Data Architect

Birmingham
3 weeks ago
Create job alert

Job Title: Data Architect
Location: Birmingham/Sheffield/Edinburgh (3 days per week in the office)
Salary/Rate: Up to £431 per day INSIDE IR35
Start Date: 06/05/2025
Job Type: Contract

Company Introduction
We have an exciting opportunity now available with one of our sector-leading financial services clients! They are currently looking for a skilled Data Architect to join their team for a contract until the end of November.

Job Responsibilities/Objectives
You will be a technical lead aligned to our Storage & Data Protection Services infrastructure team. Your primary focus will be on building, expanding, and optimizing our data platforms.
You will develop high performance data products and data pipelines to further enable our data driven approach.
You will support the improvement of our data self-service capability, building the technology to allow users to analyse the data they need on demand.
You will be a part of a highly skilled, self-organising team whilst building forward-thinking solutions and creating new capabilities to support multiple, cross-functional teams. We are continuously looking to further improve our technology stack, data quality and reliability, and your vision and ambition will contribute to shaping our solutions toward data-driven decisions across the business.
The ideal candidate is self-directed, comfortable with challenging and leading on best practice, and able to adapt to regularly shifting business requirements and occasional ambiguity.
This is a fast-paced hands-on role, and would be well-suited to someone who loves clean design, clean architecture and using the latest tools and technology to tackle constantly evolving business and tech challenges.

Work alongside our SME/Storage Architect to deliver a strategic solution that will uplift our monitoring and alerting capability to higher maturity levels, positioning us to deliver end-to-end observability.
Support the design of the infrastructure required for optimal extraction, transformation, and loading of data from a wide variety of data sources using API's, SQL and 'big data' technologies.
Create and maintain optimal data pipeline architecture. Assemble large, complex data sets that meet functional/non-functional business requirements. Identify, design, and implement internal process improvements: automating manual processes, optimizing data delivery, re-designing infrastructure for greater scalability.
Work with stakeholders to assist with data-related technical issues and delivery. Work with data and analytics experts to strive for greater functionality in our data systems.
Keep up-to-date and have expertise on current tools, technologies and areas like cyber security and regulations pertaining to aspects like data privacy, consent, data residency etc. that are applicable. Ensuring compliance with all relevant controls and standards
Required Skills/Experience

We are looking for a candidate with experience in leading/developing a data platform, you should also have hands-on experience in most of the following key areas:

Working with raw data, structured, semi-structured and unstructured data.
Experience combining large, disconnected datasets, using relevant tools and frameworks.
Building and optimizing ETL / ELT data pipelines
Experience of source control, Continuous Integration, Delivery and Deployment through CICD Pipelines
Knowledge and/or experience with Splunk, Kafka & Grafana is beneficial.
Supporting and working with BI and Analytics teams in a dynamic environment
Knowledge of Scrum, Kanban or other agile frameworks.
Work with Agile methodology, representing the Pod and Area lead in standups and problem-solving meetings.
Enables SRE culture through solving problems with data engineering.
Experience working in relevant market/context, i.e. IT in finance, is desirable.
Able to collaborate and effectively pair with other engineers/architects.
Self-awareness with confidence to work independently and take responsibility for own development.
Excellent written and spoken communication skills; an ability to communicate with impact, ensuring complex information is articulated in a meaningful way to wide and varied audiences.
Willingness to undertake the training / study required in this role for new products and services.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply now with your updated CV in Microsoft Word/PDF format.

Disclaimer
Notwithstanding any guidelines given to level of experience sought, we will consider candidates from outside this range if they can demonstrate the necessary competencies.

