Data Architect

Howden Group Holdings; London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job description

Who are we?

Howden is a collective – a group of talented and passionate people all around the world. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 18,000 employees spanning over 100 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

Job Title: Data Architect

Location: London/Hybrid
Job Type: Full-time

Job Summary

Are you passionate about designing scalable, high-performance data architectures on Azure and Databricks? Do you thrive on solving complex data challenges, integrating modern data platforms, and defining best practices for enterprise data management?

We are looking for a Data Architect to lead the design and implementation of cutting-edge data solutions in a cloud-native environment. You will play a key role in shaping data strategy, designing high-level and low-level architectures, and ensuring the seamless integration of data management tools. If you enjoy working with big data technologies, governance frameworks, and modern analytics platforms, this role is for you!

Key Responsibilities

1. Design and architect scalable, secure, and cost-effective Azure Databricks solutions for business and analytical workloads.

2. Translate business requirements into high-level and low-level solution designs, ensuring alignment with best practices.

3. Define and implement enterprise data governance, security, and compliance strategies.

4. Lead the integration of core data management capabilities, including:

   1. Master Data Management (MDM) solutions for single-source-of-truth data

   2. Data catalogue tools for metadata management and discovery

   3. Data governance frameworks for policy enforcement, compliance, and lineage tracking

   4. Data quality solutions to ensure data accuracy, consistency, and reliability

5. Provide architectural leadership on hub-and-spoke data architectures, optimising for performance, scalability, and security.

6. Collaborate with business stakeholders, data engineers, and analytics teams to ensure solutions are fit for purpose.

7. Implement and optimise Databricks Delta Lake, Medallion Architecture, and Lakehouse patterns for structured and semi-structured data.

8. Ensure best practices in Azure networking, security, and federated data access.

Key Skills & Experience

1. 5+ years of experience in data architecture, solution architecture, or cloud data engineering roles.

2. Strong expertise in Azure data services, including:

   1. Azure Databricks (Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, MLflow)

   2. Azure Event Hub and Azure Data Explorer for real-time and streaming data pipelines

   3. Azure Storage (ADLS Gen2, Blob Storage) for scalable data lakes

   4. Azure Purview or equivalent for data governance and lineage tracking

3. Experience with data integration, MDM, governance, and data quality tools.

4. Hands-on experience with Apache Spark, Python, SQL, and Scala for data processing.

5. Strong understanding of Azure networking, security, and IAM, including Azure Private Link, VNETs, Managed Identities, and RBAC.

6. Deep knowledge of enterprise-scale data architecture patterns, including Lakehouse, Medallion Architecture, and hub-and-spoke models.

7. Strong problem-solving skills and ability to design scalable, cost-optimised solutions.

8. Excellent communication skills to engage with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Certifications (Nice to Have)

1. Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

2. Databricks Certified Data Engineer or Solution Architect

If you're excited about shaping the future of enterprise data architecture, we’d love to hear from you!

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

1. Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new

2. We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges

3. We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.