Lead Data Architect

Contract: 6 months initial engagement

IR35: Outside IR35

Rate: DOE

Location: Manchester 2x a week (Hybrid)

The Role

We're looking for a Lead Data Architect to design and drive a modern, cloud-native data landscape that underpins large-scale transformation. This role blends strategy with hands-on delivery, ensuring platforms, pipelines, and governance frameworks are robust enough to power AI adoption, customer innovation, and enterprise-wide decision making.

You'll shape the future state architecture, modernise the current estate, and establish best practices that enable data-driven growth at pace.

Key Focus

• Data leadership - Define and build a data architecture that is primed for AI (Vertex AI)
• Architecture leadership - Define and evolve enterprise-wide data models, pipelines, and integration patterns; ensure scalability, security, and performance.
• Cloud platform strategy - Lead the design and optimisation of GCP-based data platforms, driving efficiency, cost control, and future-readiness.
• Governance & compliance - Embed frameworks for data quality, security, and ethical AI enablement.
• Collaboration & influence - Partner with engineering, analytics, and business stakeholders, ensuring architecture aligns to strategic goals.
• Innovation & mentoring - Champion modern approaches, introduce emerging tech, and guide data teams in best practices.

About You

• Strong track record in cloud-native data architecture with deep GCP expertise (BigQuery, Dataform, GCS, Vertex AI).
• Experience designing and implementing complex data ecosystems across pipelines, storage, and integration.
• Skilled in simplifying and modernising architectures while balancing innovation, cost, and governance.
• Confident engaging senior stakeholders and influencing technical direction across global organisations.
• Retail or consumer sector experience preferred; private sector experience essential.
• Knowledge of security, FinOps, and emerging data/AI technologies.

This role is ideal for an architect who can combine strategic vision with hands-on technical leadership , enabling global teams to unlock the full value of data and AI.