• Be a key stakeholder and advisor in all new strategic data initiatives and ensure alignment to the enterprise-wide data strategy.
• Build a framework of principles to ensure data integrity across the business (including but not limited to ERP, CRM, BI, data warehouse, external interfaces, data lake, etc.)
• Ensure that the Data Architecture strategy and roadmap is aligned to the business and technology strategies.
• Build and maintain appropriate Enterprise Architecture artifacts including Entity Relationship Models, data dictionary, and taxonomy to aid data traceability.
• Provide technical oversight to solution delivery in creating business driven solutions adhering to the enterprise architecture and data governance standards.
• Be an advocate of data security principles and ensure appropriate security practices are embedded in any data strategy.
• Be an active contributor to how the company evolves Data Governance practices and influence the adoption of data standards.
• Develop key performance measure for data integration, quality, and availability.
• Support third party data suppliers in developing specifications that are congruent with the Enterprise data architecture.
• Implement efficient data flow processes that can scale to meet growing business needs.

• Proven experience in architecting and implementing Business Intelligence and Data warehouse platforms, Master data Management, data integration and OLTP database solutions.
• Possess in-depth knowledge of and able to consult on various technologies.
• Strong knowledge of industry best practices around data architecture in both cloud based and on prem solutions.
• Strong analytical and numerical skills are essential, enabling easy interpretation and analysis of large volumes of data.
• A comprehensive understanding of the principles of and best practices behind data engineering, and supporting technologies such as RDBMS, NoSQL, Cache & In-memory stores.
• Experience of architecting data solutions across hybrid (cloud, on premise) data platforms.
• A comprehensive understanding of data warehousing and data transformation (extract, transform and load) processes and the supporting technologies such as Amazon Glue, EMR, Azure Data Factory, Data Lake, other analytics products.
• Experience implementing data solutions.
• Excellent problem solving and data modelling skills (logical, physical, sematic and integration models) including normalization, OLAP/OLTP principles and entity relationship analysis.
• Experience of mapping key Enterprise data entities to business capabilities and applications.
• Excellent communication and presentational skills, confident and methodical approach, and able to work within a team environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related discipline preferred, experience in lieu of degree
• TOGAF certification is preferred.

CULTURE AND TOTAL REWARDS:

Currently ranked as the 37th largest private company by revenue in Minnesota (Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal), Western National has earned accolades year-over-year as an employer of choice and garnered multiple awards for wellness in the workplace including the Wellness by Design Platinum +Green award from Hennepin County and is a mspWellness Champion. Western National was also named a Star Tribune Top Workplace in 2021 and 2022. The company is also consistently recognized as a Ward’s 50 property-and-casualty insurance company for its outstanding financial results.

Western National has long been known as “The Relationship Company®,” and caring for our employees is a part of that relationship commitment. Western National values connectiveness, empowerment, and accountability. Western National offers competitive pay, advancement opportunities, a generous benefits package, a robust wellbeing program, and a commitment to a healthy work/life balance. These attributes are just some of the reasons why nearly half of our employees choose to stay on the Western National team for ten years or more!

Western National offers full time employees a significant Total Rewards Package, including:

• Medical insurance Plan options
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
• Flex Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) Plan (plus company match)
• Wellbeing Program
• Onsite Fitness Studio
• Paid volunteer time
• Time Off – including vacation and holiday pay
• 100% company-paid tuition reimbursement for approved job-relevant coursework and access to The Institutes (Risk & Insurance Education)
• Discounts on personal auto and homeowner's insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Profit-sharing bonus
• Other standard employee benefits – including dental insurance, vision benefits, life insurance, disability insurance, and more.

Western National believes in supporting balance between work and life by providing a flexible work environment with includes a variety of hybrid and remote work arrangements designed to balance individual, job, department, and company needs.

Western National provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.