Data architect
Find out what a data architect in government does and the skills you need to do the job at each level.
Last updated 31 July 2023 — See all updates
Contents
What a data architect does
A data architect sets the vision for the organisation’s use of data, through data design, to ensure that data is managed properly and meets the organisation’s needs.
Data architect role levels
There are 3 data architect role levels, from data architect to chief data architect.
The typical responsibilities and skills for each role level are described in the sections below. You can use this to identify the skills you need to progress in your career, or simply to learn more about each role in the Government Digital and Data profession.
1. Data architect
A data architect designs and builds data models to fulfil the strategic data needs of the organisation, as defined by chief data architects.
At this role level, you will:
- design, support and provide guidance for the upgrade, management, decommission and archive of data in compliance with data policy
- provide input into data dictionaries
- define and maintain the data technology architecture, including metadata, integration and business intelligence or data warehouse architecture
This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:
- HEO (Higher Executive Officer)
- SEO (Senior Executive Officer)
Skill | Description |
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Communicating between the technical and non-technical Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Data governance (data architect) Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Data standards (data architect) Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Problem management (data architect) Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Turning business problems into data design Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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2. Senior data architect
A senior data architect delivers the vision for the organisation as set by the chief data architect.
At this role level, you will:
- design data models and metadata systems
- help chief data architects to interpret an organisation’s needs
- provide oversight and advice to other data architects who are designing and producing data artefacts
- design and support the management of data dictionaries
- make sure that your teams are working to the standards set for the organisation by the chief data architects
- work with technical architects to make sure that an organisation’s systems are designed in accordance with the appropriate data architecture
This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:
- G7 (Grade 7)
- G6 (Grade 6)
Skill | Description |
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Communicating between the technical and non-technical Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Data governance (data architect) Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Data standards (data architect) Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Problem management (data architect) Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Turning business problems into data design Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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3. Chief data architect
A chief data architect sets the vision for the organisation’s use of data as directed by the appropriate governance body.
At this role level, you will:
- oversee the design of multiple data models and have a broad understanding of how each model fulfils the needs of the organisation
- be accountable for supporting and aligning to the organisation’s data strategy
- champion data architecture both internally and through collaborating and communicating at the most senior levels across government
- set the standards and ways of working for the data architecture community
- be accountable for assuring data models at the level of a project or enterprise
- provide advice to project teams and oversee the management of the full data product life cycle
- be responsible for ensuring that the organisation’s systems are designed in accordance with the enterprise data architecture
This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:
- G6 (Grade 6)
Skill | Description |
---|---|
Communicating between the technical and non-technical Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Data governance (data architect) Level: expert Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: expert Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Data standards (data architect) Level: expert Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
|
Level: expert Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
|
Problem management (data architect) Level: expert Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
|
Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
|
Turning business problems into data design Level: expert Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Roles that share data architect skills
Role | Shared skills |
---|---|
Data engineer | |
Data governance manager | |
Graphic designer | |
Interaction designer | |
Service designer |
Updates
Published 7 January 2020
Last updated 31 July 2023
31 July 2023
- Data architect was moved to the new architecture role group.
31 March 2023
- Data architect has new role level descriptions and updated skills. The role has been moved from the technical role group to the data role group.
30 August 2022
- The ‘communication skills (data)’ skill has been renamed ‘communicating between the technical and non-technical’. The 'data communication' skill has been renamed 'communicating data'. This is to ensure consistency across the DDaT Profession Capability Framework.
7 January 2020
- First published.