Lead Architect, Data & AI Platforms

Role Summary and Impact

We are hiring a Lead Architect, Cloud to drive the technical delivery of Azure-based data engineering and cloud configuration engagements within client environments.

As the senior technical authority on the engagement, you will design, architect, and implement modern data platform solutions on Microsoft Azure, establish CI/CD practices, and guide engineers to follow reference architectures and standards.

You will sit within the Cloud Architecture team, partnering closely with Data Engineering, Platform/DevOps, Security, and Client Delivery to ensure designs translate into resilient, cost‑effective and compliant implementations.

This role combines hands‑on architecture with leadership of the technical approach, enabling consistent delivery quality across multiple client projects.

Area of Expertise

• Azure data platform architecture: Data Lake/Lakehouse patterns (ADLS Gen2, Delta Lake), Synapse Analytics, and/or Azure Databricks.
• Orchestration and integration using Azure Data Factory (pipelines, mapping/wrangling data flows, integration runtimes) and event‑driven patterns (Event Hubs, Service Bus).
• CI/CD for data and infrastructure (Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions) including blue/green deployments, approvals and environment promotion.
• Infrastructure‑as‑Code using Bicep and/or Terraform; reusable modules, policy‑as‑code, and environment baselines.
• Secure‑by‑design cloud configuration: networking, private endpoints, managed identities, Key Vault, RBAC, Purview governance, data masking.
• Data engineering practices: batch and streaming pipelines, data quality testing, schema management, and performance optimization (Spark/Synapse SQL).
• Observability and operations: Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, cost/performance telemetry, and SLAs/SLOs for pipelines.
• Azure Well‑Architected Framework alignment (reliability, security, cost, performance, operations) and FinOps‑aware design.
• API and integration design with Azure Functions, Logic Apps, and API Management for data services.

Skills and Experience

• Be Extraordinary by Leading Collectively to Inspire transformational Creativity.
• Create an Open environment by Balancing People and Client Experiences by Cultivating Trust.
• Lead Optimistically by Championing Growth and Development to Mobilize the Enterprise.
• Hands‑on architect who sets clear reference architectures and patterns, then leads by example through implementation and code reviews.
• Designs for operability, security, and cost from the start; makes pragmatic trade‑offs and documents decisions.
• Automates everything possible with IaC and CI/CD; favors repeatability over one‑off builds.
• Clear communicator who can facilitate client workshops, write concise design docs/runbooks, and align cross‑functional teams.
• Inclusive leader who mentors engineers, invites diverse viewpoints, and creates shared ownership of outcomes.
• Outcome‑focused: measures success with deployment frequency, lead time for changes, data pipeline SLAs, cost efficiency, and reliability metrics.
• Consultative and client‑facing, able to translate business requirements into technical roadmaps and phased delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and end‑to‑end delivery of Azure data platforms for clients, including landing zones, networking, identity, and data platform services (Azure Data Lake Storage, Synapse, Databricks).
• Design and implement Azure Data Factory pipelines and data flows for ingestion, transformation, and orchestration; establish patterns for parameterization, retries, and error handling to meet pipeline SLAs.
• Establish CI/CD for data and infrastructure (Azure DevOps/GitHub): repo strategy, branching, pull requests, multi‑stage pipelines, approvals, environment promotion, and artifact/versioning strategy.
• Define and deliver infrastructure‑as‑code using Bicep and/or Terraform; create reusable modules and policy‑as‑code guardrails to ensure consistent, compliant environments.
• Implement secure‑by‑default configurations: private endpoints, managed identities, Key Vault‑backed secrets, RBAC, network isolation, data encryption, and Purview cataloging/lineage.
• Optimize performance and cost across compute and storage (e.g., Spark cluster sizing, autoscaling, partitioning, caching, lifecycle policies, serverless options); track and report savings.
• Introduce DataOps practices: automated testing (unit/integration), data quality checks, schema enforcement, and promotion gates; reduce change failure rate and improve lead time.
• Define monitoring and observability for pipelines and platforms using Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and custom metrics; design alerting that drives fast MTTR.
• Guide the design of streaming and micro‑batch patterns (Event Hubs, Kafka on Azure, Structured Streaming) where required by the use case.
• Partner with Security and Platform teams to align with Azure Well‑Architected, landing zone standards, and compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR data controls); support audit‑ready documentation.
• Lead technical workshops, produce architecture diagrams, HLDs/LLDs, and runbooks; present designs at client design authorities and steer technical decision‑making.
• Provide technical leadership to engineering teams: mentor, review code/IaC, unblock delivery, and ensure adherence to reference architecture and non‑functional requirements.
• Plan phased roadmaps and migration paths from legacy platforms; de‑risk cutovers through rehearsal and roll‑back strategies.
• Contribute to internal accelerators, templates, and best practices that raise delivery consistency across engagements.

Requirements

• Hands‑on experience in cloud data engineering/architecture with a focus on Microsoft Azure.
• Proven leadership as a lead/principal engineer or architect delivering Azure data platforms in client environments.
• Expertise with Azure Data Factory (pipelines, data flows, integration runtimes) and at least one of Synapse Analytics or Azure Databricks (Spark).
• Strong CI/CD experience using Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions for both IaC and data workloads; environment strategy, approvals, and automated testing.
• Proficiency in Infrastructure‑as‑Code with Bicep and/or Terraform; reusable modules and policy enforcement (Azure Policy).
• Solid data engineering fundamentals: SQL and one of Python/Scala; performance tuning for Spark/Synapse; data modeling for analytical workloads.
• Secure Azure configuration: VNets, private endpoints, managed identities, Key Vault, RBAC; understanding of Purview governance and data protection patterns.
• Observability and operations experience: Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, alerting, pipeline SLAs, and incident playbooks.
• Excellent client‑facing communication, architecture documentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Nice‑to‑have: Event‑driven architectures with Event Hubs, Kafka, Stream Analytics, or Functions; CDC patterns (e.g., ADF, Debezium).
• Lakehouse/Delta patterns on Databricks; MLflow and feature store awareness; Synapse/Dedicated SQL Pools performance optimization.
• Data quality tooling and frameworks (Great Expectations, Deequ) and dbt for transformation governance.
• FinOps practices for Azure cost governance and tagging/chargeback models.
• API Management, Logic Apps, or Power Platform integration experience.
• Experience with Azure landing zones, Enterprise Scale architecture, and Azure Policy/Blueprints (or equivalent).
• Relevant certifications: Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure Data Engineer Associate, or equivalent.

Life at WPP Media & Benefits

Our passion for shaping the next era of media includes investing in our employees to help them do their best work. Employees can tap into the global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, grow their networks, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising. We have a variety of employee resource groups and host frequent in‑office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events.

Benefits include competitive medical, group retirement plans, vision, and dental insurance, significant paid time off, preferential partner discounts, and employee mental health awareness days.

WPP Media is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

We believe the best work happens when we’re together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That’s why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office around four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

Please note this is a UK based role and requires individuals to have the right to work in this location.

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