Technical Architect - Data

Cardiff University is seeking a Data Architect to lead the design of a common data platform, a key aspect of its ambitious digital plan that will significantly enhance the university's research capabilities, operational efficiency, and educational delivery. 

Us 

We want to make Cardiff University an institution that is respected the world over. Our vision is to be a world-leading, research-excellent, educationally outstanding university, driven by creativity and curiosity, which fulfils its social, cultural and economic obligations to Cardiff, Wales, the UK and the world. Our ambitious strategy to 2035 (Our Future Together) will enable the university to co-create and share new knowledge, to deliver a better world for future generations. We aim to rank consistently in the top 100 universities in the world and the top 20 in the UK. 

Opportunity 

The Data Architect will lead design and development of the common data platform and provide oversight during implementation to ensure that architectural vision and integrity is upheld, to enable the University digital plan that aims to enhance the university's research capabilities, operational efficiency, and educational delivery.  

This role is pivotal in driving the adoption of innovative technologies (including a common data platform, automation) and fostering a culture of data excellence across the institution. The Data Architect will have oversight for the university data landscape, collaborating with academic and professional stakeholders to ensure that a consistent and robust approach to data architecture is followed. The common data platform is a key element in a multi-million-pound digital change portfolio, that will identify opportunities for digital innovation, streamline processes, and ensure the university is at the forefront of research and education in the digital age.  

The role holder will be responsible for the overall data architecture, ensuring that robust frameworks, standards, models and practices are developed and maintained to ensure the university is receiving maximum value from its data assets to enable strategic decision making. Part of this will require the role holder to maintain knowledge of industry standard technologies to ensure a clear development and rationalisation path for the technologies used by the university. 

The role holder will work as part of a professional service delivery team dedicated to the development of modern, effective data solutions and architectures, ensuring consistency and cohesiveness across the enterprise landscape in line with the University strategy and IT/Digital plan. You will contribute to the policy and strategy for the selection of system and data architecture components, and to the co-ordination of design activities. 

In your area of specialism, you will lead on the development and adoption of standards for data and integration architecture, models and data management.  You will collaborate closely with delivery teams to ensure that proposed architectures are feasible, align with relevant standards, policies and design patterns, and are consistent with the aims of university strategy. 

As a Data Architect you will engage with stakeholders, projects, and programmes across the university to help people structure and make effective use of data. You will do this by acting as subject matter expert, and in doing so you will construct standards, models, and data dictionaries in support of the university’s common data platform to enable reporting, analytics, and strategic decision making. You will advocate for the upholding of data quality and the value of data as a well-managed, trusted asset.  

You will review others’ systems designs to ensure selection of appropriate technology, efficient use of resources, and integration of multiple systems and technology. You will contribute to policies for the selection of architecture components. You will evaluate and undertake impact analysis on major design options and assess and manage associated risks. You will ensure that the design balances functional, service quality and systems management requirements.  

You will work with senior stakeholders to champion data architecture, demonstrating a strong domain knowledge and emphasising business value to ensure credibility and develop understanding, ownership, and involvement facilitating feedback into governance structures.  

You will provide a highly professional, friendly and customer focused face to the services offered by University IT Services and you will be expected to develop beneficial working relationships with other teams in IT Services and the broader University. 

What we offer 

Cardiff University can offer many attractive benefits to its employees, including a competitive salary, 37 days annual leave per annum and a generous pension scheme. More information on what we can offer can be found at https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/jobs/what-we-can-offer. 

The post is full time and open ended.

Salary:  £51,753 - £56,535 per annum (Grade 7)

Appointments to roles at Cardiff University are usually made at bottom of scale unless in exceptional circumstances 

Closing Date: Thursday, 21 May 2026

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds who have the ambition to create a University which seeks to fulfil our social, cultural and economic obligation to Cardiff, Wales, and the world. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.