Data & AI Architect

💰 Up to £90,000 DOE plus benefits

📍 UK wide. Home based, or hybrid if within commutable distance of Glasgow. Travel to client sites as required.

Company & role

This role sits with a growing Microsoft Solutions Partner helping organisations get real value from their Cloud, Data, Security and AI investments. Their Data and AI practice is expanding, and they want an experienced architect to help drive that growth, both by shaping the offerings and by delivering genuinely transformative work for customers.

It is a broad, hands on role that blends customer advisory, solution architecture, technical leadership and business development. You will run discovery workshops, define solution architectures, support pre sales and help establish the business as a recognised name in Azure Data, Analytics and AI transformation. You will work closely with customers, Microsoft and internal delivery teams, and have real influence over how the practice evolves.

Why This Role Stands Out

• You will help build and shape a Data and AI practice, not just slot into an existing one. There is genuine scope to define offerings, accelerators and architectural standards.
• Real breadth of work. One week you might be architecting a Fabric or Databricks platform, the next designing a RAG solution on Azure OpenAI or advising a customer on responsible AI.
• Close working relationships with Microsoft specialists, partner development managers and technical teams, plus involvement in joint go to market activity.
• Strong exposure to modern Microsoft data and AI tooling, with proper support and funding for certifications.
• Autonomy to influence strategy, with a clear line of sight to the commercial impact of your work.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect and oversee enterprise scale Data and AI solutions on Microsoft Azure, from strategy and design through to delivery and operational handover.
• Design modern data platforms using technologies such as Microsoft Fabric, Azure Databricks, Azure Data Factory, Data Lake, Synapse, Purview and Power BI.
• Design AI ready platforms and solutions across Azure AI Services, Microsoft Foundry, Azure OpenAI and Copilot Studio, including RAG architectures and knowledge discovery.
• Lead discovery workshops and architecture reviews, translating business objectives into practical, secure and cost effective roadmaps.
• Set architectural standards, governance principles and quality frameworks, and provide technical assurance across engagements.
• Mentor consultants, engineers and architects, acting as a trusted technical leader across the practice.
• Support pre sales and business development, contributing to proposals, estimates, Statements of Work and customer business cases.
• Help shape service offerings and go to market approach, and support Microsoft Solution Partner Designations and Advanced Specialisations.

Ideal Experience

Essential

• Proven track record designing, delivering and leading enterprise scale Data and AI solutions, ideally within consulting, professional services or a customer facing technology environment.
• Strong hands on experience with Microsoft Fabric and/or Azure Databricks and wider Azure data platform architecture.
• Confident running customer workshops and advisory sessions, turning business needs into technical solutions.
• Solid understanding of data architecture, data modelling, governance and data lifecycle management.
• Comfortable engaging stakeholders from technical teams through to executive level.

Desirable

• Breadth across Azure Data Factory, Data Lake, Synapse, Data Explorer, Purview, Power BI and Azure SQL.
• Familiarity with medallion and Lakehouse design, ETL/ELT, streaming data and dimensional modelling.
• Exposure to machine learning, large language models and responsible AI governance.
• Python and/or C#, Azure DevOps, GitHub, CI/CD and infrastructure as code.
• Grounding in the Azure Well Architected Framework, Cloud Adoption Framework and landing zones.
• Relevant Microsoft certifications such as Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure Data Engineer, Azure AI Engineer or Fabric Data Engineer.