At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and implement scalable solutions on Insight's Snowflake Data Platform in Azure.
- Company: Join Insight Investment, a leader in data-driven financial solutions.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible working, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Collaborative team culture with a focus on continuous improvement and career development.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by shaping innovative data solutions in a dynamic environment.
- Qualifications: Hands-on experience with Snowflake and strong SQL skills required.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
Insight Investment is looking for a Solution Architect to join the Data Platform team in Manchester. This is a hands-on, delivery-focused role responsible for designing and implementing pragmatic, scalable solutions on top of Insight's Snowflake-based Data Platform hosted in Microsoft Azure. Joining an established Data Platform team in the early stages of growing out solutions in Snowflake, the role focuses on turning platform intent and capability gaps into real, production-ready implementations that can scale with the organisation.
Sitting between Platform Architecture, Data Architecture, and delivery teams, the Solution Architect ensures that enterprise data management capabilities such as metadata management, lifecycle governance, auditability, and operational resilience are embedded into solutions from the outset. This is a delivery adjacent role with accountability for ensuring platform capabilities are not just well designed, but usable, supportable, and actively adopted as the Snowflake platform matures.
Role Responsibilities
- Design and deliver scalable, production-ready solutions that address platform capability gaps and business requirements, aligned to Snowflake on Azure and compliant with end-to-end SSDLC and enterprise technology change policies.
- Define and maintain reference architectures, solution patterns, and exemplar implementations to support adoption, ensure architectural transparency, and enable consistent use across teams.
- Work hands-on with delivery teams to validate and implement solution designs, acting as a technical authority on Snowflake and advising on appropriate best-practice approaches.
- Guide teams in selecting solution approaches that balance performance, maintainability, operability, and cost, improving the data engineering experience through reusable components and clear guidance.
- Shape platform capabilities for both technical and non-technical users, including Front Office financial services end users, through low-code, configuration-led, or metadata-driven solutions where appropriate.
- Contribute to the evolution of end-to-end data management capabilities, embedding discovery, governance, lifecycle management, operability, resilience, auditability, and observability into solution designs by default.
- Collaborate with architects, platform, security, and operations teams to ensure solutions meet production readiness, compliance, and assurance standards, and align with enterprise data governance, security, privacy, and audit expectations.
- Engage with delivery teams, data stewards, and subject-matter experts to ensure solutions align to overall platform direction and contribute to continuous improvement and communities of practice.
Qualifications
- Strong, hands-on experience with Snowflake, including core capabilities such as warehouses, tasks, streams, snowpipe, semi-structured data handling (variant type), file formats and stages, and platform features like RBAC, time travel and cloning.
- Strong SQL skills, including performance-aware and Snowflake-optimised query design and features such as materialised views.
- Knowledge of Snowpark, or transferable knowledge from other dataframe-based frameworks such as PySpark.
- Experience implementing batch data ingestion pipelines using technologies such as Azure Data Factory, Openflow or similar.
- Experience delivering data solutions on Snowflake hosted in Microsoft Azure.
- Practical understanding of how data solutions must align with enterprise concerns such as security, identity, CI/CD, and infrastructure as code, working effectively with platform and cloud engineering teams.
- Able to take ambiguous requirements and translate them into practical, production-ready solutions.
- Strong understanding of how design decisions impact delivery speed, operability, cost, and governance.
- Comfortable making and explaining architectural trade-offs in a delivery context.
- Works confidently across engineers, architects, Front Office users, and governance stakeholders, bridging strategy and delivery.
- Communicates complex technical concepts clearly and pragmatically.
- Brings empathy and an enablement mindset when working with delivery teams, supporting adoption and change.
- Outcome-focused and delivery-minded, able to work hands-on where needed while maintaining a platform-level perspective.
Solution Architect (Manchester) employer: Insight
Insight Investment is an exceptional employer that fosters a collaborative and innovative work culture, particularly within the Data Platform team in Manchester. Employees benefit from hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies like Snowflake on Azure, alongside ample opportunities for professional growth and development. The company prioritises employee well-being and engagement, ensuring that team members are supported in their roles while contributing to impactful, scalable solutions that drive the organisation forward.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Solution Architect (Manchester)
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Get out there and connect with folks in the industry, especially those already working at Insight Investment. Attend meetups, webinars, or even just grab a coffee with someone who’s in the know. You never know when a casual chat could lead to a job opportunity!
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! If you’ve got hands-on experience with Snowflake, don’t just mention it—demonstrate it. Consider creating a small project or a portfolio piece that showcases your ability to design and implement scalable solutions. This will give you a leg up during interviews.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for the technical interview! Brush up on your SQL skills and be ready to discuss how you’ve tackled real-world problems using Snowflake. Think about the architectural trade-offs you’ve made in past projects and be prepared to explain your thought process.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! We want to see your application come through directly. It shows initiative and gives us a chance to see your enthusiasm for the role. Plus, it’s a great way to ensure your application doesn’t get lost in the shuffle!
We think you need these skills to ace Solution Architect (Manchester)
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV:Make sure your CV is tailored to the Solution Architect role. Highlight your hands-on experience with Snowflake and Azure, and don’t forget to showcase your SQL skills. We want to see how your background aligns with what we’re looking for!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you’re passionate about this role and how your experience can help us design and implement scalable solutions. Keep it concise but impactful!
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills:In your application, give examples of how you've taken ambiguous requirements and turned them into practical solutions. We love seeing candidates who can bridge the gap between strategy and delivery, so make sure to highlight those experiences!
Apply Through Our Website:Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it shows you’re keen on joining our team at Insight Investment!
How to prepare for a job interview at Insight
✨Know Your Snowflake Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your Snowflake knowledge before the interview. Be ready to discuss its core capabilities, like warehouses and streams, and how you've used them in past projects. This will show that you're not just familiar with the platform but can also leverage it effectively.
✨Showcase Your SQL Skills
Prepare to demonstrate your SQL prowess, especially in performance-aware query design. You might be asked to solve a problem on the spot, so practice writing optimised queries and be ready to explain your thought process. This will highlight your technical expertise and problem-solving abilities.
✨Understand the Bigger Picture
Familiarise yourself with enterprise concerns like security and CI/CD. Be prepared to discuss how your solutions align with these aspects and how they impact delivery speed and governance. This shows that you think beyond just the technical details and understand the broader implications of your work.
✨Communicate Clearly and Confidently
Practice explaining complex technical concepts in simple terms. You’ll likely need to bridge the gap between technical teams and non-technical stakeholders, so being able to communicate effectively is key. Use examples from your experience to illustrate your points and demonstrate your empathy towards different user needs.
