Data Architect

Data Architect
UK-Based | Hybrid Working
SC Clearable Required
Permanent
Meraki are working on behalf of a leading digital consultancy delivering complex, secure data platforms across the UK public sector.
We’re seeking an experienced Data Architect to lead the design and evolution of enterprise-scale data architectures supporting digital services, analytics and operational decision-making.
This is a lead-level position combining hands-on architecture with technical leadership, assurance and stakeholder engagement. You’ll shape strategic data decisions across multiple delivery teams — ensuring solutions are secure, sustainable, user-focused and aligned with government standards.
This role is ideal for someone operating at SFIA Level 5 (Lead) — providing authoritative guidance, influencing architectural direction, and ensuring long-term value without being tied to a single cloud provider or vendor ecosystem.
The Role
You will:

• Define and own end-to-end data architecture designs across digital services and analytics platforms
  
• Establish architecture principles, standards and reusable patterns across teams
  
• Ensure architectures address the full data lifecycle (acquisition through to decommissioning)
  
• Provide technical leadership and architectural assurance across delivery teams
  
• Align data decisions with user needs, business outcomes, risk appetite and security requirements
  
• Influence and support data governance including metadata, lineage, ownership and data quality
  
• Engage senior stakeholders to explain trade-offs and support informed decision-making
  Technical Experience
  You’ll bring extensive commercial experience across several of the following:
  
• Designing end-to-end data architectures (ingestion, processing, storage, analytics, access layers)
  
• Strong data modelling expertise (conceptual, logical, physical, operational and analytical models)
  
• Architecting modern analytics platforms (data warehouses, lakehouse architectures, domain-oriented data platforms)
  
• Data integration patterns (batch, event-driven, API-led approaches)
  
• Applying security-by-design and privacy-by-design principles
  
• Working across cloud environments in a vendor-neutral capacity
  
• Familiarity with modern data engineering tooling and open-source ecosystems
  What We’re Looking For
  
• Operates confidently at Lead level (SFIA 5)
  
• Provides authoritative architectural guidance across teams
  
• Strong communicator — able to engage both technical teams and senior leadership
  
• Balances strategic direction with delivery pragmatism
  
• Comfortable influencing across multiple teams and suppliers
  
• Experienced within UK Government Digital, Data & Technology environments
  
• Outcome-focused, avoiding vendor-led or technology-first thinking
  Security Clearance
  Due to the nature of the work, candidates must:
  
• Be eligible for SC Clearance
  
• Have lived continuously in the UK for the past 5+ years
  
• Have the right to work in the UK without sponsorship
  What’s on Offer
  Employer pension starting at 5%, increasing with tenure Group life assurance
  Genuine hybrid working + home setup allowance
  25 days annual leave + bank holidays (with buy/sell option)
  Fully funded professional certifications (AWS, GCP, Agile etc.)
  5 days paid study leave + £500 annual personal development fund
  1-2-1 coaching and structured career development
  Private medical insurance
  Cycle to Work scheme
  2 paid volunteering days per year
  Inclusive Hiring
  We strongly encourage applications from individuals who may not meet every single requirement. If this opportunity excites you but you don’t tick every box, we would still love to hear from you