Lead AWS Data Architect

New Exciting role for Title: Lead AWS Data Architect

Location: London (Hybrid- 2 days)

Job Type: Contract (6 Months+)

IR35 Status: Inside IR35

The Role

We are seeking a hands-on AWS Data Architect to design, build, and evolve a next-generation Payments Data Platform. You will play a critical role in ingesting ISO 20022 payment events into an AWS-based Lakehouse architecture, enabling high-quality, scalable, and governed data products.

This role combines architecture, engineering, and data product ownership, where you will drive end-to-end delivery across Customer Experience (CX), Payments, and CPO domains. You will be responsible for defining SLAs, managing backlogs, ensuring observability, and optimising cost and performance across the platform.

Your Profile

Essential Skills & Experience

• Strong experience in AWS Data Architecture, including S3, Glue, Athena, Redshift, Lambda, and Step Functions
• Deep expertise in streaming and event-driven systems, including Kafka (Confluent/MSK), Kinesis, and EventBridge
• Experience with schema management (Avro/Protobuf, Schema Registry, schema evolution strategies)
• Hands-on experience designing real-time and batch data pipelines, including CDC, partitioning, replay, and idempotency
• Strong understanding of payments domain and ISO 20022 standards (PAIN, PACS, CAMT, SWIFT/file-based systems)
• Proven experience implementing data governance frameworks (data ownership, quality SLAs, lineage, retention)
• Experience building observability and monitoring frameworks with actionable alerts and dashboards
• Strong software engineering practices, including CI/CD (GitLab/Jenkins), automated testing, and secure coding
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)

Data Architecture Fundamentals (Must-Have)

• Strong understanding of logical and physical data modelling, including ERDs, normalization (up to BCNF), and denormalization strategies
• Experience designing analytical and transactional data models (star schema, Data Vault, OLTP vs OLAP patterns)
• Knowledge of CQRS and event sourcing, including when to apply these patterns effectively
• Expertise in Event-Driven Architecture (EDA), including pub/sub, orchestration, idempotency, and delivery guarantees
• Strong grasp of domain-driven design principles, including bounded contexts, aggregates, and anti-corruption layers
• Experience defining and managing domain events and contracts, including versioning, replay, and schema evolution