Data Architect – SC Cleared – £650/day (Remote)

About the role

We are seeking a Data Architect to join a major data modernisation programme within a complex central government environment. The role focuses on data retention and deletion, establishing governance, architecture and controls as the organisation moves its data estate to a modern cloud-based platform. The position is SC-cleared, remote-first with occasional travel to London.

Key responsibilities

• Define and maintain data architecture principles, standards and guardrails for data retention, deletion and lifecycle management.
• Support the development and implementation of global and local data-retention approaches across multiple products and data domains.
• Contribute to the alpha phase of the modernisation programme by qualifying use cases, validating requirements and testing architectural assumptions.
• Work with architecture and engineering teams to embed retention and deletion controls across the target data platform.
• Advise product and delivery teams on non-compliant datasets, required remediation and appropriate data-management practices.
• Lead engagement with technical, compliance, policy and operational stakeholders to resolve dependencies and drive decisions.
• Produce and review architecture documentation, data models, requirements, options papers and governance materials.
• Track risks, issues and decisions, ensuring data-management concerns are reported and escalated as needed.

Required profile

• Active SC clearance valid for the contract term.
• Proven experience as a Data Architect, Data Solutions Architect or Data Management Architect in a large or regulated organisation.
• Strong knowledge of data governance, retention, deletion, metadata, data lineage and lifecycle-management principles.
• Experience defining data architecture standards, controls and reusable patterns for cloud or enterprise data platforms.
• Ability to translate policy, compliance and business requirements into practical technical guardrails.
• Demonstrated stakeholder engagement across architecture, engineering, product, compliance and policy functions.

Required skills

• Databricks
• Medallion architecture
• Data modelling
• Data catalogues
• Master data management
• Informatica Axon
• Enterprise Data Catalog