Data & Analytics Lead / Architect

PBT Group is looking for an experienced Data & Analytics Lead / Architect to join our consulting team and play a key role in shaping and delivering modern Data & Analytics solutions for our clients.

This is a senior, hands-on leadership role suited to an individual who can operate across Data Architecture, Data Engineering, Data Science and Application Architecture, while providing technical direction and leadership across multiple teams and stakeholders.

The Role

The successful candidate will be responsible for defining and driving Data & Analytics architecture, strategy and delivery, ensuring that data platforms and solutions are scalable, secure, governed and aligned to business objectives.

The role will involve working across multiple technical disciplines, providing architectural direction to Data Engineering, Data Science, BI and broader IT teams, while also engaging with senior business and technology stakeholders.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable moving between strategic architecture and hands-on technical problem solving, with a strong understanding of modern cloud and data platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and drive Data & Analytics strategies, architectures and implementation roadmaps.

• Provide technical leadership across Data Engineering, Data Science, BI and supporting IT teams.

• Lead and mentor technical resources, promoting engineering and architecture best practices.

• Design and govern modern data platforms, data warehouses, data lakes and analytics environments.

• Provide architectural guidance across cloud and hybrid-cloud environments, with particular exposure to Azure and AWS.

• Lead the adoption and implementation of Microsoft Fabric and other modern Data & Analytics technologies.

• Provide technical direction on data ingestion, integration, transformation, orchestration and data pipelines.

• Define and maintain data modelling, data architecture, data governance and data quality standards.

• Collaborate with Application Architects and development teams to ensure appropriate integration between application and data architectures.

• Evaluate existing technology environments and recommend appropriate modernisation and migration strategies.

• Provide architectural input into cloud migration and hybrid on-premise/cloud solutions.

• Work closely with Data Scientists to enable scalable data and AI/ML solutions.

• Support the adoption of Generative AI and AI-enabled Data & Analytics solutions, identifying practical opportunities for business application.

• Assess emerging technologies and provide recommendations on their applicability within client environments.

• Drive proof-of-concepts and technical evaluations where required.

• Establish and improve technical ways of working, development standards and architectural governance.

• Participate in technical pre-sales, solution estimation and client engagements where required.

• Communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Technical Environment

The successful candidate should have strong experience across a broad modern Data & Analytics landscape, including:

Data Architecture & Engineering

• Data Architecture

• Data Modelling

• Data Warehousing

• Data Lakes / Lakehouse architectures

• Data Integration & ETL/ELT

• Data Pipelines and orchestration

• Data Governance and Data Quality

• Metadata and Data Lineage

• Modern Data Platform architecture

Microsoft Data & Analytics

• Microsoft Fabric

• Azure Data Factory

• Azure Data Lake

• Azure Synapse

• SQL Server / Azure SQL

• Power BI

• Microsoft Purview or equivalent governance technologies

Cloud & Hybrid Architecture

• Strong Azure experience

• Exposure to AWS and hybrid-cloud architectures

• Understanding of cloud migration and modernisation strategies

• Experience integrating on-premise and cloud data environments

Engineering & Development

• Strong SQL

• Python and/or another modern programming language

• Data Engineering frameworks and development practices

• CI/CD and DevOps principles

• API and application integration

• Understanding of microservices and modern application architectures

AI & Advanced Analytics

• Understanding of Data Science environments and requirements

• Machine Learning concepts and data pipelines

• Generative AI / AI technologies

• Understanding of how AI/ML and Gen AI solutions integrate with enterprise data platforms

• Ability to identify practical business applications for emerging AI technologies

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

This role requires someone who can operate effectively as a technical leader and trusted advisor.

The successful candidate will:

• Lead and mentor Data Engineers, Data Scientists, BI professionals and other technical resources.

• Provide technical guidance and architectural oversight across multiple teams.

• Engage confidently with senior technology and business stakeholders.

• Facilitate architectural discussions and drive technical decisions.

• Establish standards, frameworks and best practices.

• Support the growth and development of technical capabilities within teams.

• Manage technical dependencies across Data & Analytics and broader IT functions.

• Translate business requirements into practical, scalable technology solutions.

Requirements

• Relevant tertiary qualification in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data, Engineering or a related field.

• 10+ years' experience within Data & Analytics, Data Engineering, BI or related technology environments.

• Significant experience in Data Architecture / Solution Architecture.

• Proven experience leading or providing technical direction to Data Engineering and/or Data & Analytics teams.

• Strong understanding of modern data platform architecture.

• Strong Azure experience and exposure to AWS / hybrid-cloud environments.

• Practical experience with or strong knowledge of Microsoft Fabric.

• Strong understanding of Data Engineering principles and modern data architectures.

• Good understanding of Application Architecture and how application and data platforms integrate.

• Experience working with Data Science / AI teams and understanding their data requirements.

• Exposure to Generative AI and emerging AI technologies.

• Strong communication, stakeholder management and consulting skills.

• Experience working in a consulting environment would be advantageous.

Advantageous Experience

• Microsoft Fabric implementation or migration experience.

• Azure and AWS architecture experience.

• Lakehouse architecture.

• Enterprise Data Warehouse modernisation.

• Cloud migration strategy and implementation.

• Data Governance and Data Management frameworks.

• Data Science platform architecture.

• Generative AI / LLM implementations.

• Application and Integration Architecture.

• Technical pre-sales and solution design.

• Experience leading multi-disciplinary technical teams.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for someone who can connect the dots across the broader technology landscape rather than operating solely within a Data Architecture function.

You should be comfortable discussing architecture with an Enterprise/Application Architect, working through technical delivery with Data Engineers, understanding the requirements of Data Scientists, engaging with senior business stakeholders and getting sufficiently hands-on to guide teams through complex technical challenges.

This is an opportunity for a senior Data & Analytics technology leader who wants to influence strategy, architecture and delivery while remaining close to the technology.

Location: Cape Town /

Work Model: 4 days in office

Employment: Consulting

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