Data Solutions Architect

Digital & Tech

Store

London Support Office

Location

London, Greater London

Contract type

Permanent

Position type

Full Time

Salary

Competitive + Benefits

Closing date: 5th December 2025

How We Hire

Everyone is welcome at M&S. No exceptions. It's your background, abilities and differences that make you, uniquely you. And when you're part of M&S, that individuality has the potential to make waves.

About the role

This section tells you all you need to know about the position and its responsibilities, outlining everything we hope to see in a successful candidate.

To stay close to our customers and colleagues, our support teams are in the office for at least three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.

Summary

Summary

We are looking for an experienced Data Solutions Architect to provide architecture and design guidance across our portfolio of data projects. You will use your retail knowledge and design experience to guide projects developed within our data portfolio, and to manage impacts on our data estate caused by change initiatives elsewhere within M&S.

You will work with fellow architects within the Data Architecture & Design team, and with Product Managers, Data Governance teams, Data Analytics teams, Security teams, and our colleagues in the wider architecture community at M&S. You will confidently assess impacts of both external and internal change on our data estate, shaping solution proposals, and managing solution options.

All the details

Who You are

• An excellent communicator, able to influence stakeholders, and to document complex data estates clearly;
• Experienced in designing secure, scalable, and performant data solutions in complex environments.
• Experienced in data lake/lakehouse architectures, analytics, data engineering, and governance best practices.
• Skilled in creating Key Design Principles (KDPs) and Key Design Decisions (KDDs) and presenting proposals to senior stakeholders
• An enthusiastic collaborator, motivated by solving problems and helping M7S reach its goals.

What you will do

• Build strong, collaborative relationships with internal stakeholders across data, analytics, governance, and architecture teams;
• Provide thought leadership, understanding data use cases and proposing design patterns and solution designs;
• Create and maintain design artefacts to enable engineering teams to implement solutions effectively;
• Review data solutions to ensure compliance with design principles and functional/non-functional requirements;
• Stay current with industry trends in data technology and contribute to best practice principles and design decisions.

What's in it for you

Being a part of M&S is exactly that – playing your part to bring the magic of M&S to our customers every day. We're an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and ever evolving business built on doing the right thing and bringing exceptional quality, value, service to every customer, whenever, wherever and however they want to shop with us.

Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special…

• After completing your probationary period, you'll receive 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.
• Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days
• Discretionary bonus schemes awarded based on how you achieve your personal objectives and our performance as a business.
• A generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.
• A dedicated welcome to our teams with a tailored induction and a wide range of training programmes to develop your skills.
• Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices portal to maximise your financial and personal wellbeing.
• Industry-leading parental, adoption and neonatal policies, providing support and flexibility for your family.
• Access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support for all colleagues including access to our 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist to support you and your family.
• A charity volunteer day to support a charity or cause you're passionate about through a dedicated day away from work.

Everyone's welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We're disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We're transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.

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Benefits
Wellbeing hub

Get access to resources to support your wellbeing, including a free virtual GP service.

Colleague Networks

We want you to feel supported, no matter what.

Family & Carers Network

A support network for parents and carers, offering a space for colleagues to share experiences, exchange ideas, and access useful resources.

Cancer Network

Fostering a supportive and inclusive workplace culture, addressing stigma, providing guidance and raising awareness to empower and assist colleagues affected by cancer.

Gender Equality Network

Addressing gender-related challenges, raising awareness, and driving action to ensure equal opportunities for all.

Culture and Heritage Network

Raising awareness of various religions and cultures through events and comms, to educate others and better represent our M&S colleagues and customers.

Health and Wellbeing Network

Providing a safe space for colleagues with all types of health conditions or disabilities and supporting with business initiatives to ensure our stores are truly accessible for our customers.

LGBTQ+ Network

Proactively representing LGBTQ+ issues and opportunities to deliver a truly inclusive place to work and shop for our colleagues and customers.

Forces Community Network

Supporting colleagues connected to the Armed Forces, aiding their transition to civilian life, and ensuring that they thrive in the workplace.

Menopause Network

Initiating and encouraging open conversations about menopause by offering support and sharing experiences.

How to Apply

Here's what to expect at each stage of the application process. This can change depending on the role you've applied to. If you need any reasonable adjustments made at any stage, let us know and we can help.

Send us your application

Fill in our short application form and hit submit.

Online assessment

Depending on the role you are applying for, you may be invited to do an assessment. Your Talent Acquisition Partner will guide and inform you along the way.

Interview

We'll invite you to join us for an interview. This could be remote or in person. Here, we'll ask you some role based technical questions and examine the behaviours we're looking for.

Decision

After we've made our decision, we'll be in touch. If you've been successful, we'll officially invite you to join the team and let you know the next steps.

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