Data Architect in Solihull

Company Overview

Xoserve is the Central Data Service Provider, that sits at the heart of Britain’s complex gas market as a specialised contract management and assurance company. Xoserve maintains accountability for the delivery of the Data Services Contract for the industry, which is delivered by a key outsourced service provider.

Role Summary

Reporting to the Head of Architecture, the Data Architect will be responsible for designing and implementing enterprise-level data architecture and strategies that align with the business and technology goals of the organisation, rather than the operational aspects such as performance, monitoring, quality reporting.

As the Xoserve Data Architect, you’ll focus on architectures that move, process, store, validate and present data, ensuring scalability, efficiency and security. This role is technical and strategic in nature, requiring less of a hands-on approach. Your primary focus will be designing the blueprint of the organisation’s data infrastructure and supporting strategic and business as usual projects and change initiatives, with responsibility for the upkeep and governance of supporting architecture principles and TOGAF artefacts. This role plays a pivotal part in the development of a holistic view of the organisations architectural landscape, requiring alignment with and support of the other architectural disciplines within the team.

Responsibilities

• Ownership of Xoserve’s data architecture vision, data strategy, data maturity roadmap ensuring alignment with business and technology strategy.
• Design of the overall data architecture, including conceptual, logical and physical data models, data warehouses/data lakes and data integration in alignment with the needs and strategic goals of the business and/or industry.
• Definition of data standards (case, naming conventions, metadata etc) and integration patterns, with regard to regulatory and industry data standards and reporting, ideally in the Gas Industry or equivalent.
• Collaborate with business analysts, data engineers, application architects, and security teams translating business requirements into technically feasible data solutions aligned with the wider goals of the organisation.
• Collaborate with regulatory, customer and industry partners to work towards a single version of the truth across the industry and to enable data sharing in line with an ‘open data’ ethos.
• Evaluation of data related trends, tools and emerging technologies including cloud solutions, analytic platforms and data storage technologies.
• Development and implementation of data architecture frameworks ensuring accuracy, consistency, completeness, data ethics, readiness for AI/ML integration and lineage of data.
• Creation, maintenance and governance of Data Architecture artefacts (TOGAF).
• Represent all aspects of Data Architecture within the Architecture Review Board.
• Strategic alignment of a scalable and efficient data ecosystem to meet current and future needs.
• Establishment of a data governance framework with developed policies for data quality, security and lifecycle management, ensuring regulatory and industry compliance, including UK GDPR and Data Protection Act.

Specialist/Technical Expertise

Essential

• Proven experience in data architecture.
• Expertise in data modelling tools and techniques.
• Understanding of AI and its role in data architecture.
• Proficient in database management systems (DBMS), data modelling tools and data integration platforms (Boomi, Informatica, SAP CI etc).
• Collaboration with other architects (e.g. business, solution and technical) to gather data requirements, ensuring alignment between data architecture and the wider goals of the organisation.
• Confident and pragmatic in approach to prioritisation with the ability to make timely decisions with sound judgment.
• Communication (written & verbal) at multiple levels, both internally and externally (including customer and service provider organisations), tailoring style to cater for both technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Creative and innovative thinker and problem solver, able to identify ways forward despite the constraints under which the organisation needs to operate.

Desirable

• Experience in designing data architectures within SAP environments, with a working understanding of SAP S/4 HANA, RISE and other SAP modules.
• Relevant certifications for data architecture (e.g. TOGAF, DAMA CDMP, platform certifications (Azure, GCP, AWS, DataBricks, Snowflake) and AI/ML.

What we offer:

• A competitive annual salary up to £85,000 per annum (based on skills and experience).
• Discretionary individual bonus up to 15%.
• Generous Pension Scheme - up to 12% employer contribution.
• Generous Life Assurance provision - 4 x basic salary.
• 28 days annual leave plus 8 statutory days in addition.
• Income protection for employee after 12 months service.
• Enhanced annual leave entitlement, with opportunity to buy additional holiday each year.
• Enhanced family friendly policies.
• Commitment to provide learning & development opportunities.
• Access to contributory Private Medical Insurance for employee and family (Bupa).
• Health cashback plan for employee plus up to four dependent children (Medicash).
• 24/7 virtual GP plus remote access to Physiotherapy, Mental Health Support and Medical Second Opinion (Help@Hand).
• Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme (Octopus EV).
• Free confidential Employee Assistance Programme (LifeWorks).
• A wide range of wellbeing initiatives.
• Fantastic range of discounts on high street retailers, grocery stores, cinema tickets, holidays and more.
• Volunteering hours for our local communities.
• Financial support to help cover the cost of one annual professional membership subscription.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Xoserve, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace for everyone. So, if you’re excited about this role but your experience or qualifications don’t match the job description exactly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might be the right person for our growing business in this role or another one.

Xoserve is an equal employment opportunity employer. We adhere to a policy of making employment decisions without regard to race, ancestry, place of origin, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, record of offences, marital status, family status or disability. We promise that your opportunity for employment with us depends solely on your qualifications.

This is a hybrid working role from our Solihull office with frequent days in the office expected. We encourage candidates to submit their applications as early as possible. Xoserve’s recruitment periods can and may vary. We reserve the right to remove this advert or close it to further applications at any point during the recruitment process.

The Energy Industry is about to reform and change at pace, and it needs people like you to come and be part of its new design. If you are interested and consider you have the right skills and experience, we are looking for, please apply through our Job Board.