Data Architect

Data Architect (Azure) | Databricks + Purview | Outside IR35 | Remote based, occasional London trips

Is this the next step in your career Find out if you are the right candidate by reading through the complete overview below.
Rate: market rates, outside IR35
Location: Remote, UK. Occasional London attendance
Duration: 6 months initial, likely extension
Start: Within 2 weeks
Databricks Data Architect required for a greenfield Azure data platform build. There is no legacy estate and no migration. The end client is a newly formed organisation whose service is expected to operate at national scale following incoming legislation, so the platform must be architected for very significant growth.
We are looking for an architect who can hold their own with senior stakeholders and who has also built this kind of platform at a technical level. Ideally you come from a data engineering background, so you can talk up or down the stack as the conversation needs.
Responsibilities
Own the target data architecture, from conceptual through logical to physical design
Design the Databricks Lakehouse, including medallion layers, workspace and environment structure, and cost and performance patterns
Define the governance, lineage and cataloguing approach using Unity Catalog and Microsoft Purview
Produce data models and integration patterns built for national scale volumes
Present and defend best practice to senior stakeholders and a client team building its own capability
Work alongside the enterprise architects, integrations architect and data governance specialist
Remain hands on where needed to unblock delivery
Essential
Data architecture experience on a greenfield platform implementation, or two to three architect roles of more than a year each, at least one with Databricks exposure
Credible with senior stakeholders, and able to move between executive level discussion and technical detail
Hands on implementation experience, ideally from a data engineering or developer background
Databricks at architecture level on Azure, including Delta Lake, Unity Catalog and Spark optimisation
Lakehouse and medallion patterns, batch and streaming ingestion, event driven design
Conceptual, logical and physical data modelling. Dimensional and data vault both useful
Advanced SQL, Python or PySpark
Declarative pipelines (Delta Live Tables or equivalent), Databricks Workflows, Auto Loader and Structured Streaming
Microsoft Purview for data governance, cataloguing and lineage
Azure Data Factory, Azure SQL, Data Lake Storage Gen2
Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions, Databricks Asset Bundles, Terraform or Bicep
Entra ID, Key Vault, private endpoints, RBAC
UK GDPR and DPA 2018 in practice, including public personal data
Consultancy, systems integrator or large corporate background with strong client facing skills
Desirable
Databricks certification, for example Data Engineer Professional or Solutions Architect
Microsoft certification, for example AZ-305
Regulated or legislation driven programme experience
Platforms that have scaled rapidly from launch
TOGAF or similar
The start is within two weeks, so early applications are encouraged. Please apply with an up to date CV, along with availability and day rate. xrexnqw Suitable candidates will be contacted to discuss the role in confidence.
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Location: London HQ and home base (mostly remote working)
Job Type: Contract
Start Date: Within 2 weeks
Duration: 6 months initial, likely long term extensions
Rate/Salary: Market rates, outside IR35
Visa Requirement: Applicants must be eligible to work in the specified location