Lead Data Architect: Data Modelling - NESO

National Grid; Warwick; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading energy organization is looking for a Lead Data Modeler to oversee the enterprise data model. This role includes technical leadership and governance, ensuring the consistency across data systems. The successful candidate will possess extensive data modeling experience and strong leadership skills. A competitive salary range of £70,000 - £80,000, along with flexible working options and a bonus scheme, is offered.

Benefits

Bonus up to 15% of salary

28 days annual leave

Double matched pension contributions

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in building and governing enterprise data models.
• Knowledge of data governance principles and practices.
• Confident communicator for senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of enterprise data models.
• Ensure models reflect data lineage and support governance.
• Coach and mentor the data modeling team.

Skills

Enterprise data model governance

Semantic modelling

Data architecture standards

Cross-functional leadership

Master Data Management (MDM)

Education

Relevant degree in Data Science or IT

Tools

Sparx

Erwin

Job description

About the Role

National Energy System Operator (NESO) recognises the potential of bright and talented individuals, and we encourage you to join us as Great Britain’s energy system undergoes an ambitious, exciting, and vital transformation. Together with industry, we are creating a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.

NESO is undergoing a major Digital Transformation, and data modelling is a foundational capability in that journey. We are seeking a Lead Data Modeler to join our Strategy & Architecture function. This is a technical leadership role with ownership of the Enterprise Data Model, including conceptual, logical, and semantic models that define how NESO understands and structures its core information.

This role functions as both a lead modeler and a data architect, with significant influence over the direction of NESO’s semantic structure, data standards, and future data management capabilities. You will lead a team of data modelers and architects, establish modelling standards, and ensure consistency and interoperability across the enterprise data landscape.

You will develop enterprise-wide data structures, align data to business capabilities, and integrate semantic models such as ontologies and taxonomies based on industry standards.You will also help define the foundational structures and architecture that support Data Governance capabilities, contributing to NESO’s long-term data architecture strategy.

This role can be based from Wokingham or Warwick, and we continue to offer hybrid working from office and home. We are open to full time and part time applicants, as well as flexible working arrangements.

Key Accountabilities

• Own the Enterprise Data Model, including conceptual, logical, and semantic representations across all business domains.
• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of enterprise data models, ensuring alignment with business functions, processes, and integration needs.
• Define and enforce data architecture standards, conventions, and best practices across systems and teams.
• Design and implement ontologies and semantic models using RDF, OWL, RDFS, SKOS, and SHACL to enhance data meaning and interoperability.
• Lead the data modelling governance forum, reviewing modelling proposals, resolving design conflicts, and driving alignment between business and technical stakeholders.
• Provide technical direction and assurance, coaching to a team of data modelers and data architects.
• Ensure that models reflect and support enterprise-wide data lineage, including source-to-target mapping, transformation logic, and traceability across the data lifecycle.
• Contribute to identifying and maintaining authoritative data sources and golden records in collaboration with Data Governance and help lay the data modelling foundation for future Master Data Management (MDM) capabilities.
• Provide architectural input into the design and implementation of MDM and RDM platforms, ensuring alignment between data models and master data domains.
• Influence NESO’s data strategy by aligning models with core business capabilities, data products, and data quality frameworks.
• Work with delivery teams to ensure models are implemented effectively in data platforms, including analytics, integration, and reporting environments.
• Translate business needs into reusable model components that support operational, analytical, and AI/ML use cases.
• Stay current on developments in semantic standards, knowledge graphs, and modelling automation to inform NESO’s data strategy.
• Recommend and evaluate tools and platforms to support data modelling and semantic model development in line with Microsoft Azure ecosystem.
• Lead the evaluation and adoption of data modelling, graph databases, ontology tools and others, and defining selection criteria.

About You

We’re forging the path, and we know we can’t do it alone. That’s why we need visionary minds like yours to join us on this transformative journey. In this case, we’re looking for someone who:

• Is passionate about clarity, structure, and meaning in data, and have a vision for enterprise-wide consistency.
• Has extensive experience building and governing enterprise data models and ontologies that span domains, systems, and teams.
• Understands the importance of semantic modelling and can build ontologies and taxonomies that support interoperability and AI-readiness.
• Is skilled in leading cross-functional discussions to resolve differences in terminology, definition, and data interpretation.
• Is a confident communicator and facilitator, equally comfortable guiding technical modelers and architects and presenting to senior stakeholders.
• Understands how data models connect to metadata, data governance, and cataloguing practices.
• Has strong working knowledge of Master Data Management (MDM) concepts, including entity resolution, golden record modelling, and domain ownership—even if a formal MDM platform is not yet in place.
• Has architectural sensibility and can work at both detailed modelling and enterprise blueprint levels.
• Is a strong leader, capable of mentoring and growing a team of data architecture professionals.
• Has strong hands-on experience with enterprise-scale data modelling tools, eg. Sparx or Erwin

About What You\'ll Get

A competitive salary between £70,000 - £80,000pa – dependent on experience and capability.

As well as your base salary, you will receive a bonus of up to 15% of your salary for stretch performance, 28 days annual leave as standard, and a competitive contributory pension scheme where we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%.

As we work towards creating a cleaner, greener, and more affordable future for all, we also work towards creating a place for our teammates to belong, with professional and personal growth and positive well-being.

About Us

National Energy System Operator’s (NESO) mission is to facilitate the decarbonisation of Great Britain’s energy network and ensure the delivery of reliable, affordable, and clean electricity for consumers. We work with stakeholders across the whole energy industry to plan for future network needs, using a wider adoption of technology and changes in consumer behaviour, as well as ensuring we have the right markets, networks, and frameworks in place, to transform the way we operate tomorrow.

Join us, and let’s energise progress.

Our energy, our future, together.

In Autumn of 2024, the ESO transitioned to National Energy System Operator, or NESO for short. Previously denoted as the Future System Operator (or FSO), the new National Energy System Operator is the independent body responsible for planning Great Britain’s electricity and gas networks and operating the electricity system.

The ESO, including all of its existing roles, are now at the heart of the new National Energy System Operator. As NESO, we will build on our existing roles, capabilities, and ways of working significantly to create an organisation the energy system and its users’ need. Our new capabilities will enable us to look across vectors, including electricity, natural gas and hydrogen, and crucially consider the trade-offs between them.

The organisation is set up as a public corporation with its own Board of independent directors, with complete operational independence from government, the regulator and any and all commercial interest. As was the ESO, NESO will be licenced and regulated by Ofgem through price control agreements and obligated to identify optimal solutions to system operations and planning in the most sustainable, affordable and secure way for all.

More Information

This role closes on 07/09/2025 at 23:59, however we encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible and not wait until the published closing date as this can vary.

We work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office.

We\'re committed to building a workforce that represents the communities we serve, and a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.