Lead Data Architect

CompanyWomen in Data®

LocationLondon Area, United Kingdom

Posted At1/23/2026

UK Visa Sponsorship Analytics

Occupation Type

IT business analysts, architects and systems designers

Occupation Code Skill LevelHigher Skilled

Sponsorship Salary Threshold

£54,900 (£28.15 per hour)

Occupation rate applies

Above analytics are generated algorithmically based on job titles and may not always be the same as the company's job classification. You can also check detailed occupation eligibility, and salary criteria on our UK Visa Eligible Occupations & Salary Thresholds page.

Disclaimer: Hunt UK Visa Sponsors aggregates job listings from publicly available sources, such as search engines, to assist with your job hunting. We do not claim affiliation with Women in Data®. For the most up-to-date job details, please visit the official website by clicking "Apply Now."

Description

Apply before 11:55 pm on Thursday 5th February 2026

Location: Bristol, Coventry, Darlington, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield

Salary: up to £95,278

Job summary

Join the Department for Education as a Lead Data Architect and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of education and children’s social care through data-driven innovation. As a lead data architect, you will lead delivery of data flows and data models across a wide range of services, programmes and portfolios, mostly by leading others. You will drive forward data standards that align with the strategic direction for data in the DfE as a whole, linking across government wherever beneficial.

You will use your leadership, management and influencing skills to deliver changes to the data architecture of DfE services, that are critical to delivering education and children’s social care.

If you are successful, you will be working in the Enterprise Data for Insight Division where we deliver cutting edge data services across the school and children’s social care sectors. Our flagship data services cover different aspects of learner and children’s social care data, which are used to support: parental choice for school selection; performance tables; Ofsted assurance; schools, Local Authorities; researchers and the wider public.

Job description

As a Lead Data Architect, your main responsibilities will include:

Overseeing the design of multiple data models and having a broad understanding of how each model fulfils the needs of the organisation and links to the Enterprise Data Model.
Being accountable for supporting and aligning to the organisation’s data strategy.
Championing data architecture both internally and through collaborating and communicating at the most senior levels across government.
Setting the standards and ways of working for the data architecture community.
Being accountable for assuring data models at the level of a project or enterprise.
Providing advice to project teams and overseeing the management of the full data product life cycle.
Being responsible for ensuring that the organisation’s systems are designed in accordance with the enterprise data architecture.
Maintaining excellent relationships with Service Owners and Senior Responsible Officers, to understand their needs, helping solve strategic issues and seeking opportunities for enterprise-wide data transformation.

Setting and maintaining a robust framework for assuring data modelling within services, against patterns for relational schemas.

Ensuring that common entities and attributes are re-used wherever there is a direct conceptual correspondence.

Taking responsibility for the data architecture across a wide range of services, programmes and portfolios, including how they interact with up- and downstream data systems, as these evolve over time.

Providing leadership within the data architecture professional community, representing the profession on design forums and other senior management boards.

Holding data architecture professionals to account for delivering work that meets Government and DfE standards.

Designing, supporting and providing guidance for the development of data policies and standards.

Playing a leading role in the DfE architecture community, ensuring that knowledge of successful tools and techniques is shared and celebrated.

Helping to build a diverse, inclusive culture across the architecture community.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

Assessed in application and both interview stages:

Experience of providing technical leadership and guidance for data management, data quality and data governance across large complex organisations, at an Enterprise level, using agile methodologies.
Experience of data modelling, conceptual, logical and physical, including dimensional modelling.
Experience in data flow mapping and design for complex, data rich products and services.
Experience of architecting data lakehouse and data warehouse solutions to provide analytical and operational reporting solutions at scale.
Experience of working across a wide variety of database and data management tools and technologies.

Assessed in application and second interview stage:

The ability to build consensus between diverse and often conflicting interests, working with technical and non-technical stakeholders to achieve agreement on delivery plans.
The ability to look beyond immediate data problems and identify the wider implications.
Experience of developing data standards for large, complex organisations.

Desirable Criteria:

Experience using data modelling tools such as Erwin data modeller or equivalent.
Experience of mentoring and supporting colleagues in multi-disciplinary teams, one-to-one or in groups.
Ability to work with stakeholders to produce effective platform and workload selection to meet business needs.
Experience making decisions with a critical impact on organisational effectiveness or the external reputation of the organisation.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,854, Department for Education contributes £20,526 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

We are proud supporters of Women in Data. Connect, engage and belong to the largest free female data community in the UK – visit: www.womenindata.co.uk to join our community.

Stay connected! Follow us on LinkedIn for updates on career opportunities and more.