Senior Data Architect - UKSA - G7

Location

Birmingham, Chilton, Leeds, Liverpool, London (Canary Wharf or Colindale), Porton (Core HQs and Scientific Campus’)

About the job

Job summary

The UKHSA Digital and Data Directorate strategically manages a suite of modern, secure data tools and platforms, ensuring access to high-quality data services.

The DD&A team within the directorate comprises solution architects, data architects, and data modelers, and collaborates with organizational units throughout UKHSA.

They provide expertise in data modelling, flow design, and tooling, utilizing top-tier cloud and on-prem solutions to deliver insights for safeguarding public health.

As a Senior Data Architect, you will lead data design programmes, collaborating with peers to analyse, design, and implement our evolving data and analytics estate.

Working for your organisation

We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.   

UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.

Please visit our careers site for more information

Job description

Joining our team as a Senior Data Architect, you will be at the forefront of transforming our data landscape. Collaborating closely with stakeholders and technology experts, you will be instrumental in crafting innovative Data Design and Architecture solutions tailored to meet both current and future business needs. Leveraging your wealth of experience, you will contribute to the development of cutting-edge data architectures, spanning AWS, Azure, and on-premises infrastructure.

To ensure success as a data architect you should have substantial knowledge of how to optimise our data architecture in terms of efficiency, compliance, agility and simplicity and understand the impact of poor access to high quality data.

You should have knowledge across multiple different data domains including on premise and cloud data architecture, data flows and interfaces, data management such as data quality, lineage, catalogues, business intelligence and analytics. A core understanding of data modelling approaches is also required.

You should be skilled in understanding the big picture, whilst attending to detail, and able to obtain a broad level of understanding across multiple areas of our complex data estate. You should be able to use this knowledge along with data architecture skills to understand the impact of changes as our data systems, feeds and data products evolve and guide implementation teams.

You should be able to engage with a wide range of technical, specialist and leadership roles to analyse, document and guide optimisation of our data estate.

This role demands not only technical prowess in data models, data pipelines, and data component analysis but also strategic foresight, effective communication, and inspiring leadership in driving the delivery of meticulously crafted data architectures. Reporting to the Head of Data Architecture, you will play a crucial role in co-presenting solutions for review to governance bodies, ensuring meticulous alignment and securing approval for innovative data solutions. 

Duties will include: 

•    Analyse and translate business need into sustainable data flows.
•    Evaluate, understand, and document existing data systems.
•    Assess the impact of change, and effectively communicate data design and change implications.
•    Collaborate with and guide multiple stakeholders on data-centric initiatives.
•    Maintain a broad knowledge of our existing and planned data estate.
•    Stay current on modern data tooling, select, and evaluate options as needed.
•    Optimize how data is stored and moved through UKHSA, aligning with strategic objectives and operational efficiency.
•    Address specific data challenges within a governmental/health context.
•    Provide thought leadership, patterns, and best practices across diverse data domains.
•    Communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences.
•    Manage processes related to data architecture, ensuring adherence to standards, policies, and best practices.

Person specification

Essential Criteria 

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology or equivalent experience
Producing relevant data models across multiple subject areas
Explaining which models to use for which purpose
Understanding industry-recognised data modelling patterns and standards, and when to apply them
Comparing the development and optimization of sophisticated data models
Establishing design patterns and blueprints for data solutions, integrating the latest industry best practice