POSITION DETAILS

IT Services
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £57,422 to £66,537 with potential progression once in post to £86,760
Grade: 9
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 9th June 2025

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE

• Educated to degree level (or equivalent qualifications) in Computer Science/Information Systems/or another related field plus substantial work experience and/or management/supervisory role in a specialist area, plus a higher degree where appropriate.
• Authoritative and advanced technical expertise in a relevant technical, professional or functional specialism.
• Demonstrable professional development through a series of progressively more demanding and influential work roles.
• Proven experience as a Data Architect, Data Engineer, or similar role in a complex organization.
• Expertise in designing and implementing data architectures in cloud environments (e.g., Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud).
• Hands on experience with Snowflake, dbt, and Azure Data Services (e.g., Data Factory, Synapse, or similar).
• Experience with ETL/ELT tools, APIs, and integration platforms.
• Deep knowledge of data modelling, warehousing, and real time analytics.
• Familiarity with big data technologies principals (e.g., Spark, Hadoop) and BI tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau).
• Strong programming skills (e.g. SQL, Python, Java, or similar languages).
• Ability to exercise a substantial degree of independent professional responsibility and discretion, and apply an expert understanding of their specialist to the needs of the University.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a solution-oriented mindset.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively across diverse teams and functions.
• Passion for enabling data driven decision making and innovation.
• Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area.
• Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied.
• Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action.

DESIRABLE SKILLS

• Experience in higher education or research environments.
• Knowledge of machine learning and AI driven analytics.Certifications in cloud platforms (e.g., AWS Certified Data Analytics, Azure Data Engineer Associate.
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  Informal enquiries to Julian Kobylarz, email: j.kobylarz@bham.ac.uk
  View our staff values and behaviours here
  We believe there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy . You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website

ROLE SUMMARY

The University of Birmingham’s digital and data landscape is undergoing major transformation. One of the underpinning elements of our Digital Strategy is to move our on-premise warehousing and reporting to the cloud, investing in new technologies and services. In this role you will play an integral part in supporting the implementation of the Institutional Data Strategy and data informed decision-making by improving the University’s data infrastructure, analytics capabilities, and institutional reporting. If you are looking to develop your experience of supporting impactful change and are passionate about demonstrating the value of data and analytics in driving institutional progress, this is the role for you.
We are seeking an innovative and hands on Data Architect to join our IT Services (ITS) team. This pivotal role is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining modern data architectures that empower the University’s digital transformation goals. The successful candidate will provide strategic leadership and technical expertise to ensure our data infrastructure is scalable, secure, and aligned with institutional objectives.
As a Data Architect, you will work closely with stakeholders across academic, research, and administrative units to deliver solutions that harness the power of data for insight, decision making, and innovation.

GENERAL DUTIES

• Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour.
• Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.