Data Architect – London (Hybrid)
We’re looking for a Data Architect who can truly own enterprise-wide data governance and provide architectural oversight across a complex, fast-paced financial services environment. This isn’t a data engineering role, it requires someone who can step back, see the whole data landscape, and drive governance, quality, and compliance at scale.
If you excel at shaping frameworks, influencing senior stakeholders, and bringing clarity and structure to complex data ecosystems, this role places you right at the centre of transformation.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Establishing and embedding governance frameworks covering ownership models, metadata strategy, lifecycle policies, and retention standards
- Leading cross-functional governance activity, including chairing a Data Governance Council and driving stewardship across the organisation
- Setting and enforcing data quality standards, ensuring alignment with GDPR, CCPA, and broader regulatory expectations
- Providing architectural oversight across data platforms, ensuring data lakes, warehouses, and content systems are scalable, compliant, and well-designed
- Supporting cloud-first and cloud‑native adoption, ensuring governance is built into every layer
- Championing a data-first culture through structured communication, training, and best‑practice enablement
What You’ll Bring
Essential:
- Proven background in data governance, stewardship models, and enterprise-level oversight
- Experience with data lakes, warehouses, and master data management
- Strong familiarity with Azure, Fabric, Snowflake, PowerBI, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and modern cloud data platforms
- Hands-on understanding of ETL/ELT, integration, and orchestration — but with the ability to operate above engineering detail
- Strong experience in data architecture and modelling (conceptual, logical, physical)
- 5+ years’ recent experience in financial services or fintech
- Ability to communicate clearly, concisely, and with structure — especially when engaging senior stakeholders
Desirable:
- Certifications such as Azure/Fabric Data Engineer Associate or SnowPro Advanced Architect
- Experience designing analytics platforms in regulated environments
- Exposure to Snowflake and similar cloud‑native data platforms
Personal Qualities
- Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence, challenge, and bring clarity
- Analytical, detail-driven, and structured in your approach
- Able to articulate complex concepts in a focused, easy-to-follow way
- Collaborative leader who enjoys enabling others and driving organisation-wide alignment
- Commercially aware with a customer-centric mindset
If you’re ready to lead data governance and architecture in a high‑impact role, get in touch for a confidential conversation.
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