Senior Associate, IT Architecture

Group:
Corporate Group
Management Level: Senior Associate
Job Type: Permanent

Ofcom is the regulator for the communications services that we use and rely on each day. We make sure people get the best from their broadband, home phone and mobile services, as well as keeping an eye on TV and radio. Our culture is clear - we live by our values:
Empowerment;
Excellence;
Collaboration;
Agility and Respect. These define how we work to deliver our purpose, now and in the future. The behaviours which support these values set the path for a fully inclusive and innovative culture  focus not only on what we do, but how we do it. We pride ourselves on being an organisation of people who genuinely care about helping others.

Data is central to Ofcom's work. We use data from a wide range of sources to understand regulated sectors and provide insight that informs critical policy, operational and regulatory decisions. As Ofcom's responsibilities continue to expand, the volume, complexity and strategic importance of data continues to grow. To support this ambition, Ofcom is investing in a modern cloud-based data platform built on Microsoft Azure and the wider Microsoft data ecosystem.

We are seeking an experienced Data Solutions Architect to help shape, design and govern solutions that enable secure, scalable and self-service use of data across the organisation. The successful candidate will work closely with Data Engineers, Data Scientists, Business Analysts, Product Teams, Enterprise Architects and business stakeholders to design and deliver solutions that maximise the value of Ofcom's data assets.

This role will play a key part in the adoption and maturity of Microsoft Azure, supporting data ingestion, engineering, analytics, governance and AI-enabled capabilities.

The Data Solutions Architect is responsible for translating business requirements into scalable, secure and cost‑effective data solutions. The role provides architectural leadership across the full data lifecycle including ingestion, transformation, storage, governance, analytics and reporting. The architect will work with the Principal Data Solution Architect to design and implement solutions leveraging Microsoft Fabric and associated Azure services, ensuring alignment to enterprise architecture principles, governance requirements, security controls and strategic roadmaps.

The role requires strong stakeholder engagement skills, the ability to evaluate competing architectural approaches, and experience delivering enterprise data platforms that enable self-service analytics and data-driven decision making. The Data Solutions Architect will work closely with, and be guided by, the Principal Data Solution Architect to ensure solution designs align with Ofcom’s strategic data architecture, standards and governance expectations.

Translate business and regulatory requirements into end-to-end solution architectures. Work closely with, and be guided by, the Principal Data Solution Architect to ensure solution designs align with Ofcom’s strategic data architecture, standards and governance expectations. Design scalable data platforms using Microsoft Fabric and Azure services. Assess options and recommend approaches based on cost, risk, complexity and value. Produce architecture artefacts, patterns and implementation of roadmaps.

Lead the rollout, adoption and optimisation of Microsoft Fabric across Ofcom. Define standards and reference architectures for One Lake, Data Factory, Data Engineering, Data Warehousing, Data Science, Power BI and governance. Establish patterns for self-service analytics and data product delivery. Support migration from legacy analytics and data platforms where appropriate.

Partner with Data Engineers and platform teams to design secure, resilient data pipelines. Define patterns for ingestion, transformation, ETL/ELT, metadata and master data management. Design solutions for structured, semi-structured and unstructured data. Ensure architectures support performance,…