Principal Data Architect – IBCA Data Platform
| Posting date: | 08 May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £67,126 to £71,795 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 21 May 2025 |
| Location: | Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 404680/1 |
Summary
This role will lead our data platform architecture and modelling team within the Data Operations arm of the IBCA Data Directorate.
The Data Operations team is responsible for developing and running safe and secure data solutions that provide a single source of truth for those going through their compensation journey. They are designing and building a new data platform using Amazon Web Services (AWS) and data management and intelligence products using Databricks and Quantexa.
We are taking a product-centric approach treating data as a product and are building squads around our products, with a focus on paying compensation to those impacted by the infected blood scandal seamlessly.
You will focus on designing scalable and flexible data solutions for data management processes (including data integration and master data management), ensuring data quality, and driving a culture of problem statement driven design.
Working at IBCA gives you a huge opportunity to make an impact on those who deserve compensation, and this role suits a candidate who can spearhead solutions from the ground up to take from ideation to reality so that data is an enabler to everything IBCA does.
As the Principal Data Architect for our data platform and products, you’ll be critical to delivering data architecture and modelling capabilities. You will mature the quality of our data architecture practices and should be committed to delivering high-impact, secure data solutions to achieve IBCA’s objectives.
This post is within a data delivery setting, especially one focused on AWS, Quantexa and Databricks.
You will:
- set the direction for data architecture and infrastructure and provide technical guidance for the development of designs for the data platform including integration and master data management encompassing secure by design principles
- ensure designs are scalable, secure and efficient
- lead efforts to integrate data from various sources of varying fidelity, ensuring data consistency, accuracy, and quality, and support the development and maintenance of these processes
- be responsible for the design and implementation of logical and physical data models, and the development of data standards and data management policies
- be responsible for ensuring we have the right data architecture teams in place across the data platform and its products and will collaborate with data delivery managers and wider digital service delivery teams to make sure data architecture practices are embedded consistently and to industry standard best practices
- help the data architecture practices thrive, you will call on your expertise in emerging data management approaches including on data centralisation and apply these to help the organisation deliver success
- develop our internal data architecture capability by developing L&D routeways, shaping careers paths and recruiting talent to the organisation
- provide leadership and guidance to a team of data architects and modellers, further developing your own data architecture, delivery management and leadership skills
- work with business stakeholders and across digital service teams, understanding their needs and translating them into high- and low-level architecture designs
- work with industry partners to leverage the best of new and emerging tools and approaches
Main Responsibilities:
- Strategic Planning: Develop and execute the data architecture and modelling strategy, aligning with business goals and data needs.
- Team Leadership: Use your expertise to build and maintain excellence in data architecture capabilities by building, leading, and mentoring a team of data architects and modellers, fostering a collaborative and high-performing environment.
- Data Solution Design: Design and model robust, scalable, efficient and cost-effective data solutions for data ingestion, transformation, and storage – and be the assurer of designs at architecture review boards such as Technical Design Authority.
- Data Quality: Ensure data quality and integrity across the data platform.
- Data Governance: Prescribe the level of data governance required, taking responsibility for assurance and make recommendations to ensure compliance with legal, regulatory and security standards.
- Collaboration: Work closely with business teams to understand data requirements and recommend design choices and provide technical expertise; and partner with senior leaders to provide assurance on solutions as they transition between design, implementation and live.
- Supplier Management & Oversight: Manage supplier relationships by setting performance standards, negotiating contracts, and ensuring high-quality outcomes.
- Capability Building: Make the data architecture practices thrive by exploiting new and emerging tools/approaches and using these to help the organisation deliver better services.
Opportunities to move to the new Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA).
At the moment all IBCA roles are hosted by Cabinet Office within the Civil Service. However, once IBCA becomes operational, it is anticipated that most of these roles will transfer to IBCA, which is a new Arms Length Body (ALB) separate from the Cabinet Office. Roles that transfer to IBCA from Cabinet Office will maintain the same or substantially the same terms and conditions of employment that are overall no less favourable. It is anticipated that employees who move from Cabinet Office to IBCA will be able to continue to participate in the Civil Service Pension arrangements with no break in their pensionable service. Roles commencing after IBCA has become operational will be with IBCA itself on similar terms and conditions. All successful candidates will receive full details of the terms and conditions of employment for their role with their formal job offer.
Please note that the mission of IBCA means that it is likely to be operational for a period of approximately 5 to 7 years. When IBCA’s work begins to wind down, IBCA employees will receive support and practical guidance to find a new role, whether in the Civil Service, another Arms Length Body (ALB), or an external employer.
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