Senior Data Solution Architect
London, LND, GB, EC2M 2AT
SMBC: A trusted partner for the long term
Here at SMBC Group, we want to help you find the next step in your career so read on to discover if this opportunity is the one for you. We like to recognise potential in our people, so we welcome your application even when your experience doesn’t perfectly align with the job description. Whilst we’ll always strive to be better, we’re proud of our inclusive culture, and encourage our applicants and colleagues to be their authentic, unique selves.
Who we are
United by a sense of purpose towards our customers – to be a trusted partner for the long-term – and our universal banking platform in EMEA, SMBC Group has an international growth agenda and award-winning products, meaning we provide exciting opportunities to work on a diverse range of projects and initiatives. We deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers as well as investment banking and advisory services, and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets. Read on to find out how you could enhance your skills and gain valuable experience, by joining us to support our clients transition to a sustainable future.
Background and Organizational Context
SMBC is seeking a highly experienced and strategic Technical Data Solution Architect to join the Data & Analytics Platforms Team. This senior architect role requires deep technical expertise, strong architectural leadership, regulatory knowledge, and the ability to influence stakeholders across the local regional entity and global group. The ideal candidate will work with current architects to drive our Technical Data Strategy, ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture and business goals.
Purpose of the Role
This role serves as a critical bridge between business stakeholders, the Data Office, and technology teams, translating business and data requirements into technically deliverable solutions that are scalable, resilient, high-performing, and sustainable over the long term. It plays a central role in ensuring consistency of architecture and design across EMEA Data & Analytics platform deliveries, supporting business-led change initiatives through a common, governed technical approach.
The role will own the end-to-end data solution architecture for priority programmes, ensuring data products and platforms are secure, resilient, scalable, compliant, and deliver measurable business outcomes.
The role is leading the shaping and promoting the strategy for the Data & Analytics technical platform, with an initial focus on key business priorities endorsed by the Transformation Committee, including the Global HR programme, Data Products, and other strategic capabilities built on the EMEA platform. In addition, it is essential in keeping the organisation current with emerging data techniques, tools, and platform innovations, including developments within Databricks, to ensure the enterprise continues to evolve its data capabilities effectively.
The successful candidate will be a delegate for the Head of Data & Analytics Platforms in architecture areas within and outside the team.
Scale and Scope
- Will be working in a EMEA Data & Analytics Platforms team of circa 70 IT staff spread across onshore, near shore, and offshore locations. This is within a wider ITSD department of 450+ staff.
- Comfortable leading and working within a complex technology landscape, supporting technology initiatives with varying levels of scale, criticality, and regulatory visibility.
- Ability to design and drive the architectural direction of complex and large-scale projects and programs that relate to the bank’s Midterm strategy.
- Influence senior stakeholders’ decision making and build data architecture capability across teams.
- Partner with multiple technology teams, other internal functions, external and technology vendors as part of the technology delivery process.
- Acts as a key contributor in a technology environment characterized by rapidly evolving priorities and a multi-year strategic horizon.
Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities
- Define and own the development of the target state data solution architectures and designs for a portfolio of projects across the SMBC EMEA entity and overseeing solution designs developed by others, with a focus on data solutions to be delivered by the EMEA Data and Analytics technology team.
- Govern and assure architecture decisions across data platform initiatives to ensure consistency and alignment to defined standards.
- Act as the design authority for data solutions approve patterns, set guardrails, and decide when exceptions are justified.
- Articulate and translate complex solutions for both technical delivery teams and senior nontechnical stakeholders, ensuring clear understanding and alignment.
- With incumbent architect own the architectural vision of the EMEA Data Platform, use of Databricks in the EMEA region, govern the architecture and design of solutions inside the team.
- Drive cross functional and cross regional stakeholders to establish best practices for data platform technology use and implementation.
- Actively engage and partner with the Data Office to formulate strategies to deliver the longterm goals of the enterprise.
