Data Architect; Head of Data Architecture- Microsoft Fabric data platform

Data Architect (Head of Data Architecture)- Microsoft Fabric data platform Location
- London
- Hybrid work model (2 days travel to the office in Central London every week)

The Data Architect will be responsible for defining and delivering the organisation's data architecture strategy and solution design, ensuring data is managed as a strategic asset and that modern, scalable, secure, and governed data solutions support business intelligence, advanced analytics, AI, and future digital initiatives.

This role will lead the design of a Microsoft Fabric-based enterprise data platform, embedding metadata-driven principles, strong governance, and data quality standards at the heart of the architecture. The role combines strategic enterprise data architecture responsibilities with hands‑on involvement in designing and supporting the build of the data platform and its associated data products.

The Data Architect will work closely with the Head of Data & Analytics, business stakeholders, data engineers, analytics teams, enterprise architects, and technology teams to define enterprise information models, establish master data principles, create CRUD matrices, advise on integration strategies, and ensure a coherent and sustainable data ecosystem across the organisation.

• Lead the architecture and design of the Microsoft Fabric data platform.
• Partner with Data Engineering teams in the design and implementation of scalable data ingestion, transformation, storage, and consumption patterns.
• Define standards and architectural patterns for Lakehouse, Data Warehouse, Real‑Time Analytics, Semantic Models, and Data Engineering workloads.
• Ensure solutions are scalable, secure, resilient, performant, and aligned with business requirements.
• Provide technical leadership and architectural assurance throughout delivery initiatives.
• Support design reviews and governance processes to ensure consistency across data solutions.
• Leadership skills
  - Strategic and enterprise‑thinking mindset. Strong architectural problem‑solving and decision‑making capability.
• Significant experience working in Data Architecture, Enterprise Data Architecture, Solution Architecture, or related roles.
• Proven experience designing enterprise‑scale cloud data platforms and modern data architectures.
• Strong experience with Microsoft Fabric and the Microsoft Data Platform ecosystem.
• Experience developing enterprise data models, information architecture artefacts, and data standards.
• Strong understanding of data governance, data quality, data lineage, and metadata management principles.
• Experience defining and implementing master data management and data mastering processes.
  
  Experience designing enterprise integration architectures and integration patterns.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and ability to work across both business and technical functions.

• Microsoft Fabric including Lakehouse, Warehousing, Data Engineering, Real‑Time Analytics, and Semantic Models.
• Azure Data Platform technologies and services.
• Enterprise data modelling and information architecture.
• Metadata management, data lineage, and data catalogue solutions.
• Master Data Management (MDM) concepts and methodologies.
• Data integration, APIs, event‑driven architectures, and ETL/ELT patterns.
• SQL and data modelling techniques.
• Data governance frameworks and architecture practices.