Director, Head of Data Architecture, UK Deloitte Data Office in London

The Deloitte UK Data Office is at the heart of our data strategy, driving the firm's ambition to harness the power of data for insightful decision-making and innovative solutions. We are responsible for establishing robust data governance frameworks, ensuring data integrity, and fostering a data-driven culture across the organisation.

In an era where data fuels every algorithm and machine learning model, our work is foundational to Deloitte's advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), including cutting-edge Generative AI (GenAI) and Agentic AI initiatives. We ensure that Deloitte's data is a trusted asset, enabling informed strategies and operational excellence across all our businesses and Enabling Functions.

The Data Office not only ensures that data in the firm flows through the Deloitte Data Lifecycle, but that it does so with high levels of compliance and optimisation, so that the firm gets ever increasing value from its data assets. This enables us to:

• More easily meet our client and regulatory obligations.
• Reuse our knowledge – leverage what we know, and increase the pool of accessible, meaningful, re-usable data.
• Empower our practitioners – through data – make high quality data available to practitioners when they want, provisioned in a secure, fit for purpose manner.
• Align globally, within NSE and across UK firm.

Deloitte drives progress. Using our vast range of expertise, we help our clients become leaders wherever they choose to compete. To do this, we invest in outstanding people. We build teams of future thinkers, with diverse talents and backgrounds, and empower them all to reach for and achieve more.

As a Director, Head of Data Architecture, you will lead the strategic design, development, and implementation of our enterprise data architecture. This critical leadership role will be instrumental in driving various transformation programmes, with a particular focus on building a robust, scalable, and secure data foundation that explicitly supports advanced analytics, machine learning, Generative AI, and Agentic AI initiatives.

As a data leader, you will play a pivotal role in helping internal (Enabling Functions) and business-facing teams (our lines of business) in unlocking the strategic value of their data, leveraging both the analytical power of traditional AI and the creative potential of GenAI/Agentic AI. The successful candidate will collaborate with data architecture professionals across NSE and Global, championing innovation, best practices, and data-driven decision-making across the organisation.

You will be the driving force behind creation of the UK firm's data platform and ensuring it is aligned with NSE and Global data strategy. You will be supporting the Chief Data Officer in enabling our businesses to build a vision around usage of data, turning it into strategic business asset, and using it as a tool for generating value/business growth, risk management, and regulatory/statutory compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• Define, communicate, and continuously evolve the enterprise data architecture strategy, principles, standards, and roadmap, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives, business transformation goals, and emerging AI strategies.
• Translate business requirements and digital transformation objectives into comprehensive and actionable data architecture designs.
• Provide expert guidance and thought leadership on data architecture best practices, emerging technologies, and industry trends, particularly in the context of AI/ML and Generative AI.
• Lead the design of conceptual, logical, and physical data models across various data domains, ensuring consistency, integrity, and interoperability across the enterprise.
• Oversee the selection, evaluation, and implementation of cutting-edge data technologies, including cloud data platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), data lakes, data warehouses, data meshes, data streaming solutions, and ETL/ELT tools.
• Develop and implement sophisticated data integration strategies to connect diverse data sources, including legacy systems, new digital channels, and third-party APIs, ensuring seamless and secure data flow.
• Ensure the data architecture is designed for optimal scalability, performance, security, resilience, and cost-efficiency to support the increasing volume, velocity, and variety of data generated by digital and AI initiatives.
• Collaborate with AI/ML engineering teams to establish robust MLOps (Machine Learning Operations) practices from a data architecture perspective, ensuring seamless deployment and monitoring of AI models.
• Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing team of Data Architecture Analysts, fostering a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and technical excellence.
• Provide strong technical leadership, guidance, and oversight to the data architecture team, ensuring adherence to architectural standards, best practices, and strategic objectives.
• Manage resource allocation, performance reviews, and professional development for the team, including upskilling in AI-specific data architecture patterns.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Management

• Collaborate closely with the UK Chief Data Officer and other senior stakeholders to ensure data architecture supports strategic business outcomes.
• Work with Enterprise Architects, Solution Architects, and IT teams across NSE and Global, to ensure data architecture is seamlessly integrated into the overall enterprise technology landscape.
• Engage proactively with business units to understand their data needs and translate them into innovative architectural solutions that drive significant business value.
• Manage relationships with key technology vendors and external partners, staying abreast of market developments relevant to data and AI.

Governance & Compliance

• Establish and enforce robust data architecture governance processes, ensuring compliance with data quality, security, privacy (e.g., GDPR), ethical AI data use, and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure comprehensive and up-to-date documentation of data architecture designs, standards, and processes, including those specific to AI data pipelines.
• Champion data savviness and responsible data practices across the organisation.

Connect to your skills and professional experience

• Extensive experience (typically 12+ years) in data architecture, with a significant portion in a leadership or senior architectural role within a large, complex organisation.
• Proven track record of successfully designing and implementing enterprise-scale data architectures that support business transformation and advanced analytics/AI initiatives.
• Deep expertise in various data architectural patterns (e.g., data warehousing, data lakes, data meshes, data fabrics) and advanced data modelling techniques.
• Strong hands‐on experience with cloud data platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and their associated data services (e.g., S3, ADLS, BigQuery, Snowflake, Databricks).
• Proficiency in database technologies (relational, NoSQL, graph databases), ETL/ELT tools, data streaming technologies (e.g., Kafka), and API design for data access.
• Demonstrable experience in designing data architectures to support Machine Learning, Generative AI, and Agentic AI applications, including familiarity with vector databases, large language models (LLMs), and AI data pipelines.
• Solid understanding of data governance, data quality, data security, and ethical AI principles.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence, negotiate, and engage stakeholders at all levels.
• Experience in the professional services or financial services sector.
• Familiarity with agile development methodologies and DevOps/DataOps practices.
• Relevant industry certifications (e.g., TOGAF, cloud architecture certifications, AI/ML specialisations).
• Experience with Master Data Management (MDM) and Metadata Management solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related quantitative field.

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Regulation and controls are standard practice in our industry and Deloitte is no exception. These controls provide important legal protection for both you and the firm. We are subject to a number of audit regulations, one of which requires that certain colleagues abide by specific personal independence constraints (e.g., in relation to any financial interests and employment relationships).

You'll be based in one of our UK office regional locations with hybrid working. At Deloitte we understand the importance of balancing your career alongside your home life. That’s why we’ll support you to work flexibly through our hybrid working policy.

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A career at Deloitte is an opportunity to develop in any direction you choose. Join us and you’ll experience a purpose you can believe in and an impact you can see.