Data Platform Architect

Metrea is a defense company dedicated to translating commercial innovation into solutions for the hardest problems in national security. With deep mission expertise, Metrea focuses on delivering effects‑as‑a‑service across Aerospace, Electromagnetic & Cyber, Digital & Synthetic domains via its capability groups.

The Digital and Synthetic Capability Unit (D&S) is committed to providing mission‑driven information solutions that seamlessly bridge the digital and physical realms. Leveraging cutting‑edge technologies and advanced platforms, we empower operational readiness and elevate situational awareness across diverse domains—including air, maritime, and space.

We are seeking an experienced Data Platform Architect to lead a cross‑functional data & cloud engineering team in designing and implementing our next‑generation cloud‑native data platform. The role will architect a comprehensive data ecosystem that supports diverse ingestion and consumption patterns, advanced data structures, and appropriate storage solutions while owning and adhering to our data ontology.

• Architecture & Design
  • Design and architect scalable, cloud‑native data platform solutions supporting both real‑time and batch processing workloads.
  • Define data architecture patterns, data models, and integration strategies across heterogeneous data sources.
  • Establish API‑first design principles and create comprehensive API specifications for Plumbing Services.
  • Design data governance frameworks, security models, and compliance strategies.
  • Create technical roadmaps and guide technology stack decisions.
• Technical Leadership
  • Lead a cross‑functional team including data engineers, cloud engineers, and software engineers.
  • Collaborate with data scientists and analytics teams to understand platform requirements for advanced use cases.
  • Drive architectural reviews and technical decision‑making processes.
  • Mentor engineering teams on best practices for data platform development.
  • Establish coding standards, design patterns, and operational procedures.
• Platform Strategy
  • Evaluate and recommend technologies for data ingestion, processing, storage, and serving layers.
  • Design multi‑tenant, self‑service data platform capabilities.
  • Architect solutions for data lineage, quality monitoring, and observability.
  • Plan for platform scalability, performance optimization, and cost management.
  • Ensure platform supports diverse data types (structured, semi‑structured, streaming).
• Stakeholder Collaboration
  • Work closely with product managers to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
  • Partner with security and compliance teams to ensure data protection and regulatory adherence.
  • Collaborate with infrastructure teams on cloud resource planning and optimization.
  • Present architectural decisions and trade‑offs to leadership and technical teams.

• 8+ years of experience in data engineering, platform architecture, or related fields.
• Proven experience architecting large‑scale data platforms in cloud environments (AWS, Azure).
• Deep understanding of data processing frameworks (Spark, Kafka, Flink, Airflow).
• Strong knowledge of data storage technologies (data lakes, data warehouses, NoSQL, streaming).
• Experience with containerization, orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker), microservices and event‑driven architectures.
• Proficiency in API design and development (REST, GraphQL, gRPC, JSON, Kafka).
• Understanding of data governance, security, and compliance frameworks.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to present complex technical concepts to non‑technical stakeholders.
• Solid programming fundamentals with ability to review code and guide technical decisions across multiple languages.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation).
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.
• Knowledge of monitoring and observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack).
• Experience with data catalog and metadata management tools.

• Advanced degree in Computer Science or Engineering.
• Understanding of analytics and data science workflows.
• Certification in major cloud platforms.
• Experience with data mesh or federated data architecture patterns.

Metrea’s single core value, “rooted in humility,” is supported by four key attributes: entrepreneurial, systematic, discerning, and over‑deliver. These attributes, combined, form our Teammate Firmware, our culture. We explore these attributes during the hiring process when we grow our teams and continually support the growth of our culture. We are a hyper‑collaborative, dynamically hierarchical organization united by a passion for what we do, how we do it, who we do it with, and who we do it for.

• Private Medical Insurance.
• Subsided gym membership / plans through Wellhub.
• Electric Car scheme.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• £1500 Training Allowance.
• 30 days annual PTO plus bank holidays.
• Eye Tests.
• Friskvård of 5K annually.
• Personal development budget (2K for books, courses, subscriptions etc).
• Parental leave.
• 5% occupational pension.
• Discretionary Bonus.

The employee will have the legal right to work in the United Kingdom and will be able to produce right to work documentation.

Ability to achieve and maintain a Security Clearance.

Metrea Management is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or other characteristics protected by law.

This is a full‑time non‑exempt position with typical working hours of Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Hours and work shifts may change in accordance with department and business needs.

London, UK.