New

Sr. Power BI Architect

Vaco
$80.00 - $100.00 / hr
United States, Texas, Houston
Feb 24, 2026
We have a client in the industry seeking a Senior Power BI Architect for a contract engagement. This role will serve as the subject matter expert for enterprise level Power BI architecture, governance, performance optimization, and secure data delivery. The Senior Power BI Architect will define and enforce best practices, design scalable analytics solutions, guide development teams, and ensure Power BI deployments align with security, compliance, and enterprise standards. The ideal candidate is both a hands on architect and mentor who can translate business requirements into modern BI architecture while elevating overall Power BI maturity across the organization. Position Overview The Senior Power BI Architect will lead the design, implementation, and governance of enterprise grade Power BI solutions. This individual will collaborate across data engineering, cloud architecture, security, and business teams to deliver scalable, secure, and high performance analytics platforms. The role combines technical architecture, DevOps leadership, governance oversight, and strategic roadmap planning. Key Responsibilities Power BI Architecture and Solution Design Design, implement, and maintain enterprise level Power BI solutions including semantic models, datasets, and scalable workspace architectures. Develop architectural guidelines for Lakehouse and Warehouse integration, Direct Lake, DirectQuery, and Import mode usage. Define and enforce standards for data model optimization, naming conventions, reusable components, and development patterns. Architect templates and reusable frameworks to ensure consistency and accelerate delivery. Governance, Best Practices, and Center of Excellence Leadership Establish and maintain enterprise Power BI governance frameworks, including workspace strategy and taxonomy, dataset certification standards, version control, DevOps processes, and application lifecycle management best practices. Lead or support a BI governance committee or Center of Excellence to align business units and technical teams. Document and promote best practices through playbooks, technical standards, and internal training initiatives. Deployment, Automation, and DevOps Build and maintain automation for CI CD pipelines using Microsoft Fabric and Power BI Deployment Pipelines along with Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions. Ensure structured development, testing, and production release management with appropriate approvals and validation processes. Standardize deployment patterns for datasets, semantic models, and reports. Promote Git enabled development and version control best practices across teams. Security, Compliance, and Data Protection Design and implement enterprise security strategies including Row Level Security, Object Level Security, sensitivity labeling, and data loss prevention policies. Align access management and publishing standards with enterprise identity and access management policies. Ensure compliance with corporate, regulatory, and data privacy requirements. Conduct periodic audits of workspace access, dataset permissions, and publishing practices. Performance Optimization and Monitoring Establish monitoring processes for dataset refresh performance, gateway health, query performance, DAX efficiency, and capacity management. Conduct performance tuning and provide optimization guidance to development teams. Implement usage analytics dashboards to track adoption and optimize capacity and cost management. Mentorship, Enablement, and Cross Functional Collaboration Guide BI developers on design patterns, data modeling best practices, visualization standards, and advanced DAX techniques. Conduct code reviews, architectural reviews, and solution design sessions. Deliver training sessions to elevate Power BI capabilities across business units. Collaborate closely with data engineers, cloud architects, security teams, and business stakeholders to deliver aligned and scalable solutions. Strategic Leadership and Roadmapping Define and drive the Power BI and Microsoft Fabric roadmap. Evaluate new platform features and assess enterprise impact to support adoption strategies. Provide guidance on tool selection, licensing strategy, and capacity planning. Required Qualifications Seven or more years of experience with Power BI, including enterprise semantic model development. Strong expertise in DAX, data modeling, and Power Query. Deep understanding of Microsoft Fabric, Azure Synapse, and modern data architecture principles. Hands on experience with Power BI Deployment Pipelines and Azure DevOps or Git integration. Knowledge of enterprise security, governance, and compliance frameworks. Proven experience mentoring and guiding BI teams. Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non technical stakeholders. Preferred Qualifications Experience with Databricks, Lakehouse architectures, and Delta tables. Microsoft certification in Power BI Data Analyst or equivalent credentials. Experience establishing or leading a BI Center of Excellence. Background supporting large scale enterprise analytics environments. Vaco by Highspring values a diverse workplace and strongly encourages women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply. EEO Notice Vaco by Highspring is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race (including but not limited to traits historically associated with race such as hair texture and hair style), color, sex (includes pregnancy or related conditions), religion or creed, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, status as a veteran, union membership, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, or any other protected characteristics as required by federal, state or local law. Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact HR@vaco.com . Vaco by Highspring also wants all applicants to know their rights that workplace discrimination is illegal. By submitting to this position, you agree that you will be giving Vaco by Highspring the exclusive right to present your as a candidate for the foregoing employment opportunity. You further agree that you have represented information about yourself accurately and have not affirmatively misrepresented your qualifications. You also agree to maintain as confidential, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any information you learn from Vaco by Highspring about the position and you will limit disclosure of information about the position only to the extent necessary to perform any obligations in furtherance of your application. In exchange, Vaco by Highspring agrees to exercise reasonable efforts to represent you through all solicitation, job screening and resume dispersal. Privacy Notice Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries ("we," "our," or "Vaco by Highspring") respects your privacy and are committed to providing transparent notice of our policies. California residents may access Vaco by Highspring HR Notice at Collection for California Applicants and Employees here. Virginia residents may access our state specific policies here. Residents of all other states may access our policies here. Canadian residents may access our policies in English here and in French here. Residents of countries governed by GDPR may access our policies here. Pay Transparency Notice Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco by Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to: the individual's skill sets, experience and training; licensure and certification requirements; office location and other geographic considerations; other business and organizational needs. With that said, as required by local law, Vaco by Highspring believes that the following salary range referenced above reasonably estimates the base compensation for an individual hired into this position in geographies that require salary range disclosure. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses.