Lead Data Architect

About us

Every day, we deliver safe and secure energy to homes, communities, and businesses, connecting people to the energy they need for their lives. Our expertise and track record position us uniquely to shape the sustainable future of our industry as the pace of change accelerates. To succeed, we must anticipate customer needs, reduce energy delivery costs, and pioneer flexible energy systems. This requires delivering on our promises and seeking opportunities for growth.

In IT and Digital, we collaborate closely with the diverse energy businesses within the National Grid group, revolutionizing operations through technology. Embracing modern methodologies and digital mindsets, we drive efficiency and bring new capabilities to internal and external customers as we lead the charge toward a carbon-free future.

Our work is critical, as National Grid powers millions of homes and businesses across the UK and US, and the technology we employ is vital to this task. The successful applicant for this position will play a crucial role in our mission, supported by our multicultural, customer-centric global team, with opportunities for professional development. 

This role operates under a hybrid working model and is based out of the Warwick, UK office.  Hybrid work expectations are subject to business needs and company policy.

About the Role

National Grid increasingly relies on data from multiple business domains to support enterprise performance reporting, operational decision-making and strategic planning.

At the same time, AI and advanced analytics are creating new opportunities to generate value from trusted, connected data.

To realise these opportunities, data must be shared, understood and consumed consistently across organisational boundaries. This role will define the architecture patterns, data sharing approaches and design principles needed to enable cross-domain reporting, reusable data products and AI-enabled use cases while working collaboratively with business, technology and platform teams across the enterprise.

The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking with hands-on architecture leadership, helping solve complex cross-domain challenges while establishing practical patterns and standards that can be reused at scale.

What You'll Do

• Define architecture patterns and approaches that enable data to be shared, combined and consumed across business domains
• Shape the architecture needed to support enterprise performance reporting, management information and executive decision-making
• Establish practical standards and guidance for the creation, consumption and reuse of data products
• Partner with business and domain teams to understand cross-functional challenges and translate them into scalable data solutions, while respecting domain ownership of data and business definitions
• Identify and shape high-value cross-domain use cases, including opportunities to apply advanced analytics and AI
• Work collaboratively with technology platform teams to ensure enterprise data sharing, reporting and AI use cases are appropriately supported by the technology landscape
• Provide solution architecture leadership for strategically important initiatives where data spans multiple systems, domains or business functions
• Promote consistency, reuse and interoperability through pragmatic architecture principles, rules and design patterns
• Balance immediate delivery needs with longer-term architectural outcomes, ensuring solutions remain scalable, supportable and sustainable
• Challenge existing approaches constructively, identifying opportunities to simplify, improve and accelerate delivery of business value

About You

You will be a practical and influential data architecture leader who is comfortable operating across organisational boundaries. You will be able to navigate ambiguity, build alignment between stakeholders with different priorities and create clarity around complex cross-domain challenges.

You will understand that successful enterprise data architecture is not about centralising ownership of data, but about enabling data to be shared and consumed effectively across business boundaries. You will be equally comfortable discussing executive reporting requirements, data product design, solution architecture patterns and emerging AI opportunities.

You will have:

• Significant experience in data architecture, solution architecture or enterprise architecture within a large and complex organisation
• Strong understanding of data sharing, integration, analytics and reporting architectures
• Experience defining architecture patterns, standards and governance approaches that support consistency without creating unnecessary bureaucracy
• Experience designing or supporting data products and reusable data capabilities
• Strong understanding of enterprise reporting and performance management requirements, including the challenges of combining data from multiple domains
• Experience working with modern cloud-based data platforms, integration services, reporting tools and analytics technologies
• Experience identifying and shaping opportunities for advanced analytics and AI through the effective use of enterprise data
• Ability to work effectively with domain teams that retain ownership of their data, definitions and architecture, building alignment through influence rather than authority
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the confidence to work across business, technology and senior leadership teams
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex concepts clearly to technical and non-technical audiences
• Sound commercial and operational judgement, with an appreciation of value, risk, security, resilience, supportability and long-term sustainability
• Experience in an asset-heavy or regulated industry such as utilities, energy, infrastructure or manufacturing is preferred
• ßA relevant degree or equivalent industry experience is expected

What You'll Get

• Competitive Salary: circa £60,000 – £80,000 per annum (based on capability, and experience)