Data Architect

The Opportunity:

Our client is seeking an experienced Data Architect on a remote-working basis to define and evolve scalable data models, structures and governance approaches that enable secure, interoperable and well-managed data-sharing solutions for as leading UK Government Agency.

This is a highly collaborative role working across data, security, architecture, engineering and business teams. You'll be responsible for establishing a clear understanding of data throughout its lifecycle, including its structures, schemas, attributes, classifications, relationships, metadata, ownership, provenance and lineage.

A key aspect of the role will be supporting the design of policy-based access control (PBAC), translating business, security and governance requirements into appropriate data attributes, classifications and access policies.

The successful candidate will bring strong practical experience in data architecture, modelling and governance, together with the ability to communicate complex data concepts clearly across technical and non-technical stakeholder groups.

Skills and Experience:

* Proven experience working as a Data Architect, with strong data architecture and data modelling experience, operating within Agile delivery environments.

* Experience with Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) or Policy-Based Access Control (PBAC) would be very useful; as well as being familiar with data catalogues, metadata management or data governance platforms.

* A strong understanding of data structures, schemas, entities, attributes, relationships and dependencies, developing conceptual and logical data models, defining data classifications, taxonomies, business definitions and governance standards.

* Practical experience with metadata, data catalogues, data lineage and data provenance, with an ability to identify and document authoritative data sources and sources of truth.

* Experience translating business, security and governance requirements into data and architecture designs, with a strong understanding of the data lifecycle, including creation, transformation, sharing, retention and retirement.

* Ability to communicate complex data and architecture concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders, working collaboratively with engineering, security, architecture and business teams.

* Understanding of policy lifecycle management, including authoring, approval, versioning, publication and retirement, whilst defining and managing data lineage and provenance across complex data flows.

* Understanding of standards supporting data interoperability and information exchange, with experience supporting data migration, integration and transformation programmes.

* Knowledge of data quality frameworks, validation and data stewardship, along with experience of supporting audit, regulatory and compliance requirements.

* Experience with APIs, data contracts and schema management, optimising data models, queries and data integrations, designing secure and interoperable data-sharing solutions

Role and Responsibilities:

* Define and deliver data architecture, data modelling and data governance activities.

* Develop conceptual, logical and physical data models covering entities, attributes, relationships and dependencies.

* Define and maintain data schemas, attributes, classifications, taxonomies and controlled vocabularies.

* Establish clear data definitions, ownership, stewardship and authoritative sources of truth.

* Define and manage metadata required to understand, discover and govern data assets.

* Map and document data lineage and provenance, including sources, transformations, dependencies and consumers.

* Design scalable data structures supporting secure and interoperable data-sharing solutions.

* Translate business, security, risk and governance requirements into data models and architecture designs.

* Support the design of policy-based access control (PBAC) using appropriate data attributes and classifications.

* Contribute to data governance frameworks, standards, principles and processes.

* Support data quality, validation, consistency and integrity requirements.

* Support data migration, integration and transformation activities while maintaining lineage and semantic meaning.

* Ensure data architecture supports auditability, traceability, regulatory and compliance requirements.

* Work closely with engineering teams to ensure conceptual and logical models are effectively translated into implementation.

* Maintain architecture, data model, metadata,…