Data Architect (8 Month FTC)

AND Digital Limited; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

26 days holiday

Innovation days

Volunteer days

Share scheme

Flexifund

More benefits

Job summary

AND Digital Limited seeks a hands-on Data Architect to define data strategy, architectural principles, guardrails and target architectures in a cloud-native environment. The role blends strategic leadership with deep technical execution across data modelling, distributed systems and engineering problem-solving.

You will work with engineering and product teams in a fast-paced agile setting, delivering secure, observable data flows and architecture decisions that support growth and regulatory

Qualifications

• Experience defining data strategy, architectural principles and guardrails.
• Deep expertise in microservices, domain-driven design and distributed systems.
• Hands-on experience with Kafka, Kinesis or equivalents for event streaming.
• Strong data modelling skills across relational, NoSQL, graph and lakehouse stores.
• Ability to architect data pipelines across APIs, streaming, CDC, batch and ETL/ELT.
• Leadership experience partnering with engineering and product teams in agile environments.
• Knowledge of data security, governance, and regulatory considerations.

Responsibilities

• Data Architecture & Strategy: Define and evolve data strategy, architecture principles, standards and target-state roadmaps, balancing scalability, resilience, security, cost and delivery speed.

Skills

Data Architecture

Cloud-native Systems

Event Streaming

Data Modelling

End-to-End Data Flows

Technical Leadership

Security & Resilience

AI-Assisted Engineering

Job description

Who We Are:

AND Digital are a tech company focused on accelerating digital delivery and dedicated to closing the digital skills gap. We’ve been helping organisations build better digital products and stronger digital teams since 2014.

We believe our work should always leave a legacy for the client. We do this through close relationships with our offices (or ‘Clubs’) so that our partners are always prioritised by a regional team close to them.

This unique model has driven success for our clients and ourselves, evidenced by our remarkable organic growth since 2014. Today we number more than 1,300 people with Clubs all over the UK and Europe with plans for global expansion in the next couple of years.

Join us - and help us fulfil our mission to close the world’s digital skills gap.

The role

A hands-on Data Architect responsible for defining data strategy, architectural principles, guardrails and target/transition architectures within a complex, cloud-native environment. Combines strategic leadership with deep technical expertise in data modelling, detailed design, distributed systems and engineering problem-solving.

Key Responsibilities & Skills

• Data Architecture & Strategy: Define and evolve data strategy, architecture principles, standards and target-state roadmaps, balancing scalability, resilience, security, cost and delivery speed.
• Cloud-Native & Distributed Systems: Deep expertise in microservices, domain-driven design (DDD), bounded contexts, data ownership, event-driven integration, eventual consistency and distributed transactions.
• Event Streaming: Hands-on experience designing and operating Kafka, Kinesis or equivalent platforms, including partitioning, ordering, event contracts, schema evolution, idempotency, replay, delivery guarantees, fault tolerance, security and operational support.
• Data Modelling & Storage: Strong data modelling skills and the ability to select appropriate data stores—including relational, NoSQL, graph, time-series, distributed SQL and lakehouse technologies—based on business and technical requirements.
• End-to-End Data Flows: Architect operational and analytical data pipelines across APIs, streaming, CDC, batch and ETL/ELT, embedding data quality, lineage, metadata, security, testing and observability throughout.
• Technical Leadership & Delivery: Work closely with engineering and product teams in fast-paced agile environments, making pragmatic trade-offs and establishing lightweight guardrails, automation and architecture decision records.
• Risk, Security & Resilience: Design secure, well-governed cloud data architectures that support sensitive data handling, operational resilience, traceable controls and regulatory obligations.
• AI-Assisted Engineering: Practical experimentation with AI-assisted architecture and engineering tools, understanding their benefits and limitations across research, modelling, coding, testing and documentation.

Desirable Experience

UK wealth management, financial services or fintech experience; candidates from other complex, regulated industries will also be considered.

Legacy modernisation experience involving Oracle, Sybase, ISAM storage and SFTP/file-based integration, including migration, coexistence, reconciliation, CDC and progressive decoupling.

Why join AND Digital?

We have three values: wonder, share, and delight. These values inform how we work with clients, and our culture: what it feels like to work for AND. We believe collaboration, ambition, curiosity and fun can drive innovation by creating a better environment for problem-solving.

By joining AND, we’ll provide:

• Opportunities to work on projects with big clients and the chance to produce meaningful work that makes a difference to people’s lives.
• A “Blended Working” model, meaning you will be able to work in a range of locations from; your home, in your clubhouse, on a client, as well as just a change of scenery.
• A dedicated career scrum team, designed to help you reach your career goals and develop the skills you need to be your best self.
• An annual budget for training and upskilling, including allocated days off so you don’t have to study in your own free time.
• Monthly and quarterly team socials - on us - ranging from after work drinks, to driving experience days with your fellow club members.
• A safe environment for you to be yourself and challenge yourself.

Benefits

• 26 days holiday allowance + bank holidays
• 13 days per year for innovation or upskilling
• 2 days per year for volunteering
• Share scheme
• A £1000 flexifund to use on a personalised list of benefits such Gym membership, Cycle to Work Scheme, Health, dental and optical cash plan
• PLUS many more

For a full list of benefits - click here

Equal Opportunities Statement

At AND Digital we embrace diversity and are committed to equal opportunities. We are actively recruiting for a diverse and inclusive workforce so want to ensure we do everything we can to support your application.

We want you to feel safe and empowered to let us know if you require any adjustments to be made to your application or interview process so please speak to our recruitment team.