At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and deliver innovative data solutions using Databricks Lakehouse architecture.
- Company: Join a global retail leader transforming technology and data.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, hybrid work model, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Collaborative culture with a focus on continuous improvement and innovation.
- Why this job: Shape the future of data architecture in a dynamic retail environment.
- Qualifications: 8+ years in tech, with strong experience in data architecture and engineering.
The predicted salary is between 72000 - 88000 £ per year.
Location: Reading or Dublin - hybrid (2 days a week)
Travel: Occasional travel between sites
Salary & Package: Competitive
A global retail organisation is seeking an experienced Solution Architect - Data & Databricks to join its Technology Architecture function. This is a permanent role within a growing architecture practice, supporting large-scale transformation across data, technology and digital platforms.
This position will play a key role in shaping and delivering a modern Databricks Lakehouse data architecture, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, governed, cost-effective and aligned to the organisation's wider technology strategy.
What You'll Do
- Design and deliver enterprise-scale data solutions across platforms, products and business domains
- Define and evolve Databricks Lakehouse architectures, including environments, workspaces, governance and Unity Catalog
- Apply medallion architecture and modern end-to-end data engineering patterns across ingestion, quality, enrichment and consumption
- Define appropriate data models for different business and technical use cases
- Shape approaches to data products, data contracts, governance and data discoverability
- Develop and maintain solution architectures, architectural principles, standards and technical documentation
- Work closely with engineering teams to embed CI/CD, automation and infrastructure-as-code
- Ensure solutions meet requirements for security, compliance, resilience, performance and operational support
- Identify opportunities for Databricks and cloud cost optimisation, including DBU consumption
- Contribute to architectural governance, design decisions and technology standards
- Analyse complex requirements and translate them into pragmatic, scalable technical solutions
- Communicate architectural decisions, technical concepts and trade-offs clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Provide technical leadership and guidance throughout the solution development lifecycle
- Support engineering and delivery teams through implementation and ensure architectural integrity is maintained
What You'll Bring
- Deep understanding of solution architecture principles, frameworks and best practices, including TOGAF or equivalent
- Proven experience designing Databricks Lakehouse architectures, including workspaces, environments and Unity Catalog governance
- Strong understanding of medallion architecture and end-to-end data engineering patterns
- Solid data modelling expertise, with the ability to select appropriate approaches for different use cases
- Experience with data products, data contracts, governance and data discoverability
- Strong engineering mindset with practical experience of CI/CD, automation and infrastructure-as-code
- Good understanding of performance tuning, operational resilience and cost optimisation
- Strong knowledge of data security, compliance and technology risk
- Demonstrable experience optimising cloud and Databricks DBU costs
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to a broad stakeholder audience
Successful Candidates Will Have
- 8+ years' experience working in technology
- 5+ years' experience designing and delivering enterprise-scale technology solutions across platforms, products or domains
- Experience working across the systems development lifecycle, with a strong understanding of delivery best practices
- Experience working within architectural governance frameworks and contributing to standards and technology decision-making
- Knowledge of other enterprise data platforms, such as Snowflake and AWS Data Lakehouse
- Previous experience in retail, ideally within a leading and innovative retailer
- Familiarity with retail or fashion technology landscapes and industry trends
- Experience providing technical leadership, mentoring and guidance to junior colleagues and peers
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate across technology and business teams
- A proactive, pragmatic and curious mindset, with a passion for modern data architecture and continuous improvement
- The ability to balance strategic architecture with practical engineering considerations in complex enterprise environments
Data Solution Architect in Reading employer: Caraffi
At Caraffi, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work culture that fosters innovation and collaboration. As a Global Retail Tech Delivery Lead, you will have access to extensive employee growth opportunities and the chance to make a significant impact in a transformative role within the retail sector. Our commitment to employee well-being and professional development, combined with our strategic location, makes us an attractive choice for those seeking meaningful and rewarding employment.
