Data Architect

We are seeking an experienced Data Architect for a contract engagement based in the UK. This is a senior role for someone who brings a strong breadth of data architecture capability — from enterprise data strategy and data modelling through to data governance and platform design — and who can operate effectively across both business and technical domains. The successful candidate will have a solid background in relational database technology, with particularly strong hands-on experience in Oracle, gained through a career rooted in data and application development. They will be expected to lead with data thinking, bring structure and rigour to complex data challenges, and deliver architecture that is pragmatic, scalable, and fit for purpose.

Key Responsibilities

• Enterprise Data Architecture
  • Define and evolve the enterprise data architecture, ensuring it supports current business needs and longer-term strategic objectives.
  • Design conceptual, logical, and physical data models across OLTP, analytical, and hybrid workloads.
  • Establish data architecture standards, reusable patterns, and best practices across the data estate.
  • Lead architecture reviews and assessments, identifying risks, technical debt, and opportunities for improvement.
  • Produce clear, well-structured architecture artefacts: ERDs, data flow diagrams, data dictionaries, and architecture decision records.
• Data Modelling & Data Design
  • Design and govern complex relational data models — both normalised and denormalised — appropriate to the workload and performance requirements.
  • Develop dimensional models (star schema, snowflake) to support reporting, analytics, and data warehousing needs.
  • Define master data structures, reference data frameworks, and data lineage across interconnected systems.
  • Work alongside development and analytics teams to ensure data models translate correctly into implementation.
• Data Strategy & Governance
  • Contribute to and help shape the organisation's broader data strategy, including data platform evolution and data quality improvement programmes.
  • Define and embed data governance standards: ownership, lineage, classification, naming conventions, and retention policies.
  • Ensure data architecture decisions support data security, privacy, and regulatory compliance requirements.
  • Champion data quality at the design stage, embedding controls and validation into data architecture from the outset.
• Technical Depth & Delivery
  • Apply strong relational database expertise — particularly in Oracle — to validate, review, and guide technical implementation of data solutions.
  • Bring working knowledge of SQL and PL/SQL to architecture reviews, performance discussions, and data design validation.
  • Advise development teams on data access patterns, query performance, indexing strategy, and efficient data processing approaches.
  • Support integration design by defining clean, well-governed data interfaces between systems and platforms.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Communication
  • Engage confidently with senior business and technology stakeholders, translating data requirements into architecture recommendations.
  • Present data architecture proposals and decisions clearly, adapting communication style to technical and non-technical audiences alike.
  • Collaborate with project managers, solution architects, data engineers, and business analysts across the delivery lifecycle.
  • Act as a trusted adviser on data matters, providing guidance that balances strategic vision with practical delivery constraints.

Mandatory Skills & Experience

• 12+ years of experience in data architecture, data modelling, or closely related disciplines.
• Strong enterprise data modelling skills — logical, physical, relational, and dimensional across OLTP and analytical domains.
• Solid data governance experience: lineage, metadata management, data quality frameworks, and classification.
• Proven track record of defining and delivering data architecture in large, complex enterprise environments.
• Strong hands-on experience with Oracle database technology, including PL/SQL, query optimisation, and data design.
• Good understanding of Oracle internals — execution plans, indexing, partitioning, and performance considerations — sufficient to guide and validate development teams.
• Experience producing high-quality architecture documentation and presenting to senior stakeholders.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills across technical and business audiences.

Desirable Skills

• Familiarity with data warehousing methodologies and patterns (Kimball, Inmon, Data Vault).
• Exposure to data catalogue or metadata management tooling (e.g., Collibra, Informatica, or similar).
• Knowledge of cloud data platforms and hybrid data architecture approaches.
• Awareness of integration patterns and data exchange design (e.g., API-led, event-driven, or batch).
• Experience in Agile or SAFe delivery environments.

Personal Attributes

• A natural data thinker — someone who instinctively approaches problems through the lens of data structure, flow, and quality.
• Technically credible and confident engaging with development teams, while equally comfortable at the strategic level.
• Pragmatic and delivery-oriented — able to balance architectural ideals with the practical realities of a fixed-term engagement.
• Self-sufficient and proactive; able to make an immediate contribution with minimal onboarding.
• Strong collaborator with the interpersonal skills to align stakeholders and teams around shared data decisions.

Engagement Details

This is a contract role for a fixed duration of 5 months, based in the UK. A hybrid working arrangement may be available. Candidates must hold the right to work in the United Kingdom and be available to commence at short notice.