Lead Data Architect

This range is provided by NineTech. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

My client, a Financial Services organisation, is looking for a Data Platform Architect on a long-term assignment.

Contract is INSIDE IR35

Enterprise Data Strategy & Architecture Leadership

• Set the strategic direction for the firm’s next-generation data landscape, ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture, regulatory priorities, and long-term digital transformation objectives.
• Define the target-state architecture spanning ingestion, integration, governance, analytics, AI/ML enablement, and cross-business data product capabilities.
• Drive simplification and optimisation of the bank’s data estate through standardisation, rationalisation of legacy platforms, and automation at scale.
• Lead the advancement of modern data operating models, including Data-as-a-Product and distributed domain ownership, tailored to the needs of regulated financial environments.
• Establish a unified approach to enterprise data accessibility, controlled sharing, and data marketplace enablement across business lines.
• Provide executive-level architectural leadership across cloud and hybrid data platforms, leveraging technologies such as Databricks, Snowflake, major hyperscalers, Kafka, and lakehouse frameworks.
• Oversee the design of enterprise ingestion frameworks, real-time streaming capabilities, data quality controls, and advanced analytics foundations.
• Set the architectural direction for AI/ML pipelines, ensuring robust integration with risk, compliance, and model governance processes.

Governance, Risk & Compliance Alignment

• Partner closely with the Chief Data Office, Chief Risk Office, and Compliance to ensure all architectural decisions meet stringent regulatory, audit, and data governance standards (e.g., BCBS 239, GDPR, operational resilience).
• Influence policy and standards that govern data management, lineage, retention, and model oversight across the institution.

Data Efficiency, Resilience & Automation

• Lead enterprise-wide efforts to minimise data duplication, improve latency and resiliency, and enhance cost efficiency through architectural modernisation.
• Embed DataOps, MLOps, and automation capabilities that accelerate delivery of trusted data products and model-driven solutions across the bank.

Stakeholder Leadership & Change Influence

• Serve as the primary authority for major data modernisation programs, guiding investment decisions and architectural trade-offs.
• Engage senior business leaders, technology executives, quantitative teams, and product owners to translate strategic outcomes into executable roadmaps.
• Champion a data-first culture, ensuring the organisation adopts modern, scalable, and governed data practices.

Seniority level

Mid-Senior level

Employment type

Contract

Job function

Information Technology; Industries: IT Services and IT Consulting