Data Architect

Thales is a global technology leader with more than 83,000 employees on five continents. With over 7,500 people in the UK, operating across defence, space, aerospace, and digital security, we help build a future we can all trust. Thales supports the security and stability of our nation by providing extraordinary technology to our customers, as well as delivering social value to the UK with our products and services.

To drive the evolution of Data offers and data capabilities within the businesses and to our customers in order to increase growth in orders and increased customer satisfaction. 

The Customer Data Solutions Architect will work with stakeholders, both leadership and subject matter experts, to define technology solutions that support an integrated approach to data integration/management. Supporting the Thales UK Digital and Data strategy the Customer Data Solutions Architect will; test concepts, architect data solutions, implementation plans and help deliver continuous evolution of our capabilities.

The role will interact with other data architects and engineers across the business working in Data and Digital: championing data techniques for new or enhanced market offers; understanding the critical customer drivers; delivering Proofs of Concept and acting as a go-to individual that can connect internal/external stakeholders with the proposed solutions.

The role will be part of the Thales UK Data and Digital Competence Centre team to ensure that the technology strategy, human capabilities and opportunity pipeline is enabling the business strategy and growth.   The role will connect with stakeholders across engineering, Thales UK and Group Digital Competence Centres thinking.

Key Responsibilities and Tasks:

• ·Support the realisation of solution through architecture into delivery, roll-out and operation, and full systems lifecycle management.
• ·Support Data Thinking workshops with business and customer communities, identifying opportunities for PoCs and enhancement to Thales solutions
• Act as a data solutions architect in customer engagements, deliver technical artefacts and develop solutions.
• Develop solutions for where data can bring value to our offers and our customer
• Provide oversight and support across the project delivery lifecycle to ensure the integrity of solution are maintained and that business outcomes achieved
• Support the Customer Enterprise Data Architect in coordinating the data landscaping and cataloguing for Thales UK
• Support the Customer Enterprise Data Architect in the creation and influence of UK MoD standards for Data Management and Architecture
• Work with the Digital Platforms and architecture teams to deliver customer data management and analytics solutions
• Meeting with internal and external stakeholders to develop clear understanding of needs and business requirements.
• Deliver solutions designs that meet the needs of the strategy and collaborate with teams to deliver on those designs.
• Support the development of strategies and plans to various stakeholders to ensure support and collaboration across organisation boundaries.
• Work to implement 3rd party data integrations to support internal and external use cases
• Working collaboratively with the various squads and technical roles to identify common issues and opportunities to improve operational and strategic delivery.
• Accountable for the creation of the technology architecture deliverables
• Horizon scan for major disruptive technology trends (trend spotting) that affect business. Provide practical advice and best practices to overcome these challenges and successfully deliver the expected business outcomes.

Technical

• Logical Analysis of technical solutions and problem solving
• Architecture design (Solution Modelling, Systems Integration, IT standards, System Behaviours etc)
• Knowledge of business ecosystems, SaaS, infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), SOA, APIs, open data, microservices, event-driven IT, predictive analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence
• General IT Knowledge (applications, storage, networks, IT infrastructure, Infrastructure, service level agreements, Asset management etc)
• Familiarity with information management practices, system development life cycle management, IT services management, infrastructure and operations, and EA and ITIL frameworks
• Technical IT (security, transaction processing, user interface, data management, Operating Systems Services)
• Ability to design innovative solutions whilst adhering to strong security constraints.
• Experience of the latest technology trends and their application within Data - including but not limited to AI, machine learning containerisation, IOT, big data and cloud.

Interpersonal Skills

• Ability to engage and influence a diverse set of stakeholders (Product Engineering Leaders, Customer, Design Authorities, Project Management, IS/IT)
• Ability to work in complex multi-stakeholder environment to create clear and achievable goals.
• Able to influence a wide range of people to get things done – needs to be highly effective in a matrix based organisation – a good team player.
• Excellent communication skills and interpersonal skills – encourages an open environment where information and ideas are shared and innovative thinking is stimulated.  Will be adept at effectively building stakeholder relationships and working collaboratively with customer, supplier and internal teams.
• Capable of effectively engaging with technical staff, suppliers and stakeholders to define the best architectural design to achieve business/user objectives. Detailed technical expertise is not always essential, but the ability to understand and support technical discussion to conclusion with confidence is essential
• Team player with a sharp intellect, challenging approach and a “can do attitude”.
• Experience of multi-stakeholder change management activities

Essential

• Experience in the defence Industry in related architecture and data roles
• Technical Pre-sales or Product Line Architect
• Architecture methodology for complex systems
• Strong Data and Application with underpinning Infrastructure solution development and undertaking a technical design authority role
• Experience in designing/modelling current and target architecture for data solutions
• Technical Documentation production to a high standard

Desirable

• Governance of architecture or detailed designs throughout the project lifecycle
• Previously undertaken solution development and implementation of a large scale Data projects

Qualifications:

Essential

• Degree/HND or an equivalent in a relevant Engineering/Data/IT subject

Desirable

• TOGAF 9 or similar industry recognised Architecture certification
• Vendor related technical competence qualifications (for example MCITP & VCP / CCSE & CCNP)

Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions.  This role requires you to be a UK National and achieve Security Clearance (SC) without any caveats. It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment.  If approved by the MOD, a dual national from a non-ITAR country may be considered. 

To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years.  In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks.

Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels.

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At Thales, we ensure equal opportunities, pay and working conditions for all. The benefits we offer include private medical insurance, buying or selling annual leave, cycle to work schemes, employee discounts, paid volunteering day, stocks and shares, annual bonus and much more depending on the role. Read more about our benefits here.
 

We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued for who they are and the unique strengths they bring. Discover more about our programmes, employee networks, wellbeing policies, and inclusive features here.

If this role isn’t quite right for you, we encourage you to join our talent community where your details will be shared with our recruitment teams for other potential opportunities. Join the Talent Community here.

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