Data Architect – AR

Job Description:
Data Architect

Department

Digital and Data Solutions, Digital and Data Directorate
Lincolnshire Police

Location

Nettleham HQ (Fire and Police Headquarters)

Grade

SG5

Reports To

Head of Information Management Unit (IMU)

Direct Reports

• 2 x Data Engineers
• 2 x BI Developers
• 2 x Dashboard Designers
• 1 x Digital Innovation Manager (line managing 2 additional staff)

Role Purpose

The Data Architect is responsible for defining, developing, and maintaining Lincolnshire Police’s enterprise data architecture. The role ensures the organisation can effectively manage, integrate, and exploit its data assets to produce high-quality intelligence, analytics, and insights that support operational policing, strategic decision-making, and partner collaboration.

The postholder plays a critical role in enabling data-driven policing by designing scalable, secure, and efficient data structures and platforms that transform raw data into actionable information.

They will also contribute to regional and national data strategy, representing the Force in external forums and influencing best practice across policing and public sector data architecture.

• Develop and maintain the Force’s enterprise data architecture strategy aligned with organisational priorities.
• Define data models, standards, and architecture principles across operational and analytical systems.
• Design end-to-end data flows, integration patterns, and storage solutions.

• Select and govern appropriate data technologies, tools, and platforms.
• Oversee the design and implementation of data warehouses, data lakes, and analytics platforms.
• Lead significant data transformation and migration programmes.

• Translate operational and analytical requirements into scalable data structures and solutions.
• Enable production of dashboards, reporting tools, predictive analytics, and intelligence products.
• Work closely with analysts, BI developers, and operational stakeholders to ensure data meets business needs.

• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to data engineering, BI, and analytics teams.
• Set technical direction, standards, and best practices for data delivery.
• Foster a high-performing, collaborative, and innovation-driven culture.

• Define and implement data classification standards aligned with national policing frameworks.
• Ensure compliance with GDPR, data protection legislation, and internal policies.
• Establish and maintain data access controls and governance frameworks.

• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders and operational departments.
• Translate complex technical concepts into clear, actionable insight for non-technical audiences.
• Support the development of business cases for data-driven initiatives.

• Promote data quality standards across the organisation.
• Identify and resolve data issues, driving continuous improvement in data processes.
• Support development of data literacy and a data-driven culture across the Force.

• Monitor and evaluate emerging trends in data architecture, analytics, and cloud technologies.
• Introduce innovative tools and approaches to improve efficiency and capability.
• Engage in national and regional policing data communities.

• Proven experience as a Data Architect or senior Data Engineer with architecture responsibility.
• Strong experience with cloud data platforms (Azure or AWS).
• Expertise in data modelling, ETL pipelines, and enterprise data integration.
• Experience designing and delivering data warehouses and analytics platforms.
• Strong SQL and data manipulation skills.
• Experience using BI tools such as Power BI or Qlik.
• Ability to lead technical teams and deliver complex data programmes.

• Deep understanding of modern data architecture patterns and technologies.
• Strong knowledge of data governance, security, and GDPR compliance.
• Understanding of data lifecycle management and integration techniques.
• Awareness of public sector or complex regulated environments.