- Drive engagement with other teams across IT and the business to understand use cases for setting the data solution strategy.
- Apply sound judgment to ensure architectural outcomes align with agreed technology standards, platform capabilities, and governance requirements.
- Influence investment decisions by articulating benefits costs and risks.
- Own identification and escalation of risks and issues with their associated mitigation plans to the Clevel Sponsors andor steering committees with an aim to maintain delivery momentum and prevent adverse impact to our business.
- Own EMEA Data Analytics Platforms architectural input to specified global programs of delivery as assigned.
- Be delegate for Head of EMEA Data Analytics Platforms in the developing our Global Data Platform principles, policies, and standards.
- Articulate and translate complex solutions for both technical delivery teams and senior nontechnical stakeholders, ensuring clear understanding and alignment.
Knowledge Skills and Experience
Essential
- Extensive experience (10+ years) delivering and developing technical data solutions in large enterprises.
- Proven track record defining and driving technical strategy and roadmaps for delivery in large enterprises.
- Strong knowledge of database systems, data modelling, and data integration technologies.
- Excellent problem-solving skills. Demonstrated experience of different data architectures including hub and spoke, data lakes, data fabrics, lakehouses at different levels, enterprise wide and application.
- Deep experience of Databricks ecosystem and its implementation in large enterprises.
- Strong experience of Data reporting solutions from data warehousing (Kimble and Inmon), ETL, reporting tools, and document stores.
- Exceptional communication skills to explain concepts and solution designs to any stakeholders across the enterprise including C Level stakeholders. Includes formal communication skills to document ideas and solutions.
- Collaborative and curious practices to develop strong well thought through architectures, strategies, and solutions.
Desirable
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field. Or equivalent level of expertise and experience.
- Capital markets, asset management, or corporate banking financial institutions.
- Familiarity with data governance and compliance regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, DORA).
- Strong experience of Agile practises and especially scrum of scrums and Atlassian tooling.
- Proficiency in database management systems (e.g., SQL, NoSQL).
- Experience of data analytics tool such as Python and R.
- Data modelling tooling such as Power Designer.
- Experience of BI (Business Intelligence) tools.
- Experience of working with Data Office departments.
Challenges
The candidate will be working in an environment where our business stakeholders and IT SMEs need support in defining requirements as they can be incomplete and/or vague. Being able to operate with some level of ambiguity will be important.
Working with peers across different regions will also be required and operating within different time zones for calls is likely.
What we offer
For all the expertise and experience you bring to help us make a difference, it’s only sustainable if we support you to build your career and be your best self so we offer competitive company benefits, centred around promoting positive well-bring and work-life balance. We also believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment, where all team members perspectives and contributions are valued. Initiatives in place which promote a diverse and inclusive culture and healthy work life balance include hybrid working, Sport & Social Clubs and Diversity and Inclusion networks.
As an employee of SMBC you have access to a host of both useful and exciting benefit offerings. See below some of the benefits on offer to you:
- Hybrid and flexible working
- Competitive paid leave days
- Benefits to support your physical wellbeing, including private medical insurance and life and invalidity insurance
- Various policies to support your mental wellbeing, including a robust behavioural health network with counselling and coaching services
- Access a wide range of learning and development opportunities and career progression opportunities
- Ambitious remuneration package
So, if you like a challenge and want to continuously grow and develop in a role where you will be supported along the way by a dynamic and diverse team, apply today!!
We recognise our role as a bank to support social change and welcome all applications, including those from groups often under-represented in financial services. We value the uniqueness of professional and personal, backgrounds and perspectives as they play a vital role in continuing the sustainable growth of our organisation. We’ll ensure reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process are offered due to a disability or long-term condition whenever requested.
We are committed to transparent and equitable pay practices. Compensation is determined using objective criteria, including skills, experience, and role responsibilities, and applied consistently throughout our recruitment processes. We do not request candidates' pay history and are committed to preventing unjustified pay disparities.