Global Head of Architecture in London

About the role

Build the future of AI and data with us. Datatonic is a leading Google Cloud partner specialising in data and AI. We help organisations design, build and operate production AI systems, from governed data foundations and machine learning platforms to generative AI applications and agentic workflows. Our teams combine Google Cloud, software engineering, machine learning, data engineering and analytics expertise with the consulting skills needed to turn complex business requirements into reliable products.

Your mission

As Architecture Lead, you will be a hands-on Cloud Architect who also leads Datatonic's team of architects. You will design and build cloud, data and application estates yourself, while setting the standards, growing the people and owning the quality of architecture across our client work. You will split your time between three things: delivering architecture on our most complex engagements, leading and developing a team of architects, and representing Datatonic as a technical authority with clients and in pre-sales.

What you'll do

• Target architecture: Design and lead target architectures across cloud, data and application estates on Google Cloud, covering the platforms and the systems that run on them.
• Hands-on build: Stay close to the code. Prototype, write infrastructure as code, review pull requests and unblock engineering teams on hard technical problems.
• Systems design: Own boundaries, failure modes, security, cost, operability and how each design evolves over time.
• Trade-off ownership: Resolve architectural trade-offs across Platform, Data, Analytics, AI, Software and UX.
• Delivery governance: Act as design authority on our most complex engagements, making sure what we ship is secure, reliable and maintainable.

Leading the architecture team

• People leadership: Line manage and develop a team of architects, including career conversations, performance reviews and growth plans.
• Mentorship: Coach architects and discipline leads while leaving delivery ownership with them.
• Standards and patterns: Set architecture standards, reference patterns and decision-record practices used across projects and regions.
• Capability building: Grow architecture capability through hiring, training, communities of practice and design reviews.
• Staffing: Work with delivery leadership to match architects to engagements.

Clients and market

• Pre-sales: Shape solution architecture, estimates and proposals, especially where estate design carries the risk.
• Client leadership: Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders, from engineering leads to CTOs.
• Thought leadership: Help shape service propositions and represent Datatonic as a technical authority at events and with Google Cloud.

Working with agents

You will use agents throughout engineering delivery and maintain the agents that support the architecture discipline, including their versioning, evaluation, operation and continuous improvement. This covers agents for option analysis, decision-record drafts, consistency checks against established patterns, and initial threat and cost assessments.

What you'll bring

• Cloud architecture depth: Extensive hands-on experience designing and building production systems on Google Cloud (or AWS/Azure with a strong interest in GCP).
• Engineering foundation: Proven depth in at least one engineering discipline (platform, data, software or ML engineering) at Senior 2 / L5 or above.
• Demonstrated breadth: Evidence of systems design across disciplines, including networking, security, IAM, data platforms and application architecture.
• Hands-on skills: Comfortable with infrastructure as code (e.g. Terraform), CI/CD, containers and Kubernetes, and at least one programming language such as Python.
• Team leadership: Experience leading, mentoring or line managing engineers or architects, and raising the bar for a whole team.
• Client leadership: Client-facing architecture leadership with senior stakeholders, including pre-sales and solution shaping.
• Communication: Ability to explain complex trade-offs clearly to technical and non-technical audiences, in writing and in person.

Bonus points if you have

• Google Cloud certifications: Professional Cloud Architect or similar.
• Complex estates: Experience with multi-cloud, hybrid or complex integration environments.
• Architecture methods: Experience applying formal architecture methods (e.g. TOGAF) in complex delivery environments.
• AI and data platforms: Experience architecting ML platforms, generative AI applications or agentic systems in production.
• Consultancy background: Experience in a consultancy or professional services environment.

What's in it for you?

We believe in empowering our team to thrive, with benefits including:

• Holiday: 25 days plus bank holidays.
• Health perks: Private health insurance (Vitality Health) and Smart Health Services.
• Fitness and wellbeing: 50% gym membership discounts (Nuffield Health, Virgin Active, Pure Gym).
• Hybrid model: Two to three days in the office, with a WFH allowance to keep you comfortable.
• Learning and growth: Dedicated learning budgets and access to platforms like Udemy.
• Pension: Auto-enrolment after probation. 3% employer contributions, rising 1% per year of service to a maximum of 10%.
• Life insurance: Three times your base salary.
• Income protection: Up to 75% of base salary, for up to two years.
• Schemes: Cycle to Work and Tech schemes.

Why Datatonic?

Join us to work alongside AI enthusiasts and data experts who are shaping tomorrow. Innovation is central to our work, from the technology we use to the way we solve client problems. If you are ready to lead architecture at the forefront of data and AI, we would like to hear from you.