Data Architect

Role title:                    Data Architect

Engagement type:     Contract hire, full time

Start date:                   ASAP

Duration:                    ASAP – end Sep, with potential to extend onto future programmes

Location:                     Remote

Day rate:                     Competitive

Who we are

Founded in 2019, Oxford Dynamics is a fast-growing UK frontier technology company developing both digital and physical AI systems built to operate in dynamic, mission-critical environments.

At the core of everything we build is AVIS™ (A Very Intelligent System), our orchestration platform: the intelligence layer that fuses multi-modal data, including text, imagery, telemetry and sensor feeds, so operators can interrogate complex information at speed and make better decisions under pressure. AVIS™ powers our digital decision products, such as ORION for multi-source decision-to-effect, and it powers our physical platforms, including STRIDER for CBRN operations and BARBARIAN for explosive ordnance disposal. The same brain reasons across the screen and the machine.

We work where wrong decisions can be catastrophic, partnering with defence and security organisations internationally to help protect nations, infrastructure and lives

Requirements

The role

We are looking for someone who can bring structure and shared meaning to complex information. The Data Architect will design data models: the entities, relationships, vocabularies and definitions that let information be captured consistently and exchanged between systems and organisations without losing its meaning.

The first assignment is a high-profile NATO programme: developing a command-and-control data model for a new operational domain, working alongside domain specialists and presenting to senior international stakeholders. A defence background is not needed; we will surround them with the domain expertise. What we need is the modelling craft.

This is a delivery role. The Data Architect will own the work end to end, from capturing requirements and use cases through to documented, validated models that real organisations adopt.

Key responsibilities

•   Designing conceptual and logical data models, entities, attributes and relationships, and expressing them clearly in UML or entity-relationship diagrams

•   Reviewing existing data models and standards, and recommending what to reuse, adapt or avoid

•   Building data dictionaries, glossaries, controlled vocabularies and code lists with clear, rigorous definitions

•   Working with subject matter experts to turn domain knowledge into structured, well-defined models

•   Producing clear documentation and practical guidance that helps others adopt and implement the model

•   Presenting their work to technical and non-technical stakeholders and explaining their design decisions

Requirements

•   Experience designing conceptual or logical data models in any complex domain: enterprise, government, health, finance, engineering or similar

•   Able to produce clear UML class diagrams or entity-relationship diagrams in any mainstream tool (Visio, Enterprise Architect, Lucidchart, draw.io)

•   Strong written English, as the deliverables of this role are documents and diagrams, not code

Preferred

•   Experience mapping or aligning one data model or standard to another

•   Exposure to data standards or interoperability work in any sector (e.g. NIEM, HL7/FHIR, ISO standards, government data specifications)

•   Familiarity with NATO or defence data models (MIM, JC3IEDM, STANAG series), genuinely a bonus, not an expectation

•   Exposure to ontologies, taxonomies or semantic technologies (RDF/OWL, SKOS)

•   Background in enterprise or data architecture (TOGAF or similar)

•   Experience in defence, national security or other regulated environments

•   An active SC or DV clearance is desirable but not required; we welcome candidates who are eligible for clearance

Soft skills

•   Delivery focused: comfortable working to fixed milestones and getting drafts in front of reviewers early

•   Rigorous about meaning: notices when two people use the same word differently, and cares

•   Clear communicator: able to explain structure and design choices to non-specialists

•   Comfortable with ambiguity: happy to bring order to a domain that has never been formally modelled

•   Quick to start: this role begins with a live programme already in motion

Benefits

Oxford Dynamics is committed to creating an inclusive team experience for all. Regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, or parental status, we believe our work is at its best when everyone feels free to be their authentic self.