Enterprise Data Architect

Role Purpose

Celon is seeking an experienced and forward-thinking Enterprise Data Architect to help our clients shape and deliver their Data Strategies, strengthen their data and analytics capabilities, and achieve their ambitions to become data-driven organisations.

This is a strategic architecture role, focused on helping clients unlock greater value from their data. The successful candidate will work closely with senior business and technology stakeholders to define architectural direction, establish transformation roadmaps and guide the development of modern, scalable data and analytics capabilities.

Working primarily within a Microsoft technology ecosystem, the Enterprise Data Architect will provide architectural leadership across data platforms, integration, business intelligence and advanced analytics, ensuring technology decisions align with business priorities and long-term strategic objectives.

The role is fundamentally about enablement, innovation and collaboration — helping clients modernise their data capabilities, overcome barriers to effective data use and embed data-informed decision-making across their organisations.

Key Responsibilities

1. Data Strategy & Enterprise Architecture

• Work with clients to shape and evolve their Data Strategies, ensuring alignment with business priorities, strategic objectives and future ambitions.
• Define enterprise data architecture principles, target-state architectures and transformation roadmaps that guide the development of clients' data capabilities.
• Assess existing data landscapes, identifying opportunities for modernisation, simplification, integration and improved interoperability.
• Provide strategic architectural guidance on technology investments, priorities and solutions, ensuring decisions support long-term business value.

2. Microsoft Data & Analytics Architecture

• Set the architectural direction for modern data and analytics platforms within Microsoft-based technology environments, including Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Azure Data Lake, Azure Data Factory, Azure SQL and associated services.
• Define architectural approaches and design principles for data integration, storage, modelling and consumption, including modern data warehouses, lakehouses and enterprise semantic models.
• Provide architectural oversight and guidance to ensure solutions are scalable, secure, maintainable and aligned with clients' wider technology strategies.
• Evaluate emerging Microsoft technologies and architectural approaches, identifying opportunities to enhance clients' data and analytics capabilities.

3. Analytics Enablement & Data-Driven Transformation

• Work with business and technology leaders to identify opportunities where data and analytics can improve organisational performance, decision-making and business outcomes.
• Shape the strategic development of business intelligence, reporting, self-service analytics and advanced analytics capabilities.
• Promote architectural approaches that enable trusted, accessible and reusable data, supporting greater consistency and business self-sufficiency.
• Champion data-driven ways of working, helping clients improve data literacy, confidence and adoption across their organisations.
• Identify opportunities to leverage advanced analytics, AI and automation to support innovation and deliver measurable business value.

4. Architecture Leadership & Client Collaboration

• Act as a trusted adviser to senior client stakeholders, providing strategic architectural leadership and recommendations across data transformation initiatives.
• Work collaboratively with Celon's consulting and technical teams, client stakeholders and delivery teams to ensure architectural direction is understood and reflected in solution delivery.
• Establish pragmatic architectural principles, standards and design patterns that promote consistency, flexibility and effective delivery.
• Influence technology and investment decisions, clearly communicating architectural options, benefits and trade-offs to business and technical audiences.
• Contribute to the development of Celon's data and analytics capabilities, sharing expertise, shaping reusable approaches and strengthening our consulting propositions.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

Essential

• Significant experience in enterprise data architecture or senior data architecture roles within complex technology environments.
• Proven experience shaping Data Strategies, defining target-state architectures and developing enterprise data transformation roadmaps.
• Strong understanding of the Microsoft data and analytics ecosystem, including Microsoft Fabric, Power BI and Azure-based data services.
• Broad architectural knowledge of modern data platforms, data warehouses, lakehouses, data integration and enterprise data modelling.
• Strong understanding of business intelligence, semantic modelling, self-service analytics and the architectural foundations required to support them.
• Ability to translate business strategies and requirements into coherent architectural direction and practical technology roadmaps.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with experience advising senior business and technology leaders.
• Experience providing architectural leadership and guidance to multidisciplinary teams, with a collaborative, pragmatic and business-focused approach.

Desirable

• Experience working within a technology consultancy or client-facing professional services environment.
• Experience shaping or overseeing Microsoft Fabric-based data and analytics architectures.
• Understanding of advanced analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning and their strategic business applications.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics 365, Dataverse and other enterprise business applications.
• Familiarity with data product thinking and modern enterprise data architecture approaches.
• Relevant Microsoft Azure, Fabric or Power BI certifications.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role will be demonstrated through:

• Helping clients establish clear Data Strategies, target-state architectures and actionable transformation roadmaps.
• Providing architectural direction that enables scalable, future-ready Microsoft data and analytics capabilities.
• Helping clients increase the adoption and effective use of data to support better business decisions and measurable outcomes.
• Building trusted client relationships and contributing to the continued development of Celon's data and analytics expertise.