Data Architect (Head of Data Architecture)- Microsoft Fabric data platform

Location- London- Hybrid work model (2 days travel to the office in Central London every week)

Salary- £120k base + bonus + benefits

The Data Architect will be responsible for defining and delivering the organisation's data architecture strategy and solution design, ensuring data is managed as a strategic asset and that modern, scalable, secure, and governed data solutions support business intelligence, advanced analytics, AI, and future digital initiatives.

This role will lead the design of a Microsoft Fabric-based enterprise data platform, embedding metadata-driven principles, strong governance, and data quality standards at the heart of the architecture. The role combines strategic enterprise data architecture responsibilities with hands-on involvement in designing and supporting the build of the data platform and its associated data products.

The Data Architect will work closely with the Head of Data & Analytics, business stakeholders, data engineers, analytics teams, enterprise architects, and technology teams to define enterprise information models, establish master data principles, create CRUD matrices, advise on integration strategies, and ensure a coherent and sustainable data ecosystem across the organisation.

• Lead the architecture and design of the Microsoft Fabric data platform.
• Partner with Data Engineering teams in the design and implementation of scalable data ingestion, transformation, storage, and consumption patterns.
• Define standards and architectural patterns for Lakehouse, Data Warehouse, Real-Time Analytics, Semantic Models, and Data Engineering workloads.
• Ensure solutions are scalable, secure, resilient, performant, and aligned with business requirements.
• Provide technical leadership and architectural assurance throughout delivery initiatives.
• Support design reviews and governance processes to ensure consistency across data solutions.
• Leadership skills- Strategic and enterprise-thinking mindset. Strong architectural problem-solving and decision-making capability.

Essential

• Significant experience working in Data Architecture, Enterprise Data Architecture, Solution Architecture, or related roles.
• Proven experience designing enterprise-scale cloud data platforms and modern data architectures.
• Strong experience with Microsoft Fabric and the Microsoft Data Platform ecosystem.
• Experience developing enterprise data models, information architecture artefacts, and data standards.
• Proven experience implementing metadata-driven architecture approaches.
• Strong understanding of data governance, data quality, data lineage, and metadata management principles.
• Experience defining and implementing master data management and data mastering processes.
• Experience designing enterprise integration architectures and integration patterns.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and ability to work across both business and technical functions.

Technical Expertise

• Microsoft Fabric including Lakehouse, Warehousing, Data Engineering, Real-Time Analytics, and Semantic Models.
• Azure Data Platform technologies and services.
• Enterprise data modelling and information architecture.
• Metadata management, data lineage, and data catalogue solutions.
• Master Data Management (MDM) concepts and methodologies.
• Data integration, APIs, event-driven architectures, and ETL/ELT patterns.
• SQL and data modelling techniques.
• Data governance frameworks and architecture practices.