Data Architect
£Up to £90,000 GBP
Hybrid WORKING
Location: London; Norwich; Watford; Colchester; Chelmsford; Woking; Chatham; Slough, Central London, Greater London - United Kingdom Type: Permanent
Must Have: Active SC
Join a world-class organisation building mission-critical data architectures for Defence, National Security, and Public Sector programmes. Our client is proud to be a Fortune "World's Most Admired Company" - recognised eight years in a row for innovation, integrity, and long-term excellence. Their commitment to supporting the Armed Forces community has also been honoured with the ERS Gold Award. If you're passionate about shaping secure, scalable data ecosystems that underpin national security, this is the opportunity for you.
As a Data Architect - Defence, you will lead the technical vision and design of high-impact data architectures that support critical programmes. Working directly with customers, you'll guide the design, development, assessment, and optimisation of data ecosystems across complex Defence and Public Sector environments.
You will join a culture grounded in collaboration, integrity, and continuous learning - where your expertise helps set standards, influence strategic direction, and deliver data solutions at the scale and sensitivity that matters.
You'll have the opportunity to: Provide architectural leadership - serve as the SME for data architecture, guiding strategic decisions and aligning technical design with business and security objectives.
Assess and analyse existing architectures, identify gaps or risks, and recommend improvements to enhance scalability, security, and performance.
Research emerging data technologies and industry best practices; recommend and drive modernisation of data platforms, especially in big data, cloud, AI/ML-ready environments.
Design and implement robust data models, frameworks, standards, and architectural artefacts to support enterprise-wide data initiatives.
Collaborate with engineering, analytics, and business teams to ensure data solutions meet performance, compliance, and security standards.
Establish and enforce data governance, data sharing, and interoperability policies, especially for secure and sensitive data domains.
Document data architecture artefacts, maintain the enterprise architecture repository, and support long-term architecture governance.
Advise on future technology adoption - including AI, ML, automation, or advanced analytics - to keep data ecosystems future-proof.
Key Requirements: Proven experience as a Data Architect in complex, secure or regulated environments (e.g. defence, government, critical infrastructure).
Deep understanding of data architecture principles for relational, NoSQL, and cloud-based data stores.
Strong familiarity with modern data platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), data modelling tools, and integration patterns.
Experience assessing existing architectures and making recommendations for improvements.
Knowledge of data governance, data standards, interoperability, compliance, and ethics - especially in secure or regulated data domains.
Awareness of big data technologies, data analytics, visualisation, and data sharing across security domains.
Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills - able to work with both technical and non-technical audiences.
Ability to work autonomously and mentor or support junior team members where needed.
Desirable: Previous experience working on Defence, National Security or Public-Sector data programmes.
Familiarity with AI/ML/data-driven automation initiatives.
Demonstrable interest in research, innovation, and staying current with emerging data technologies.
Benefits: Competitive compensation (STC)
Opportunity to influence and shape data infrastructure for high-impact Defence and Public-Sector programmes
Professional development and ongoing training
Working on secure, large-scale data initiatives at national level
Hybrid working arrangement (with regular trips to London) and work-life balance
Reference: AON/AMC/CACIArchitect
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