Senior Data Architect

Aberdeen Standard Investments; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading investment firm in Edinburgh seeks a Senior Data Architect to design strategic data solutions that enhance cost-efficiency and innovation. The ideal candidate will have expertise in cloud-based data platforms and architectures. Responsibilities include evolving data product strategies and architecting solutions across diverse technologies. The firm offers a competitive benefits package, including generous leave and flexible work arrangements.

Benefits

40 days’ annual leave

16% employer pension contribution

Private healthcare

Gym discounts

Season ticket loans

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of cloud-based data platforms and supporting technologies.
• Proven experience in data architecture approaches.
• Ability to work autonomously and drive results.

Responsibilities

• Design and oversee strategic data solutions for cost-efficiency.
• Own and evolve the Data Product strategy for Corporate Technology.
• Architect solutions across disparate technologies.

Skills

Cloud-based data platforms

Data architecture approaches

Autonomy

Education

Architecture Certification (TOGAF or BCS)

Tools

Azure

Snowflake

ETL

Job description

Job Description

At Aberdeen, our ambition is to be the UK’s leading Wealth & Investments group.

Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry’s best talent.

Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders, and society.

We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service, supported by leading technology and talent.

Aberdeen comprises three businesses, interactive investor (ii), Investments, and Adviser, each of which focuses on meeting and adapting to our clients’ evolving needs:

• interactive investor, the UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, enables individuals in the UK to plan, save, and invest in the way that works for them.

• Our Adviser business provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers, enabling them to create value for their customers.

• Our Investments business is a specialist asset manager that focuses on areas where we have both strength and scale to capitalise on the key themes shaping the market, through either public markets or alternative asset classes.

About the Department

You’ll join our Corporate Technology Office, which underpins Aberdeen’s success by delivering modern, efficient, and innovative technology solutions. This team supports Corporate Functions—Finance, HR, Risk, Legal, Audit & Sustainability—helping them achieve strategic goals.

About the Role

As a Senior Data Architect, you’ll play a key role in evolving our data technology landscape. You’ll design and oversee strategic data solutions that deliver cost-efficiency, modernisation, and innovation at pace, ensuring data is structured to support business goals and enable efficient analysis and decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Understand Corporate Functions and their contribution to Aberdeen’s goals.

• Own and evolve the Data Product strategy for Corporate Technology, creating reusable data products for wider business use.

• Collaborate with Data Enablement and Data Platform teams to align principles and patterns.

• Design data integration solutions for cohesive use of internal and external systems.

• Create conceptual and logical data models; work with analysts and engineers to implement physical solutions.

• Architect solutions across disparate technologies to meet complex requirements.

• Communicate technical concepts clearly to varied stakeholders; challenge and build consensus.

• Perform technology and data impact assessments, including risk and cost estimation.

• Deliver design artefacts aligned with best practices and governance requirements.

• Guide delivery and operation of solutions to balance risk and deliver agreed value.

About the Candidate

• Architecture Certification (TOGAF or BCS) desirable.

• Strong understanding of cloud-based data platforms (Azure, Fabric, Snowflake) and supporting technologies (ETL, dbt, APIs, Azure Data Pipelines, Purview, IAM tools).

• Proven experience in data architecture approaches (Data Vault, Data Lake medallion, Data Mart/Warehouse, Lakehouse).

• Ability to work autonomously and drive results.

• Experience in Financial Services or other highly regulated industries.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefits here.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients’ changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.

An inclusive way of working

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we’d like to hear from you.

At Aberdeen we’ve adopted a ‘blended working’ approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone. If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.