferred: experience in banking, financial services or another regulated, data-intensive environment.
• Professional certification in data management, data architecture, enterprise architecture or cloud data platforms is an added advantage.

Required skills

• Data modelling (conceptual, logical and physical)
• Data warehousing, lakehouse, data lake and data product patterns
• Metadata, lineage, master and reference data, data quality
• Batch, streaming and real-time data architecture
• SQL and relational and non-relational data technologies
• Privacy, security, records retention and resilience by design
• Data architecture governance and design review

To apply, send a detailed CV by email to the bank's jobs team, citing the job reference number AI Data - A/IID/2026, by 9 November 2026.