Principal Data Solution Architect

• Methods is recruiting for a Data Architect with deep knowledge of Fabric architecture to join our team a permanent basis
• This role will be mainly remote but require flexibility to travel to client sites, and our offices based in London, Sheffield
• Be the senior technical authority for the programme, responsible for defining technical direction, priorities, standards and decision-making
• Be accountable for creating and maintaining the Data Transformation Programme roadmap and ensuring all workstreams align to the target architecture and business objectives
• Setting priorities
• Guiding technical workstreams
• Identifying incorrect or low-value activities
• Redirecting effort towards programme outcomes
• Uplift the capability of the existing team
• Mentor architects and engineers
• Establish good engineering practices
• Develop Fabric knowledge within both Methods and the customer team
• Chair or lead: Architecture reviews. Design authorities, Technical governance forums and Data platform standards reviews
• Advocate the business benefit of data standards, championing and governing those standards across projects and the organisation
• Demonstrate an overall perspective on business issues and activities, determining patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements
• Make and guide effective decisions, explaining clearly how decisions have been reached and resolving technical disputes across varying levels of complexity and risk
• Communicate effectively across organisational, technical and political boundaries, making complex technical information accessible for non-technical audiences
• Design how to expose data from systems (APIs, real-time streams), link data from multiple systems, and deliver modern data services
• Ensure that risks associated with deployment are adequately understood and documented
• Design end-to-end data solutions from requirements through implementation, including technical documentation and architecture blueprints
• Lead complex data migration projects from legacy systems to modern cloud-native platforms
• Evaluate and recommend appropriate technologies across the modern data stack to meet specific client needs
• Enable transformative business decisions through robust, scalable data architectures
• Drive adoption of modern data platforms and AI-enabled analytics solutions
• Establish technical standards and architectural patterns that ensure quality, security, and maintainability
• Help cultivate a data-driven culture within client organisations and internally
• Deliver architectures that seamlessly integrate traditional and modern data systems

Benefits

• Autonomy to develop and grow your skills and experience
• Be part of exciting project work that is making a difference in society
• Strong, inspiring and thought-provoking leadership
• A supportive and collaborative environment
• Development access to LinkedIn Learning, a management development programme and training
• Wellness 24/7 Confidential employee assistance programme
• Social - Breakfast Tuesdays, Pizza Thursday monthly, weekly social in the office and commitment to charitable causes
• Time off 25 days a year
• Pension Salary Exchange Scheme with 4% employer contribution and 5% employee contribution
• Discretionary Company Bonus based on company and individual performance
• Life Assurance of 4 times base salary
• Private Medical Insurance which is non-contributory (spouse and dependants included)
• Worldwide Travel Insurance which is non-contributory (spouse and dependants included)
• Benefits Platform offering various retail and leisure discounts

• Proficiency with Parquet/Delta Lake or other modern data storage formats
• Excellent relational database design skills with expertise in diagnosing and optimising performance across SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and cloud databases
• Ability to communicate technical decisions to non-technical executives and secure agreement on technical direction
• Experience processing and managing unstructured data types (text, images, logs, sensor data)
• Deep knowledge of the Azure data stack (Azure SQL Server, CosmosDB, Azure Data Factory, Purview, Synapse, Event Hub, Azure Databricks/Fabric)
• Knowledge of data architectures supporting AI/ML workloads, including vector databases, feature stores and MLOps pipelines
• Understanding of Lambda and Kappa architectural patterns and when to apply each
• Extensive data modelling experience: both normalised relational models and de-normalised Star Schema/dimensional models
• Experience with streaming architectures using Kafka, Event Hubs, or Kinesis for real-time data processing
• Deep knowledge of Fabric architecture, governance, OneLake, Real-Time Intelligence, Data Engineering, Warehousing and Power BI integration
• Capability to influence senior stakeholders, programme sponsors and project boards
• Proven track record with complex data migration projects (terabyte+ datasets, multiple legacy source systems, structures and unstructured data)
• Exposure to high-performing, low latency or large volume data systems
• Knowledge of and/or experience with Government Digital Service practices across Discovery/Alpha/Beta/Live phases
• Understanding of vector databases and similarity search for AI applications
• Knowledge of how to design and analyse operational logs for data processing, and triage incidents
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code and modern DevOps practices
• Awareness of advances in AI technologies, data services, and architectural practices
• Public sector or defence experience
• Industry specialisation in specific sectors (Engineering, Manufacturing, Healthcare etc.)
• Relevant industry certifications such as TOGAF 9, CDMP (Certified Data Management Professional), or Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)
• Understanding of data mesh or data fabric architectural approaches
• UKSV (United Kingdom Security Vetting) clearance is required for this role, with Security Check (SC) as the minimum standard, either already held or with a willingness to undergo the process. As part of the onboarding process candidates will be asked to complete a Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)