At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and implement scalable solutions on Insight's Snowflake Data Platform in Azure.
- Company: Join Insight Investment, a forward-thinking company in the finance sector.
- Benefits: Inclusive workplace, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Collaborative environment focused on innovation and continuous improvement.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by shaping data solutions that drive business success.
- 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.
- 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 materialized 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.
Insight is committed to being an inclusive employer and encourages applications from all suitably qualified applicants irrespective of background, circumstances, age, disability, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or belief and sexual orientation. If you are a candidate with a disability, or are assisting a candidate with a disability, and require an accommodation to apply for one of our jobs, please email us.
Solution Architect (Manchester) employer: Job Search Place Limited
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 inclusivity and support, ensuring that all team members can thrive while contributing to impactful data solutions that drive the organisation's success.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Solution Architect (Manchester)
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to current employees at Insight Investment on LinkedIn or other platforms. Ask them about their experiences and any tips they might have for landing the Solution Architect role.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for the interview by brushing up on your Snowflake skills. Be ready to discuss specific projects where you've implemented scalable solutions, as this will show you're hands-on and delivery-focused, just like the role requires.
✨Tip Number 3
Showcase your problem-solving skills! During interviews, be prepared to tackle hypothetical scenarios related to data management and architecture. This will demonstrate your ability to turn ambiguous requirements into practical solutions.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets noticed. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in being part of the Insight team.
We think you need these skills to ace Solution Architect (Manchester)
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter to highlight your experience with Snowflake and Azure. We want to see how your skills align with the role, so don’t hold back on showcasing relevant projects!
Showcase Your Hands-On Experience:Since this is a hands-on role, it’s crucial to demonstrate your practical experience. Share specific examples of how you've designed and implemented solutions in Snowflake, and any challenges you overcame along the way.
Communicate Clearly:We love clear communication! When writing your application, make sure to explain complex technical concepts in a straightforward manner. This will show us that you can bridge the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Apply Through Our Website:Don’t forget to submit your application through our website! It’s the best way for us to receive your details and ensures you’re considered for the role. We can’t wait to hear from you!
How to prepare for a job interview at Job Search Place Limited
✨Know Your Snowflake Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your Snowflake knowledge before the interview. Understand its core capabilities, like warehouses and streams, and be ready to discuss how you've used these features in past projects. This will show that you're not just familiar with the platform but can also leverage it effectively.
✨Prepare for Technical Scenarios
Expect to tackle some technical scenarios during the interview. Think about how you would approach designing scalable solutions or optimising SQL queries. Practise explaining your thought process clearly, as this will demonstrate your problem-solving skills and ability to communicate complex concepts.
✨Showcase Your Collaboration Skills
Since the role involves working closely with various teams, be prepared to share examples of how you've collaborated with engineers, architects, and non-technical users in the past. Highlight your ability to bridge gaps between technical and non-technical stakeholders, as this is crucial for success in the position.
✨Emphasise Your Delivery Mindset
Insight Investment values an outcome-focused approach, so be ready to discuss how you've delivered projects on time and within budget. Share specific examples where you've taken ambiguous requirements and turned them into practical solutions, showcasing your hands-on experience and delivery mindset.
