Lead Data Architect

Hippo is recruiting for a Lead Data Architect to join our Hippo Herd. Our Lead Data Architect will work in multi-disciplinary teams that build, support & maintain User-Centred data solutions that offer real value and work for everyone. As a Lead Data Architect, you will be responsible for contributing to and implementing data governance standards that ensure that our clients’ data is high quality and fit for purpose. You will design and implement solutions on leading edge data cloud platforms that adhere to high standards of security, privacy and accessibility that unlock business insights and opportunities for data-driven business decisions.

Please note, we are looking for candidates who are looking for growth at this level (Lead), therefore the advertised salary band is the lower end of our full banding for this level of position, allowing for progression in the role.

Your Role In a Nutshell

• Define a data architecture that satisfies the data requirements of all stakeholders in an organisation and adheres to the enterprise wide data and technical strategy.
• Build and maintain appropriate Enterprise Architecture artefacts including Entity Relationship Models, Data Dictionary, ETL/ELT definitions and Data Pipeline/Lineage Models.
• Be accountable to the client for the rationale of the architecture and detailed solution and be able to evidence that a thorough change approval process has been followed.
• Define the methods and standards of governance to ensure ongoing integrity of the architecture design artefacts.
• Define standards for data modelling to ensure consistency within the solution and across the enterprise.
• Be a vocal and assertive advocate of data warehousing modelling techniques such as Kimball.
• Be versatile in working within a delivery team to:
• Analyse candidate data sources for content, timeliness and integrity.
• Evaluate APIs by analysing documentation and sample responses.
• Reverse-engineer data models from a live system.
• Create Agile stories for the implementation of the solution and support the engineering team throughout development.
• Support third party suppliers in developing specifications that ensure compatibility between client and supplier systems.
• Support integration and reconciliation testing.
• Visualise insights using industry standard reporting tools.

About The Candidate

• Proven experience in defining data architectures to satisfy multiple stakeholders with varying data proficiency.
• Thorough understanding of data lake and data warehousing principles and full project involvement in one or more major technology platforms, e.g. Snowflake, Databricks, etc.
• Proven experience with one or more Cloud Services provider, e.g. AWS, Azure or Google Cloud Platform.
• Good understanding of role-based access control, its importance in data privacy and methods of implementation.
• Excellent data modelling skills in designing data warehouses and datamarts.
• Experience of migrating data from legacy on-prem systems to cloud architectures.
• Knowledge of OLTP and OLAP principles and evidence of building such solutions.
• Evidence of building and managing the evolution of entity relationship models, data dictionaries and ELT/ETL models.
• Ability to visualise outputs using leading reporting tools such as Power BI (with custom DAX) and/or Tableau.
• High proficiency in SQL. Knowledge of SQL Server, SSMS, SSIS and SSRS a bonus.
• Ability to evaluate APIs using tools such as Postman.
• Consultancy experience is highly desirable.
• Experience designing and implementing data pipelines is highly desirable.

About The Company

As well as a competitive salary which we’re transparent about from the outset, you can also expect a range of benefits:

• Contributory pension scheme (Hippo 6% with employee contributions of 2%).
• 25 days holiday plus UK public holidays.
• Perkbox access for a wide range of discounts.
• Critical illness cover.
• Life assurance and death in service cover.
• Volunteer days.
• Cycle-to-work scheme for the avid cyclists.
• Salary sacrifice electric vehicles scheme.
• Season ticket loans.
• Financial and general wellbeing sessions.
• Flexible benefits scheme with options of:
• private health cover.
• private dental cover.
• additional company pension contributions.
• additional holidays (up to an extra 2 days).
• wellbeing contribution.
• charity contributions.
• tree planting.

Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Hippo

At Hippo, we’re dedicated to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that works for everyone. We understand that having a diverse team unlocks our capacity for innovation, creativity and problem solving. Only by building a community of diverse perspectives, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds can we create an environment where all can contribute and thrive. We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups including women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent and people with disabilities. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process that reflects our workplace culture. We are a registered Disability Confident Employer, Mindful Employer, Endometriosis Friendly Employer and a member of the Armed Forces Covenant. Hippo continually strives to remove barriers, provide accommodations and offer reasonable adjustments to ensure equity throughout our practices.

Hi, we’re Hippo. At Hippo, we design with empathy and build for impact. We do this by combining data-informed evidence, human-centred design and software engineering. We're a digital services partner who is genuinely invested in helping our clients thrive as modern organisations. Our delivery methodology is truly agile, from concept to reality, supporting innovation and continuous improvement to achieve your desired outcomes. We firmly believe that technology should serve humanity, not the other way around. We take a human-centred approach to everything we do because we understand that complex problems require a service design approach. This means understanding how users behave and ensuring our solutions work for them in the real world. Our combination of data, design, and engineering delivers bespoke digital services that make a positive and meaningful impact on organisations and society. We're confident in our abilities, authentic in our approach, and passionate about what we do. If you're looking for a digital services partner that can deliver real results, let us help you build for the future and make a lasting impact.

Hippo locations

We are headquartered in Leeds and have offices across the UK in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Bristol. We're on the lookout for top talent nationwide but you need to be located within reasonable travelling distance from one of our offices which will be your contracted office location. Given the dynamic nature of a consulting business, you may be required to work on-site at a Hippo office or at an in/out of town client location for a number of days per week (client dependent) and therefore candidates will need to be open/flexible to travel. Plus, we offer a generous relocation support package of up to £8k (please ask for terms and conditions) to help make your move a smooth one.