Lead Data Architect

Overview

As Lead Data Architect at QinetiQ, you own the Data Fabric architecture and steer its evolution across secure environments. You set technical direction and provide hands-on leadership to a team of Data Fabric Engineers and Data Analysts to ensure a secure, scalable, and operable platform. You define roadmaps, standards, and governance, balancing strategy with delivery. You’ll drive data integration, quality, and lineage to unlock AI capabilities while supporting mission-critical projects. This role offers impact through shaping data foundations for secure, cross-domain use.

Pay / Benefits

• Matched contribution pension scheme with life assurance
• Generous holiday allowance with option to purchase
• Health Cash Plan, Private Medical Insurance and Dental Insurance
• Employee discount portal and travel/entertainment perks
• Armed Forces Covenant support and Defence Employer Recognition Scheme
• Volunteering opportunities

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end Data Fabric architecture including integration, processing, storage, metadata/lineage, governance and consumption patterns
• Define and maintain architecture roadmap with near-, mid-, and long-term deployment plans
• Lead architecture for data integration and interoperability (connectors, event-driven patterns, APIs, contracts)
• Translate architectural intent into reference architectures, patterns and guardrails for repeatable delivery
• Establish architecture governance and assurance; lead data modelling across conceptual, logical and physical levels
• Support downstream use with analytical models and governance across data quality, stewardship and lifecycle management

Key requirements

• Extensive experience in data architecture and/or data platform engineering on complex programmes
• Proven track record of owning and evolving an established architecture with roadmaps, standards, patterns and governance
• Strong knowledge of on-prem, cloud and hybrid platforms; expertise in data governance, metadata, lineage, quality, stewardship and lifecycle management
• Experience designing and governing architectures for constrained or mission environments, including edge deployments and contested connectivity
• Proven experience leading engineers with clear technical direction and mentoring in a multidisciplinary environment
• Ability to explain complex architecture to senior stakeholders with excellent written and verbal communication skills

• excellent written and verbal communication
• mentoring and leadership
• stakeholder engagement
• Data Fabric architecture
• data governance, metadata and lineage
• data quality and lifecycle management

…