Principal Data Solution Architect

Salary: £70,000 - 110,000 per year

Requirements:

• Deep knowledge of Fabric architecture, governance, OneLake, Real-Time Intelligence, Data Engineering, Warehousing, and Power BI integration
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders, programme sponsors, and project boards
• Ability to communicate technical decisions to non-technical executives and secure agreement on technical direction
• Deep knowledge of the Azure data stack, including Azure SQL Server, CosmosDB, Azure Data Factory, Purview, Synapse, Event Hub, and Azure Databricks/Fabric
• Extensive data modelling experience, including normalised relational models and denormalised star schema/dimensional models
• Excellent relational database design skills, with expertise in diagnosing and optimising performance across SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and cloud databases
• Proven track record with complex data migration projects, including terabyte-plus datasets, multiple legacy source systems, and structured and unstructured data
• Proficiency with Parquet/Delta Lake or other modern data storage formats
• Experience with streaming architectures using Kafka, Event Hubs, or Kinesis for real-time data processing
• Knowledge of data architectures supporting AI/ML workloads, including vector databases, feature stores, and MLOps pipelines
• Experience processing and managing unstructured data types such as text, images, logs, and sensor data
• Understanding of Lambda and Kappa architectural patterns and when to apply each
• UKSV clearance is required, with Security Check as the minimum standard, either already held or with a willingness to undergo the process
• Completion of Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) as part of onboarding
• Ability to travel to client sites and our offices in London and Sheffield
• Relevant industry certifications such as TOGAF 9, CDMP, or Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) are desirable

Responsibilities:

• Act as the senior technical authority for the programme, defining technical direction, priorities, standards, and decision-making
• Create and maintain the Data Transformation Programme roadmap and ensure all workstreams align to the target architecture and business objectives
• Set priorities, guide technical workstreams, identify low-value activities, and redirect effort towards programme outcomes
• Uplift the capability of the existing team by mentoring architects and engineers, establishing good engineering practices, and developing Fabric knowledge across our team 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 and govern 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, explain how decisions were reached, and resolve technical disputes across varying levels of complexity and risk
• Communicate complex technical information clearly across organisational, technical, and political boundaries for non-technical audiences
• Design how to expose data from systems through APIs and real-time streams, link data from multiple systems, and deliver modern data services
• Ensure deployment risks 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 client needs

Technologies:

• AI
• Lambda
• Architect
• Azure
• Cloud
• Databricks
• Fabric
• Kafka
• MLOps
• PostgreSQL
• Power BI
• SQL
• Security
• TOGAF
• DevOps
• Support

More:

Methods is a 100M+ IT Services Consultancy with over 30 years of experience, working with central government departments and agencies to transform public sector operations in the UK. We apply transformation, delivery, and collaboration skills from across the Methods Group to create people-centred, safe, future-focused business and technical solutions. Our human touch, collaborative culture, and commitment to ethics, privacy, quality, and sustainability set us apart. We are now building a significant private sector client portfolio and were acquired by the Alten Group in early 2022, a global engineering firm with approximately 57,000 employees. This permanent Principal Data Solution Architect role sits within our Delivery team and is mainly remote, with flexibility to travel to client sites and our offices in London and Sheffield. We offer a supportive, collaborative environment, autonomy to develop your skills, exciting project work that makes a difference in society, and benefits including LinkedIn Learning, a management development programme, training, an employee assistance programme, 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays with the option to buy 10 extra days, 2 paid volunteering days, pension salary exchange, life assurance, private medical insurance, and worldwide travel insurance.

last updated 36 week of 2026