Principal Data Architect

Location: This is a remote role, offering the flexibility to work virtually from anywhere within the UK.

Contract Type: Permanent

The Opportunity

The Principal Data Architect is responsible for defining, shaping, and delivering the technical architecture and strategy for RS’s Enterprise Data Platform (EDP), built on Snowflake.

This role combines hands-on technical leadership, architecture governance, and line management of Data Architects. The Principal Data Architect plays a critical role in ensuring the EDP enables scalable, high-quality, outcome-focused, and performant analytics capabilities across the RS organisation, globally.

Working within the Group Data function in IS&T, this role supports the entire business, ensuring alignment to enterprise strategy, while enabling effective delivery of value through analytics.

What You'll Be Doing

• Define and evolve the target data architecture for the Enterprise Data Platform, establishing and enforcing principles, standards, design patterns, governance and tooling strategies across the modern data stack (Snowflake, dbt, Dagster, Airbyte, etc.).
• Shape and deliver the data platform roadmap in partnership with the Director of Data Platform, ensuring alignment with wider IS&T, enterprise architecture and Data operating model strategies.
• Provide technical leadership and architectural oversight for data modelling, pipeline design, orchestration and transformation, enabling engineering teams through best practices, performance optimisation and design authority.
• Ensure the platform meets requirements for scalability, performance, cost efficiency, data quality, security, compliance and governance, while monitoring and governing platform costs.
• Lead data architecture for major platform transformations and migrations, including sequencing, cutover strategy, risk mitigation and the adoption of AI-driven efficiencies and innovations.
• Build, lead and develop a high-performing team of Data Architects, fostering a culture of engineering excellence, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Act as a trusted advisor to business and technology stakeholders, communicating complex concepts clearly and leading the design of end-to-end data solutions that balance long-term integrity with pragmatic delivery needs.

What You'll Bring

Essential

• Proven experience in a senior, lead or principal data architecture role (3+ years)
• Strong expertise in Snowflake (or similar cloud data platforms)
• Hands-on experience with modern data tooling, including dbt, Dagster (or equivalent), and Airbyte (or similar)
• Deep knowledge of data modelling approaches.
• Strong understanding of ELT/ETL patterns, pipeline design, and distributed data systems
• Experience optimising performance and cost in cloud-based data platforms
• Experience managing or mentoring technical teams or individuals
• Demonstrated ability to deliver scalable data platform solutions
• Comfortable operating in a hands-on leadership role
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with pragmatic decision-making
• Collaborative, delivery-focused mindset

Desirable

• Knowledge and experience of SAP S/4 HANA implementation for Data.
• Development and deployment of truly global data analytics solutions.

We Are RS

We’ve been solving industry problems for over 80 years. We turn the ‘what ifs’ into the ‘why nots’, the impossible into the possible.

Our purpose? Making amazing happen for a better world.

We offer service and product solutions to over 1.2 million customers globally, shipping a parcel every 2 seconds to over 130 countries. With over 800,000 stocked and 3 million unstocked products, we’re a trusted partner to the world’s leading industries.

We’re looking for curious, driven, and empathetic professionals to join our journey. People who think differently, act with purpose, and want to make a real impact. 

Rewards

Our Reward Strategy Philosophy is designed to offer market competitive base salaries and provide all of our people the opportunity to participate in a short-term incentive, enabling them to share in the success of the Company.

Our total reward package is more than just the cash; our recognition and benefit offering provide the opportunity for us to recognise, reward and enable the wellbeing of our people at all stages of their journey with RS. Our rewards and benefits vary by country, but include:

• Financial - pension/retirement; life assurance; salary finance (payroll deduction loan scheme)
• Wellbeing - medical plans; health screening; critical illness; disability insurance; holiday / paid time off; employee assistance programme; discounted gym/health club membership
• Lifestyle - transportation assistance schemes (e.g., cycle to work, travel loans, car leasing); onsite catering/lunch vouchers; retail discounts
• Spotlight – our global recognition programme provides a platform to highlight and recognise people role modelling our values

Ready to Make Amazing Happen?

Join c. 9,000 colleagues and help us shape the future of our industry. Whoever you are, wherever you are — it all starts here.

Apply now and make RS a part of your journey.

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