Senior Data Architect

About us

King’s College London is a leading university with a long-standing commitment to education, research and service to society. King’s Strategy 2030 is focused on serving society through academic excellence, with priorities including student success, research and education excellence, and building a sustainable future.

Enterprise Data Architecture within IT supports these priorities by establishing a consistent approach to how data is structured, governed, shared and reused across the University. It aligns data capabilities, standards and architecture with wider University needs, supporting trusted data, digital services and emerging AI capabilities.

About the role

We are looking for a Senior Data Architect to provide enterprise-level strategic architecture direction for Data and AI at King’s, supporting the University’s strategy and the effective and responsible use of data and emerging AI capabilities.

Reporting to the Head of Information Architecture, you will contribute to Enterprise Architecture across Business, Data, Application and Technology Architecture. You will translate strategic priorities into target architectures, capabilities, roadmaps, principles and standards, helping ensure Data and AI investments align with wider University needs and deliver institutional value.

A key focus of the role will be shaping how trusted and governed University data supports AI and digital capabilities, including how data is prepared, accessed and governed for AI use, and how AI-generated information is captured, classified, stored, secured, retained and reused. You will define the Data Architecture capabilities, standards and patterns needed to support current and emerging AI approaches, including Generative AI, RAG, agentic AI and Model Context Protocol (MCP).

You will work with senior stakeholders, Data Owners, Data Stewards, Data Custodians, Data Governance, Enterprise and Business Architecture, Data Solutions, Cloud \& Platform, IT Assurance, delivery teams, other Professional Services teams and external suppliers. You will provide strategic architecture advice and assurance, communicate complex Data and AI decisions in clear, business-oriented language, and support alignment across portfolio priorities, Value Streams, PI planning and Agile Release Trains.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• 1. Qualifications \& Architecture Practice: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Data Science, Information Systems or a related discipline, with substantial architecture experience across enterprise environments and the ability to work across Business, Data, Application and Technology Architecture.
• 2. Strategy \& Roadmaps: Strong experience translating organisational strategy into enterprise Data and AI capabilities, target and transition architectures, principles, standards and multi-year roadmaps.
• 3. Enterprise Data Architecture: Strong knowledge of modern enterprise Data Architecture, including conceptual and semantic modelling, Data Products, Data Mesh/Data Fabric, cloud data platforms, integration, storage, master/reference data and interoperability.
• 4. Data \& AI Governance: Strong knowledge of governance architecture covering ownership, quality, metadata, lineage, privacy, security and information lifecycle, including data used by AI and AI-generated information.
• 5. AI-Ready Data: Experience shaping how enterprise data is prepared, integrated, accessed and governed for AI use, and how AI-generated information is captured, classified, stored, managed and reused.
• 6. Technology \& Innovation: Strong knowledge and practical experience of modern and emerging Data and AI technologies and architecture patterns, including LLMs, Generative AI, RAG, semantic/vector capabilities, agentic AI, MCP, cloud data platforms and related integration technologies, with an understanding of Python or similar technologies for prototyping and evaluation.
• 7. Portfolio \& Agile Alignment: Experience aligning Data and AI Architecture with portfolio priorities, Value Streams, PI planning and Agile Release Trains, applying SAFe or equivalent Agile frameworks to identify architecture priorities, dependencies and enablers that support strategic delivery.
• 8. Strategic Stakeholder \& Supplier Engagement: Excellent communication and influencing skills, with experience working with senior stakeholders, Data Owners, Data Stewards, Data Custodians, multidisciplinary teams and external suppliers, providing trusted architecture advice and translating complex Data and AI decisions into clear, business-oriented direction.

Desirable criteria

• 1. Architecture Frameworks \& Certification: Professional certification in Enterprise Architecture, Data Architecture or data management, such as TOGAF, DAMA/CDMP, ArchiMate or equivalent.
• 2. Advanced Qualification: A relevant Master’s degree (MSc) in Data, Computer Science, Information Systems, Enterprise Architecture, AI or a related discipline.
• 3. Technology Certification: Relevant professional certification in enterprise data, cloud or AI technologies, such as Microsoft Azure, Fabric, Purview, AI or equivalent.