Data Architect

Do you want to take full ownership of a housing association’s data architectural vision and build it properly from the ground up?

This is a newly introduced Data Architect position with responsibility for driving this North West based housing association toward a modern data approach with a clear pathway to Head of Data Architecture.

Essentially, this organisation has a currently messy systems architecture, so this is about connecting data across systems, while working on modernising their approach to data using modern tools.

The organisation currently lacks a clear overarching vision for data, so as Data Architect, you will own the data vision and grow into leading it. You’ll bring everything together into a coherent, trusted, enterprise data architecture.

You’ll sit at the centre of a wider Target Operating Model transformation, and act as the technical authority for data, shaping how data is structured, governed, and used across the organisation, to influence everything from operational systems through to analytics and AI.

There’s strong engineering capability already in place but what’s missing is the strategic architectural leadership to tie it all together.

As Data Architect, you will:

• Define and lead the enterprise data architecture and strategy.
• Manage and lead the change from siloed legacy systems to a unified approach. There are Data Engineers in-house, so this is about strategic direction.
• Oversee the move to Microsoft Fabric cloud.
• Lead improvements in data quality, governance, and consistency.
• Act as a senior voice in technical design authority and architectural decision-making.
• Translate business ambition into practical, scalable data solutions by thinking long-term about architecture and strategy.
• While also getting into the detail to challenge, guide, and validate decisions.

This role needs a credible, data engineering professional who can lead from the front so you might be a Data Architect already operating at enterprise level, or a Senior Data Engineer with architectural ownership, or in a Head of Data type role, but still close enough to the architectural detail.

You would be an excellent fit as Data Architect if you have:

• A clear understanding and practical delivery using modern data platforms (Fabric, Azure, or similar)
• Deep knowledge of data modelling, data flows, and Lakehouse architectures
• Experience embedding data governance and data quality frameworks
• Crucially this is not a purely high-level architecture role; you’ll need the credibility to understand architecture and engineering at a deep level and lead change through expertise, not hierarchy.

This is a rare opportunity to define the data architecture vision for an organisation that’s undergoing a rapid period of modernisation and change. Essentially, you’ll have the clean slate and budget to move toward a modern data approach shaped in your vision. It’s also a role with a clear scope to evolve into a data leadership position, taking full ownership of the organisation’s data function as it matures.

This is a role based in in the North West with likely two days a week in the office.

The salary on offer is £80,000 with the ability to go a little higher, and some great benefits.

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