Square One is acting as both an employment agency and an employment business, and is an equal opportunities recruitment business. Square One embraces diversity and will treat everyone equally. Please see our website for our full diversity statement

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Data Architect

Data Architect

Data Architect

Data Architect

Databricks Architect

Databricks Architect

Get the latest insights and jobs direct. Sign up for our newsletter.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Quantum-Enhanced AI in Data Engineering: Reshaping the Big Data Pipeline

Data engineering has become an indispensable pillar of the modern technology ecosystem. As companies gather massive troves of data—often measured in petabytes—the importance of robust, scalable data pipelines cannot be overstated. From ingestion and storage to transformation and analysis, data engineers stand at the forefront of delivering reliable data for analytics, machine learning, and critical business decisions. Simultaneously, the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has undergone a revolution, transitioning from niche research projects to a foundational tool for everything from predictive maintenance and fraud detection to customer experience personalisation. Yet as AI models grow in complexity—think large language models with hundreds of billions of parameters—the data volumes and computational needs escalate dramatically. The industry finds itself at an inflection point: traditional computing systems may eventually hit performance ceilings, even when scaled horizontally with thousands of nodes. Enter quantum computing, a nascent yet rapidly progressing technology that leverages quantum mechanics to tackle certain computational tasks exponentially faster than classical machines. While quantum computing is still maturing, its potential to supercharge AI workflows—often referred to as quantum-enhanced AI—has piqued the curiosity of data engineers and enterprises alike. This synergy could solve some of the biggest headaches in data engineering: accelerating data transformations, enabling more efficient analytics, and even facilitating entirely new kinds of modelling once believed to be intractable. In this article, we explore: How data engineering has evolved to support AI’s insatiable appetite for high-quality, well-structured data. The fundamentals of quantum computing and why it may transform the data engineering landscape. Potential real-world applications for quantum-enhanced AI in data engineering—from data ingestion to machine learning pipeline optimisation. Emerging career paths and skill sets needed to thrive in a future where data, AI, and quantum computing intersect. Challenges, ethical considerations, and forward-looking perspectives on how this convergence might shape the data engineering domain. If you work in data engineering, are curious about quantum computing, or simply want to stay on the cutting edge of technology, read on. The next frontier of data-driven innovation may well be quantum-powered.

Data Engineering Jobs at Newly Funded UK Start-ups: Q3 2025 Investment Tracker

Data. It’s the critical lifeblood of every forward-thinking organisation, fueling everything from strategic decision-making to real-time analytics. As data volumes skyrocket and technologies mature, the UK has distinguished itself as a frontrunner in data innovation. A robust venture capital scene, government-backed initiatives, and a wealth of academic talent have created fertile ground for data-centric start-ups across the country. In this Q3 2025 Investment Tracker, we’ll delve into the newly funded UK start-ups shaping the future of data engineering. More importantly, we’ll explore the rich job opportunities that have emerged alongside these funding announcements. From building scalable ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) pipelines to architecting data warehouses and implementing advanced data governance frameworks, data engineers, architects, and analysts have an incredible array of roles to pursue. If you’re eager to elevate your career in data engineering, read on for insights into the most dynamic start-ups, their fresh capital injections, and the skill sets they’re hungry for.

Portfolio Projects That Get You Hired for Data Engineering Jobs (With Real GitHub Examples)

Data is increasingly the lifeblood of businesses, driving everything from product development to customer experience. At the centre of this revolution are data engineers—professionals responsible for building robust data pipelines, architecting scalable storage solutions, and preparing data for analytics and machine learning. If you’re looking to land a role in this exciting and high-demand field, a strong CV is only part of the puzzle. You also need a compelling data engineering portfolio that shows you can roll up your sleeves and deliver real-world results. In this guide, we’ll cover: Why a data engineering portfolio is crucial for standing out in the job market. Choosing the right projects for your target data engineering roles. Real GitHub examples that demonstrate best practices in data pipeline creation, cloud deployments, and more. Actionable project ideas you can start right now, from building ETL pipelines to implementing real-time streaming solutions. Best practices for structuring your GitHub repositories and showcasing your work effectively. By the end, you’ll know exactly how to build and present a portfolio that resonates with hiring managers—and when you’re ready to take the next step, don’t forget to upload your CV on DataEngineeringJobs.co.uk. Our platform connects top data engineering talent with companies that need your skills, ensuring your portfolio gets the attention it deserves.