Data Architect

Description:

Data Architect required for a greenfield Azure data platform build. No legacy estate and no migration. The end client is a newly formed organisation whose service is expected to operate at national scale following incoming legislation, so the platform must be architected for very significant growth.

The engagement is in discovery, completing within the next three to four weeks, before moving into design and delivery. The tech stack recommendation is still open, with Databricks and Microsoft Fabric the likely direction and ADF or Snowflake as outside options. Azure is confirmed.

Responsibilities

🔹 Own the target data architecture, from conceptual through logical to physical design

🔹 Lead the tech stack recommendation and supporting rationale

🔹 Produce data models and integration patterns built for national scale volumes

🔹 Present and defend best practice to a client team building its own capability

🔹 Work alongside the enterprise architects, integrations architect and data governance specialist

🔹 Remain hands on where needed to unblock delivery

Essential

✔️ Enterprise scale data platform architecture, greenfield or major replatform

✔️ Conceptual, logical and physical data modelling. Dimensional and data vault both useful

✔️ Lakehouse and medallion patterns, batch and streaming ingestion, event driven design

✔️ Databricks and/or Microsoft Fabric at architecture level

✔️ Azure Data Factory, Synapse, Azure SQL, Data Lake Storage Gen2

✔️ Advanced SQL, Python or PySpark, Spark optimisation, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog

✔️ Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions, Terraform or Bicep

✔️ Entra ID, Key Vault, private endpoints, RBAC

✔️ UK GDPR and DPA 2018 in practice, including public personal data

✔️ Consultancy, systems integrator or large corporate background with strong client facing skills

Desirable

➕ Microsoft certification, for example DP-600, DP-700 or AZ-305

➕ Databricks certification

➕ Snowflake exposure

➕ Regulated or legislation driven programme experience

➕ Platforms that have scaled rapidly from launch

➕ TOGAF or similar