Data Architect

Data Architect - SC Cleared

£550 p/d Outside IR35

Remote, occasional London travel

October Start - 6 months, extension expected

We are recruiting a Data Architect to support a major data modernisation programme within a complex central government environment. The role will focus on data retention and deletion, helping establish the governance, architecture and controls required as the organisation transitions its data estate to a modern cloud-based platform. This position combines data architecture and management expertise with extensive stakeholder engagement across technical, operational, policy and compliance teams.

Role responsibilities

Define and maintain data architecture principles, standards and guardrails covering 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 a data estate modernisation programme, qualifying use cases, validating requirements and testing architectural assumptions.

Work with architecture and engineering teams to embed retention and deletion controls across different layers of 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 progress decisions.

Produce and review architecture documentation, data models, requirements, options papers and materials for governance forums.

Track risks, issues and decisions, ensuring data-management concerns are clearly reported and escalated where required.

Key experience and requirements

Active SC clearance, with sufficient validity to support the initial contract term.

Experience working as a Data Architect, Data Solutions Architect or Data Management Architect within 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 enter...