Lead Architect - Data Engineering

Fractal; City Of London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology partner in London seeks an experienced Lead Architect in Data Engineering. You will design and implement data architectures, lead teams, and engage with stakeholders. The ideal candidate has advanced expertise in data platforms such as Azure and strong leadership skills. This role offers opportunities for growth in a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering.
• Proven experience in cloud-native data architectures and hybrid ecosystems.
• Ability to lead large teams and manage stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of data engineers and analysts.
• Design and build data architectures for enterprise data solutions.
• Drive end-to-end delivery of data projects.

Skills

Advanced proficiency in PySpark

Databricks

Azure Data Platform

Data mesh principles

Hands-on ETL frameworks

Leadership & mentoring

Stakeholder management

Technical proposal preparation

Tools

Azure Data Lake

Synapse

ETL frameworks

MLOps

Cloud platforms

Job description

It's fun to work in a company where people truly BELIEVE in what they are doing!

We're committed to bringing passion and customer focus to the business.

Lead Architect - Data Engineering

Fractal is a strategic AI partner to Fortune 500 companies with a vision to power every human decision in the enterprise. Fractal is building a world where individual choices, freedom, and diversity are the greatest assets. An ecosystem where human imagination is at the heart of every decision. Where no possibility is written off, only challenged to get better. We believe that a true Fractalite is the one who empowers imagination with intelligence. Fractal has been featured as a Great Place to Work by The Economic Times in partnership with the Great Place to Work Institute and recognized as a ‘Cool Vendor’ and a ‘Vendor to Watch’ by Gartner.

Fractal – Intelligence for Imagination.

Location: London

Core Technical Expertise

• Advanced proficiency in PySpark, Databricks, and Azure Data Platform (ADF, Azure Data Lake, Synapse, etc.).

• Strong hands-on experience with proprietary ETL frameworks (e.g., Mars’ Simpel) and ability to troubleshoot, optimize, and extend such platforms.

• Deep understanding of data engineering pipelines (batch & real-time), orchestration, and performance tuning.

• Experience in data mesh principles and building federated data product journeys (domain-driven design, ownership models, contracts, discoverability).

• Demonstrated ability to design, build, and scale data products across the enterprise value chain (Commercial, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing, Digital Commerce, etc.).

Architecture & Solutioning

• Expertise in designing enterprise-grade data architectures (ingestion, processing, storage, governance, access).

• Knowledge of data governance frameworks including metadata management, lineage, cataloguing, quality, and compliance.

• Experience in cloud-native data architectures and hybrid data ecosystems (on-prem to cloud migration, modernization).

• Ability to evaluate build vs. buy trade-offs and incorporate accelerators/frameworks (e.g., Morpheus).

Leadership & Delivery

• Proven track record of leading and mentoring 10+ member data teams (engineers, analysts, architects).

• Strong stakeholder management – ability to engage senior business/technology leaders and influence decision-making.

• Experience in large-scale transformation programs within multi-vendor ecosystems.

• Ability to drive end-to-end delivery from discovery, design, estimation, execution, and handover.

Consulting & Business Orientation

• Exposure to data monetization and value realization frameworks – linking architecture choices to business outcomes.

• Skilled in preparing technical proposals, solution approaches, and estimations for RFPs/RFIs.

• Ability to simplify technical narratives into executive-ready presentations for CDOs/VPs.

Good to Have Skills

• Understanding of AI/ML workflows (feature store, model serving, MLOps).

• Awareness of Agentic AI and next-gen AI/LLM architectures.

• Familiarity with other cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, etc.).

• Experience in multi-cloud interoperability and cost optimization.

• Exposure to domain-specific data products in CPG/Retail/Energy verticals.

• Familiarity with modern data contract tools (NextData, DataHub, Collibra, dbt, etc.).

• Soft Skills & Leadership Traits

• Strong problem-solving and systems thinking – ability to untangle complex technical and business challenges.

• Excellent communication skills – equally comfortable in deep technical discussions and executive-level strategy conversations.

• Collaborative leadership style – enabling cross-functional, multi-vendor teams to deliver at speed.

• Demonstrated ability to build credibility quickly with global stakeholders (US, EU, UK, APAC).

• Change agent mindset – driving modernization while respecting legacy complexities.

If you like wild growth and working with happy, enthusiastic over-achievers, you'll enjoy your career with us!

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