Senior Data Architect

Senior Data Architect
6 Month Contract
Location: London (Onsite 4 days a week)
Rate: £800 - £900 per day (INSIDE IR35)

We are looking for a DV Cleared Senior Data Architect to take a leading role in defining and evolving enterprise-wide data architecture within a complex Central Government environment.

This is a senior architecture position requiring much more than data modelling alone. You will work across enterprise architecture, data governance, data platforms, information management, metadata and emerging AI capabilities, helping ensure that data is treated as a strategic organisational asset.

You will work closely with senior business and technical stakeholders, Enterprise Architects, Data Engineering teams and governance functions to establish target-state architectures, architectural standards and roadmaps across a large and complex organisation.

Due to the nature of the work this role will be onsite fully time in central London.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the enterprise data architecture and target-state roadmap.
• Develop conceptual, logical and physical data architectures and models.
• Establish clear links between business objectives, information requirements, data assets and technology solutions.
• Provide architectural leadership across data governance, data quality, metadata and information management.
• Define data architecture principles, standards, reference models and reusable patterns.
• Work closely with Data Engineering teams on the design and evolution of enterprise data platforms.
• Support data integration and interoperability across multiple systems and domains.
• Develop approaches to data cataloguing, classification, lineage and metadata management.
• Support modern data architecture patterns including data products, data mesh, data fabric and cloud-based data platforms.
• Ensure enterprise data is appropriately governed and prepared for AI, Machine Learning and advanced analytics use cases.
• Produce and maintain enterprise architecture artefacts and contribute to architecture governance and design authorities.
• Facilitate architecture workshops and engage confidently with senior business, technical and operational stakeholders.

Essential Experience

We are particularly interested in candidates with strong experience across several of the following areas:

• Enterprise Data Architecture
• Enterprise Architecture
• Data modelling – conceptual, logical and physical
• Data governance and information management
• Metadata management and data catalogues
• Data quality and Master Data Management
• Data platform and data warehouse architecture
• Data integration and interoperability
• Cloud-based data architectures
• Architecture governance and standards
• Data architecture supporting AI / Machine Learning / advanced analytics
• Architecture repositories and modelling tools

You should be comfortable operating at both strategic and technical levels – able to establish enterprise architecture direction while retaining sufficient technical depth to work effectively with engineers, platform specialists and delivery teams.

Architecture Experience

Experience with some of the following would be highly beneficial:

• TOGAF
• ArchiMate
• Sparx Enterprise Architect
• NAF / MODAF / NATO architecture frameworks
• UML / BPMN
• Azure, AWS or Google Cloud
• Agile delivery environments

Background

You will ideally bring significant experience working as an Enterprise Data Architect, Data Architect, Solution Architect or Enterprise Architect with a strong data specialism.

Experience within Central Government, Defence, military, national security or another complex highly regulated environment would be particularly valuable.

We are looking for someone who combines strong technical credibility with excellent stakeholder skills – someone capable of understanding the wider enterprise, challenging existing approaches and providing clear architectural direction across complex data programmes.