Solution Architect, Data (Gcp / Aws)

Hedgehog Lab; Manchester; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Hedgehog Lab is seeking a Solution Architect, Data to lead the data architecture for a high-volume online marketplace. You will own the GCP data stack (BigQuery, DBT, Data Stream) and guide the migration toward AWS, with an emphasis on cost-efficient models and self-service reporting.

You’ll shape strategy where none exists, drive architectural decisions, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver a scalable data platform in a fast-paced scale-up environment.

Qualifications

• Senior data architecture experience on large-scale platforms.
• Deep hands‑on knowledge of GCP data tooling: BigQuery, DBT, and pipeline tooling such as Data Stream.
• Comfortable across GCP and AWS, able to optimise the current estate while architecting toward the AWS target state.
• Design and optimise data models with consumption cost in mind.

Responsibilities

• Own the data architecture for a high-volume online marketplace.
• Optimise data models to cut BigQuery costs and prepare for AWS migration.
• Shape data strategy and bring together fragmented data teams under technical leadership.
• Support self-service reporting and analytics through scalable data pipelines.

Skills

Senior data architecture

Strategic thinking

Data modeling

Cost optimization

Tools

BigQuery

DBT

Data Stream

Looker

AWS

Job description

Solution Architect, Data (GCP / AWS)

Location and basis

Contract, outside IR35. Starting as soon as possible.

While there's no set number of days you're required on site, there may be times when the client needs the team together in person for important meetings, workshops and key moments. When that's the case, we'd expect you to attend.

The engagement

You'll own the data architecture for a high-volume online marketplace, part-way through a major, multi-year technology transformation.

The current stack runs on Google Cloud Platform: BigQuery for storage and consumption, DBT for transformations, and Data Stream. Reporting is on Looker today, and moving the business toward a self-service reporting model is a core goal.

There's real architecture work in front of you. The business doesn't yet have a defined data strategy, and BigQuery consumption costs are climbing, so optimising data models and building in cost management is a live priority, not a future one.

The wider platform is migrating to AWS, and the data estate moves with it. The near-term focus is the current GCP stack, optimising models and cutting BigQuery cost, but you'll be architecting toward the AWS target state from the start rather than just maintaining what exists.

You'll also shape structural change. The data team currently sits under Finance and is fragmented, with a plan to bring it under technical leadership, and data scientists are being introduced on the seller side to support seller attraction and analytics. A larger data transformation is expected further down the line.

The platform

This is a genuinely large-scale marketplace. Very few platforms handle a product catalogue or transaction volume at this level.

The roadmap includes agentic AI workflows built into the platform, retail media integrated directly into the marketplace, and infrastructure work targeting cost and performance at high volume.

A lot of this is being attempted at volumes that have rarely been tested in a marketplace before, so the work leans research-led rather than routine.

Who this suits

This is a fast-paced scale-up environment on a complex platform.

You'll do well here if you think strategically rather than transactionally, and you're comfortable defining direction where none exists yet.

What we need

The essentials:

• Senior data architecture experience on large-scale platforms
• Deep hands‑on knowledge of GCP data tooling: BigQuery, DBT, and pipeline tooling such as Data Stream
• Comfortable across GCP and AWS, able to optimise the current estate while architecting toward the AWS target state
• You can design and optimise data models with consumption cost in mind
• Experience building toward self-service reporting and analytics
• You can set data strategy, not just implement against one
• Comfortable working in English, written and spoken

Nice to have

• Experience moving reporting off Looker or running a BI tooling transition
• Experience migrating a data platform from GCP to AWS, or between major cloud providers
• Exposure to embedding data science within product or commercial teams
• Experience planning a larger data transformation programme