At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and evolve data architecture for F1's mission-critical applications.
- Company: Join the innovative team at Formula 1, a leader in sports and technology.
- Benefits: Enjoy private healthcare, free snacks, and 25 days annual leave.
- Other info: Dynamic environment with opportunities for personal growth and development.
- Why this job: Make an impact in the fast-paced world of Formula 1 while growing your career.
- Qualifications: 2+ years in data architecture and experience with various database technologies.
Are you ready to make your mark in the world of Formula 1? At Formula 1, we are passionate about delivering the world’s greatest sports and entertainment spectacle leaving a positive legacy wherever we race. Innovation has always been at the heart of what we do ever since our first Grand Prix in 1950. Now, more than 75 years on, the sport remains a pioneer, developing technologies that have made a significant impact on society beyond the track.
We are looking for a Data Architect to be part of a team of Software developers and data architects working on mission critical applications to support the F1 championship and support series. This is a maternity cover position on a FTC basis.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
- Contribute to the development and evolution of data architecture, technology, and tooling in alignment with the wider software strategy.
- Design and document data architecture solutions and patterns to meet business and technical requirements.
- Support the delivery of architecture initiatives and roadmap activities within assigned projects and workstreams.
- Collaborate with software engineers, product owners, and other stakeholders to ensure solutions align with architectural standards and principles.
- Help improve systems through modernisation, reduction of technical debt, and adoption of established engineering practices.
- Develop and maintain expertise across data platforms, technologies, and the wider software ecosystem.
- Contribute to improving development tooling, build pipelines, and CI/CD processes to enhance delivery speed, reliability, and developer productivity.
- Support and mentor less experienced team members through knowledge sharing and technical guidance.
- Provide onsite technical support at Biggin Hill and Trackside for selected race weekends as part of a rota.
- Participate in and help lead group engineering activities, including design reviews, requirement refinement, system architecture discussions, sprint ceremonies, and technical demonstrations.
What Are We Looking For?Personal Qualities
- You bring a positive, collaborative attitude and build strong working relationships across diverse teams and disciplines.
- You remain calm, clear‑headed, and solutions‑focused in time‑critical or high‑pressure situations.
- You are adaptable and comfortable stepping into unfamiliar problem spaces.
- You act with integrity, ownership, and accountability.
- You are open to feedback and receptive to different viewpoints.
- You demonstrate a continuous improvement mindset, both in your own development and in your contribution to the team’s culture and ways of working.
Experience
- 2+ year experience designing and delivering data solutions and contributing to data architecture.
- 2+ year experience applying established architecture standards, principles and design patterns.
- Experience working with master data, operational data stores or analytical platforms.
- Experience with distributed data systems, data modelling, data integration patterns and data lifecycle management.
- 2+ year experience working with relational and non-relational database technologies, including schema design, performance optimisation and scalability considerations.
- 2+ year experience supporting operational, analytical or historical reporting workloads.
- Experience with cloud-native data technologies or modern data platform tooling.
- Experience with Data Orchestration / ETL processes.
- Understanding of data governance, metadata management, data quality and data lineage practices.
- Awareness of AI-assisted tooling and its responsible use within data engineering and architecture.
Qualifications
- Degree in Computer Science (or related technical discipline) or equivalent commercial experience.
Career Progression - Where Can You Go Next?
From this position, your next step could be into the role of Senior Data Architect.
Why join the force behind the sport?
Joining F1 means becoming part of a team that values innovation, collaboration and personal growth. We offer a dynamic work environment where ideas are heard, and employee contributions truly make an impact. We seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people to play their role in accelerating the future of the sport.
As a member of the F1 team, you will be able to access our amazing benefits:
- Private Healthcare scheme
- Dental Care
- 4 x Grand Prix Paddock passes per season
- Enhanced maternity/paternity leave and other family planning policies
- A free staff shuttle service running to and from surrounding trains stations near to Biggin Hill
- Free healthy snacks in our offices
- Subsidised canteen in Biggin Hill, serving breakfast and lunch
- 25 days annual leave and 8 Bank Holiday days, plus a Christmas period closure
- Opportunities to develop and request training for your role via our in-house Learning and Development team
- Discount on F1 merchandise
- Discount at F1’s experiences including F1 Arcade and F1 Drive
- Perkbox benefit portal and more
Recruitment Fraud Warning: We only communicate with candidates through official @f1.com email addresses. We will never contact you via personal email accounts, messaging apps, or request payment as part of our recruitment process. If you receive suspicious communication claiming to be from our talent team, please report it.
Data Architect (12 Month FTC) employer: Formula 1
Formula 1 is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work environment in the heart of the UK's motorsport industry. With a strong emphasis on employee growth and development, we provide opportunities for our team members to enhance their skills while working alongside some of the brightest minds in the field. Our collaborative culture fosters innovation and creativity, making it a truly rewarding place to contribute to the thrilling world of racing.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Data Architect (12 Month FTC)
✨Get Involved in Data Science Meetups
Tap into local data science meetups or workshops to connect with fellow enthusiasts and professionals. These events are goldmines for networking, and sometimes even lead directly to job openings at companies like Formula 1!
✨Show Off Your Projects
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Join professional bodies related to data science, like the Data Science Society or similar organisations. Getting involved can lead to mentorship opportunities and insider knowledge about full-time positions at companies like Formula 1.
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We think you need these skills to ace Data Architect (12 Month FTC)
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Projects:In the world of data science, your projects can speak volumes about your skills. Make sure to showcase a few key projects in your CV or portfolio, especially those that highlight your ability to work with data sets, build models, or use relevant tools like Python, R, or SQL. Don’t forget to include links to any GitHub repositories if applicable!
Quantify Your Achievements:Employers love numbers! When drafting your CV, highlight your achievements with quantifiable results. For instance, mention how your data analysis led to a certain percentage increase in efficiency or revenue at a previous job or project. These details can really make your application pop!
Craft a Tailored Cover Letter:For a full-time role at Formula 1, your cover letter should reflect your passion for data science and your excitement about the specific projects or values of the company. Dive into why you’re a good fit, how your skills align with their needs, and any unique perspectives you can bring to the team.
Stand Out with Relevant Courses and Certifications:Although experience talks, relevant courses or certifications can be your ticket to impressing hiring managers at Formula 1. Mention any standout courses you've completed that equipped you with essential skills, such as machine learning certifications or data visualisation courses. This shows your commitment to continuously developing your skills in the field!
How to prepare for a job interview at Formula 1
✨Brush Up on Your Statistics
For a data science role, we need to seriously sharpen our statistics skills. Get ready to tackle technical questions on probability distributions, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis. These are often the bread and butter of data science interviews, so don't just skim over them!
✨Showcase Your Projects
Prepare a killer portfolio showcasing your data science projects. We should include details about the datasets used, the tools and techniques applied, and the impact of your findings. If we can walk them through a particularly challenging project or a cool visualisation that had real-world implications, it’ll really make us stand out!
✨Get Comfortable with Python and R
Most data science positions require us to be proficient in programming languages like Python and R. We should practice common libraries like pandas, NumPy, and scikit-learn, and be ready for live coding exercises or algorithm questions. Showing off our coding chops can really impress the interviewers at Formula 1!
✨Prepare for Case Studies
Expect to encounter real-world case studies during the interview. We might be asked how we’d approach a data problem or analyse a dataset to extract insights. It's essential to think out loud and demonstrate our problem-solving process so that the interviewer can see our logical thinking in action.
