Cloud Data Architect - AWS-focused
About BIP
BIP is an international consultancy specialising in business transformation, technology and innovation. We work with leading organisations to solve complex challenges and deliver meaningful, sustainable change.
BIP xTech is our Centre of Excellence for technology consulting and digital engineering, bringing together specialists across modern data platforms, cloud, data science, AI and emerging technologies.
We are looking for a Cloud Data Architect to join our xTech team and help design and deliver modern, scalable and secure data platforms for major UK and international clients.
The role
As a Cloud Data Architect, you will play a key role in shaping modern data platforms across hybrid, on-premise and cloud environments.
You will work closely with clients to understand their business and technical requirements, define the right architectural approach and design solutions that enable analytics, advanced data use cases and AI-driven capabilities.
This is a client-facing architecture role requiring both strong technical depth and the ability to translate complex requirements into clear, practical and scalable solutions.
You will work across major cloud platforms and a broad range of data technologies, selecting the most appropriate tools and architectural patterns based on client needs, scalability, performance, security and long-term maintainability.
What you’ll be doing
- Design scalable, secure and resilient cloud-based data platforms across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
- Work with clients to gather, analyse and translate business and technical requirements into effective data architectures.
- Define architectural patterns, data flows, integration approaches and technology choices.
- Produce clear architecture diagrams, workflows and technical documentation.
- Design modern data platforms supporting analytics, reporting, operational and AI-enabled use cases.
- Architect batch and real-time data pipelines using appropriate ETL and ELT approaches.
- Select and integrate cloud-native technologies across platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.
- Design solutions covering data lakes, data warehouses, lakehouses, data virtualisation and distributed data architectures.
- Ensure data platforms are designed with scalability, reliability, performance, security and maintainability in mind.
- Embed data governance, data quality, metadata management and security principles into solution designs.
- Work with both structured and unstructured data across a range of technologies and platforms.
- Collaborate with engineering, analytics, data science and AI teams to ensure architectures support downstream use cases effectively.
- Evaluate technologies and architectural approaches, balancing technical quality, delivery constraints and commercial considerations.
- Engage with clients, technology vendors and partners to shape and deliver the most appropriate solution.
- Support technical discovery, solution shaping, estimation and architecture activities for new client opportunities.
- Contribute to reusable frameworks, accelerators, standards and best practices across BIP xTech.
- Stay current with emerging technologies and continuously assess their relevance to client challenges.
What we’re looking for
You will have proven experience designing and architecting modern cloud-based data platforms and will be comfortable operating independently in complex client environments.
You will also bring:
- Strong experience designing cloud data platforms across hybrid, multi-cloud or enterprise environments.
- Deep knowledge of modern data platform and data warehouse architecture.
- Strong understanding of data modelling and data processing for both batch and real-time use cases.
- Experience with at least one major cloud platform, including AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud Platform.
- A strong understanding of cloud-native data services and their use in modern data architectures.
- Knowledge of modern architectural concepts including.
- Proven experience designing robust batch and streaming data pipelines.
- Strong understanding of ETL and ELT patterns and their appropriate use.
- Experience working with structured and unstructured data.
- Strong proficiency in one or more programming or query languages such as SQL, PL/SQL, Python, Java, Ruby or R.
- Experience with relevant modern data technologies such as BigQuery, Databricks, Snowflake, MongoDB, Hadoop, Redis, Kafka or similar.
- The ability to select technologies based on scalability, performance, security, interoperability and business requirements.
- Experience documenting complex architectures clearly through diagrams, workflows and technical documentation.
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Confidence engaging directly with senior client stakeholders, vendors and technology partners.
- The ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Experience working within consulting, professional services or similarly complex delivery environments.
It would be great if you also have
Relevant professional certifications such as:
- Google Professional Data Engineer
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate
- AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate or equivalent AWS data certification
- Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional
About you
You are an experienced and pragmatic data architect who can move comfortably between business requirements, architecture decisions and detailed technical discussions.
You will be:
- Comfortable taking ownership of architecture activities and working independently.
- Able to translate business needs into practical, scalable technical solutions.
- Confident challenging assumptions and recommending alternative approaches where appropriate.
- Strong at building trusted relationships with clients, vendors and delivery teams.
- Structured and clear in how you communicate architectural decisions.
- Comfortable balancing technical excellence with delivery timelines and commercial considerations.
- Collaborative, with the ability to work across engineering, analytics, AI and business teams.
- Curious about emerging technologies while able to assess their practical value.
- Proactive in identifying architectural risks, dependencies and opportunities for improvement.
Why BIP?
At BIP, you will work on complex and high-profile data and technology transformation programmes for major organisations across multiple industries.
You will have the opportunity to shape modern data architectures from an early stage, work with a broad range of technologies and cloud platforms, and collaborate with experienced specialists across data engineering, analytics, AI and technology consulting.
You will also play an important role in the continued growth and development of BIP xTech and our Data Architecture capability.