Data Architect Ref. 3191

Job title: Data Architect
Salary: £73,063-£81,663
Location: Central London

Flexible working:  We support full-time, part time and flexible hours, with hybrid working available for this role, requiring 3-4 days in the office.

About Us

MI6 is one of the UK’s Intelligence Services. We work to safeguard Britain’s people, interests, and businesses from various threats at home, overseas and online, including cyber-attacks, espionage, terrorism, and organised crime. Working across our vital missions, you’ll deliver impact at the heart of national security, all within a supportive and inclusive environment that allows everyone to thrive.

The Role

MI6 is a data-informed organisation, and the success of our mission depends on using safe and reliable datasets to make critical decisions. As a Data Architect you’ll be operating at the heart of the organisation, and helping to shape our long-term approach to data management and exploitation. You’ll be working to promote and assure the adoption of data architecture and making sure the expected benefits are realised. You’ll deliver project-level data architecture artifacts, including data models and definitions.

But your work won’t stop there – you’ll also lead and oversee the development and agreement of data standards and definitions.  And support the growth of strategic data architecture and its alignment with business, technical and security architectures. We’ll also expect you to work with policy, legal frameworks, and our Technical and Enterprise Architecture teams. You’ll set out future plans, work which will include describing how our data strategy can be efficiently deployed to fulfil the needs of the business.

You’ll gain wide experience by focusing on projects with our UK and possibly overseas partners.  And you’re encouraged to develop your career through our Government Digital Service sponsored Digital, Data and Technology career framework. 

About You

To succeed in this role, you’ll know how data is used alongside technology to solve business problems.  Through familiarity with standards, database scheme design work or data flow modelling, you understand how approaches to data modelling are used. Familiar with the types of technology available to manage and use data, you possess a well-developed practical knowledge of cloud technology.

Always ready to draw on the knowledge and experience of others to solve problems, while passing on your own skills to help others develop their knowledge, you’ll be an inspirational and motivating team member, and always ready to take on a strategic perspective. A highly effective communicator and capable of interacting with colleagues who use data as well as architects and engineers who are designing relevant systems, you’ll be capable of documenting the benefits of your proposals, and convincing others to adopt your approach to data architecture.

Training and Development

We’re proud of our inclusive and supportive working environment, which is designed to encourage open minds and attitudes. And as an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential.

We recognise that there are many aspects to a career in data architecture, and that each of our specialists has a unique set of interests and skills. We offer a range of classroom and virtual courses including learning for those with different levels of experience, and you’ll also be given a personal learning budget to spend on self-directed study.

You’ll receive a starting salary of £66,812 and other benefits to include:

-    25 Days Annual Leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, and an additional 10.5 days public and privilege holidays
-    Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme.
-    Personal Learning Budget
-    Interest-free season ticket loan
-    Excellent pension scheme
-    Cycle to work scheme
-    Facilities such as a gym, restaurant, and on-site coffee bar
-    Paid parental and adoption leave. 

Equal Opportunities

Diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce such as women, those from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity on our website:

https://www.MI6.gov.uk/careers/diversity

https://www.MI6.gov.uk/explore-careers.html

We’re Disability Confident

We are proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme.  This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain, and develop disabled people.  Being Disability Confident, we aim to offer a person-to-person interview to any candidate who self-identifies as disabled and meets the essential criteria for the role.  

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

-    Application sift, looking at your motivation for the role and the organisation
-    Competency based interview with additional technical questions based on the role you are applying for.
-    If successful, you’ll receive a conditional offer of employment, subject to vetting

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 - 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Before You Apply

To work at you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria here. 

This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. You can find out more about the vetting process here.

Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage.

The role is based in Central London, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. An interest-free loan via our benevolent fund is available to assist with relocating into privately rented accommodation to take up the offer of employment.

Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.

Right to Withdraw Statement: 

Please be aware that we withhold the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.