Curious about becoming a data architect? Learn from experienced team lead, Zahra Khedri, about her journey working in data architecture.
Zahra Khedri, Data Architect at exmox, began her career path to data architecture over 12 years ago. With her impressive technical skills, understanding of business, and a foundation in data management, she worked her way up to leading the data team.
While Zahra joined Exmox almost a year ago, she moved to Germany from her home country of Iran in 2019 after amassing experiences in data management of up to 50 businesses. Originally working for larger enterprises in Germany, she transitioned to exmox for a chance to make a greater impact and guide the framework for future data management.
Read more about her career in data architecture, responsibilities as a Data Architect, and advice to those wanting to one day hold this leadership position.
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Q: What is a data architect? What does a data architect do?
A: A data architect is a professional who designs, builds, and maintains the architecture of data systems within an organization. We are responsible for creating the blueprint of how data will be stored, organized, integrated, and accessed to meet the needs of the organization. This includes defining data models, selecting appropriate database technologies, designing data pipelines for data ingestion and processing, and ensuring data security, integrity, and compliance.
As exmox’s data architect, I also play the role of Team Lead. I am responsible for thinking about solutions and which solutions enable the company to meet its certain requirements. To accomplish this, I work closely with stakeholders such as business leaders, data analysts, software developers, and the tech lead to understand requirements and translate them into scalable and efficient data solutions. Then with my team we collect data from different resources, transform and deliver those results to the Data Analysts, and then they create dashboards. It’s a continuous cycle that enables exmox to make data-driven decisions.
Q: How did you join the advertising and gaming space?
A: I found exmox’s business model very interesting, and it’s important for a business to be interesting when it comes to my job since I have to translate their business requirements into data! While I am not a huge mobile gamer or very involved in the gaming community, I think exmox’s idea to provide a platform where users can discover games they like playing and get rewarded for it at the same time is intriguing.
Q: How has your role transformed since you started working here about a year ago?
A: As I learned more about the connections between different teams, I figured out how to fill in missing knowledge or communication gaps so we can be more efficient and produce better results.
What I find really rewarding is that my tasks and responsibilities keep growing so I can continue developing myself and the members of my team.
Q: How do you spend a typical day in the office?
A: Since exmox has flexible working hours, I can spend a little more time at home in the mornings before starting my commute! So I first enjoy that extra time to get ready without feeling rushed. Once I arrive between 9 and 10 a.m., I grab some coffee and then immediately start my meetings with our development team or other daily briefs. I sometimes listen in, other times bring ideas to represent the data engineering team, and overall think about the optimization of our solution.
During my blocked-off focus time, I find solutions, optimize, test, check everything, and really perform all the elements that are my everyday data architect tasks. Lunchtime is always a highlight of my day to connect with other colleagues that aren’t on the tech side. Mingling with the rest of the team always brings good vibes in my day-to-day life!
Q: As a woman in tech and a team lead, do you have any advice for women wanting to work in tech leadership positions?
A: Well the good news is that right now I am not the only woman in tech at exmox, which is different from other companies I’ve worked at! But if you are alone or wanting to work your way up to a leadership role, my advice is to really believe that everything is possible.
You should be focused, confident, brave, and trust yourself.
If you make a mistake, which you will at some point, that’s okay because everyone makes mistakes regardless of gender!
Q: What’s one of your favorite projects that you’ve worked on since starting here?
A: My favorite project is exactly what I was hired for, which was to find a solution for our clickstream data product. I am now the clickstream data product owner, and it’s the most important project that I am working on right now. Once it’s released, all departments will be able to access more data and make even better data-driven marketing decisions.
Q: What do you think makes exmox special?
A: The people and culture. I think it’s the most important thing at any workplace, because as humans we spend a lot of our lives at work. So it’s really important to consider who you are communicating with, working with, and how you feel about the team as a whole.
Exmox keeps getting better and better as we grow both in numbers and experience.
They’re always focused on how they can improve our day-to-day lives, even with something as simple as noise-canceling headphones for everyone, team lunches, and many other perks. When it comes to my career, everyone is very cooperative and all ideas are appreciated since we’re building from scratch.
Q: What skills do you need to be a data architect?
A: Before we even get to technical data architect skills, you need to recognize that a data architect career path is a long one – it is not an entry level position. But for the field of data we can compare this path to a pyramid, with each level of the pyramid representing different roles and experiences within the data field. The top of the pyramid symbolizes a data architect, someone who combines extensive knowledge and expertise from various data branches to design and implement holistic data solutions.
In the foundation and middle layer of this pyramid, different roles like “data analyst”, “database developer/designer”, “data engineer”, “data modeler” will prepare you through experience in different technical and soft skills. These skills range from problem solving, technical leadership, and stakeholder collaboration to designing scalable, flexible, and efficient data architectures and developing the data strategy aligned with business goals.
Overall depth of knowledge and experience is really important because Data Architects really are architects – just creating non-tangible products.