Principal Data Architect

Civica helps organisations that deliver essential everyday services to rapidly transform their customer experience, improve operational efficiency and enhance performance through deeper business insight and scalable cloud platforms.

Our clients are looking to their data for the insight they need to reduce costs and to improve outcomes. As a result, demand for our Data Consulting skills is growing and we’re looking to recruit more consultants in this area.

The Data Management team is part of our Consultancy Services Group, which has over 65 professionals. The group helps clients with all aspects Digital Transformation from developing their digital and data strategies, through designing and implementing data-centric solutions to supporting business change.

Our projects are varied and include:

• Defining Data Strategies to enable our clients to realise their vision
• Building business cases to unlock investment in data management
• Architecting and guiding the implementation of data platforms
• Developing data management target operating models, architectures and roadmaps Performing data management maturity assessments
• Data management and analytics technology assessment and selection
• Establishing effective frameworks for data governance, master data management and data quality
• Regulatory compliance assessments, including data protection
• Defining data migration strategies and implementing data migrations

Key Responsibilities for the Principal Data Architect role

• Lead teams to develop high-level architectures for data-centric business solutions such as insight/analytics solutions or single-view (master data management) solutions
• Work independently or lead teams to understand and model data landscapes and produce an Enterprise Data Model
• Provide oversight and advice to other data architects who are designing and producing data artefacts
• Work independently or lead teams to implement and populate business glossaries, data catalogues and meta-data repositories
• Work independently or as part of a team to recommend appropriate approaches and frameworks for data governance, master data management and data
• Supporting the development of client bids and presentations of proposals
• Develop trusted relationships with clients to generate further sales opportunities for self and others
•  

Essential Skills

Proven expertise in the following areas:

• Communication skills (data). You can listen to the needs of technical and business stakeholders, and interpret them. You can effectively manage stakeholder expectations. You can manage active and reactive communication. You can support or host difficult discussions within the team or with diverse senior stakeholders.
• Strategic thinking (data architecture). You can define strategies and policies, providing guidance to others on working in the strategic context. You can evaluate current strategies to ensure business requirements are being met and exceeded where possible.
• Turning business problems into data design. You can design data architecture that deals with problems spanning different business areas. You can identify links between problems to devise common solutions. You can work across multiple subject areas, or a single large or complicated subject area.
• Data innovation. You can understand the impact on the organisation of emerging trends in data tools, analysis techniques and data usage.
• Data modelling. You can produce relevant data models across multiple subject areas. You can explain which models to use for which purpose. You can understand industry-recognised data modelling patterns and standards, and when to apply them. You can compare and align different data models.
• Data standards. You can develop and set data standards for an organisation. You can communicate the business benefit of data standards, championing and governing them across the organisation. You can understand where standards need to be set across an organisation, and how to set the standards within an organisation in the wider context of government.
• Metadata management. You can design an appropriate metadata repository and present changes to existing metadata repositories. You can understand a range of tools for storing and working with metadata. You can provide oversight and advice to more inexperienced members of the team.
• Problem management (data architecture). You can ensure that the right actions are taken to investigate, resolve and anticipate problems. You can co-ordinate the team to investigate problems, implement solutions and take preventive measures.
• Data governance. You can evolve and define data governance. You can take responsibility for supporting and collaborating around wider governance. You can assure and integrate data services to meet the needs of multiple business services. You can work proactively to ensure the organisation designs architecture that considers data.

Desirable Skills

Proven expertise in any of the following areas:

• Architecture frameworks, modelling languages (e.g. ArchiMate) and architecture/data modelling tools
• Enterprise and Business Architecture
• Information and Data Strategy
• Business Case Development for Data Management Initiatives
• Data Management Frameworks and Assessments
• Data Migration Strategy & Implementation Planning
• Business Change Management
• Data Protection Legislation and Regulations
• Technology Options Appraisal
• Experience of working with Central or Local Government

Person specification - Essential

• Strong client focus, committed to providing high-quality services and solutions
• Relates well to others, effective at relationship and stakeholder management
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with impact and clarity
• Works well when part of a team pursuing a common goal
• Adaptable to changing business and client needs, positively using any feedback that may be provided
• Proactive in seeking new business opportunities for self and others
• Comfortable planning/prioritizing work and reporting progress
• Willingness to travel to work at client sites across the UK and beyond, flexible about short and longer-term engagements
• Self-starting with a positive “can-do” approach, facing unexpected challenges enthusiastically and finding opportunities to deliver successful outcomes for clients
• Keen to learn and contribute to the development of Consultancy capabilities

Person specification - Desirable

• A track record of delivering data-centric solutions
• Experience of working within the consulting industry

Certifications - Desirable

• TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework)
• DAMA Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP)
• ArchiMate