AWS Data Architect
Location: London, UK
Work Arrangement: Hybrid - 3 days per week in the office
Industry: Banking & Financial Services (BFSI)
Experience: 10+ years
Employment Type: Contract / Permanent -Permanent/Fixed term
Day Rate / Salary: Competitive, based on experience
About The Role
We are seeking an experienced AWS Data Architect to design and deliver enterprise-scale, cloud-native data platforms for a leading client in the Banking and Financial Services sector.
The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in AWS data services, modern Lakehouse architectures, Apache Iceberg, Data Mesh, and data governance. You will play a key role in building secure, scalable, and well-governed data platforms that enable trusted data sharing, advanced analytics, and business-critical decision-making.
Key Responsibilities
- Design and implement enterprise-grade data lake and Lakehouse architectures using AWS-native services.
- Develop and implement Data Products aligned with Data Mesh and domain-driven architecture principles.
- Leverage Apache Iceberg, Amazon S3, AWS Glue, Amazon EMR, Athena, Redshift, and Apache Spark to build scalable data platforms.
- Architect and optimise batch, streaming, and real-time data ingestion and processing pipelines.
- Implement data governance, metadata management, data cataloguing, and data-sharing frameworks using AWS DataZone and AWS Lake Formation.
- Define data security, access controls, encryption, data lineage, and compliance standards for regulated financial environments.
- Establish robust ETL/ELT frameworks, data quality controls, observability, and monitoring solutions.
- Optimise data platform performance, scalability, reliability, and cost efficiency.
- Collaborate with business stakeholders, data engineers, and analytics teams to deliver reusable, high-quality data assets.
- Lead architectural reviews, technology assessments, and cloud data modernisation initiatives.
Required Skills And Experience
- 10+ years of experience in Data Architecture, Data Engineering, or Cloud Data Platform design.
- Strong hands-on expertise in Apache Iceberg, Amazon S3, AWS Glue, Amazon EMR, Amazon Athena, and Amazon Redshift.
- Proficiency in Apache Spark, including PySpark and/or Scala, and advanced SQL.
- Practical experience with AWS DataZone and AWS Lake Formation.
- Proven experience designing Data Products and implementing Data Mesh and Lakehouse architectures.
- Strong understanding of conceptual, logical, and physical data modelling.
- Experience with data governance, metadata management, data cataloguing, and lineage.
- Knowledge of batch processing, streaming, and event-driven data architectures.
- Experience with Infrastructure as Code, using Terraform or AWS CloudFormation, and CI/CD practices.
- Strong understanding of cloud security, data privacy, and regulatory compliance requirements.
Banking and Financial Services Experience
Experience working within the BFSI sector is essential, with exposure to one or more of the following areas:
- Payments and transaction processing
- Regulatory reporting
- Risk management and compliance
- Treasury and liquidity management
- Trading and capital markets
- Fraud detection and Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
- Customer analytics and Customer 360
- Financial data management and reconciliation
Preferred Qualifications
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional.
- AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty or equivalent expertise.
- Experience with Kafka, Amazon Kinesis, or other streaming technologies.
- Experience delivering large-scale AWS data platforms within complex enterprise environments.
- Familiarity with GDPR, financial services regulations, audit requirements, and data retention policies