Data Architect

Data Architects – ADF / Databricks / Data Governance £425–£475 per day (Outside IR35)6-month contract Hybrid – Bournemouth or Guildford (ideally 3 days onsite/week) Experience: 15+ years We are seeking two highly experienced Data Architects to support a major data and AI transformation programme. This role requires deep technical expertise, strong architectural leadership, and the ability to drive high-impact conversations across business and technical teams. The Opportunity You will play a key role in shaping and delivering enterprise-scale data architecture across Azure, working with modern data engineering and AI/ML technologies. This is a hands-on architectural position suited to individuals passionate about designing best-practice data platforms, governance frameworks, and scalable cloud solutions. You will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams—including Data Science, Engineering, and Business stakeholders—and contribute to both delivery and strategic direction. Role & Responsibilities Lead the end-to-end architecture of an enterprise Azure data and analytics platform. Design scalable data ingestion, transformation, and orchestration using Azure Data Factory (ADF) and Databricks. Work closely with Data Science teams to support AI/ML workloads, feature engineering, model integration, and operationalisation. Develop architectural guardrails, governance standards, coding frameworks, and best practices across the data engineering ecosystem. Define monitoring, observability, and operational integration for pipelines and analytical environments. Architect integration patterns across operational systems, data platforms, ML pipelines, and reporting layers. Provide subject-matter expertise in the insurance domain (policy, claims, underwriting, pricing, risk, regulatory reporting). Produce high-quality architecture documents, solution designs, data flow diagrams, and specifications. Conduct analytics and visualisation landscape assessments and propose modernisation/migration strategies. Engage with multiple stakeholder groups, lead workshops, and propose optimal data and AI solutions. Support pre-sales/account activities where needed and help shape capability roadmaps. You Must Possess 15+ years' experience in Data & AI within large-scale enterprise environments. Proven background as a Data Architect, Technical Architect, or Lead Data Engineer. Excellent communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders. Hands-on expertise with: ADF (pipeline orchestration) Databricks (PySpark, Delta Lake, MLflow) Azure ecosystem (Key Vault, Data Lake, Synapse, Functions, Logic Apps) Strong understanding of the full AI/ML lifecycle and how it integrates with enterprise data platforms. Experience building architecture standards, governance frameworks, CI/CD patterns, and data quality controls. Strong documentation and architectural blueprinting skills. Proficiency in SQL and advanced data modelling. Deep knowledge of data governance, metadata management, and data lineage. Strong problem-solving ability and comfort translating business requirements into scalable technical designs. Understanding of Agile methodologies and continuous improvement practices. Active learning mindset and awareness of industry trends. Ability to mentor, support capability development, and contribute to accelerators/automation. Preferred Qualifications Experience with Microsoft Fabric, Unity Catalog, or Snowflake. Familiarity with MLOps, model monitoring, and responsible AI frameworks. Azure or Databricks cloud certifications. Experience with Power BI or semantic model design. Exposure to MDM, metadata management, or wider data governance tooling. How to Apply If you are a senior Data Architect with deep Azure, ADF, and Databricks experience and can commit to a hybrid role in Bournemouth or Guildford, we'd love to hear from you.