Job Title: Data Platform Lead
Division: Beazley Shared Services - IT
Reports To: As per Beazley’s organisation chart
Key Relationships: Enterprise Architecture, Data Architecture, Solution Architecture, Technical Architecture, Value Stream Leads, Value Stream Product Managers, Data Engineering, Third Party Outsourcer
Job Summary: The Data Platform Lead is responsible for designing, building, and evolving Beazley’s enterprise data platform to enable scalable, secure, and efficient data capabilities across the organisation. This role ensures the platform provides the foundational services and tools required for vertical data product teams to deliver high-quality, business-critical data solutions. The Data Platform Lead will drive innovation, maintain best practices, and ensure alignment with Beazley’s strategic objectives for data and analytics.
Key Responsibilities:
Platform Strategy & Development
- Define and implement the roadmap for the data platform, ensuring it meets current and future business needs.
- Establish platform standards, governance, and best practices for data ingestion, storage, processing, and consumption.
Technology Leadership
- Lead the design and implementation of core platform components leveraging technologies such as Confluent, Azure Data Lake, Snowflake, Power BI, and FiveTran.
- Ensure platform scalability, reliability, and security across all environments.
Collaboration & Enablement
- Act as a key liaison between horizontal platform teams and vertical data product teams, enabling seamless integration and delivery.
- Provide guidance and support to engineering teams on platform capabilities and usage.
Operational Excellence
- Monitor platform performance and optimise for cost, efficiency, and resilience.
- Implement robust observability, monitoring, and incident management processes.
Innovation & Continuous Improvement
- Stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends to enhance platform capabilities.
- Drive automation and self-service capabilities for data engineering and analytics teams.
Personal Specification:
Essential Criteria
- Strong expertise in data platform architecture and cloud‑based data solutions.
- Proven track record of leading technical teams and influencing stakeholders across the organisation.
- Demonstrated ability to design and implement enterprise‑scale data platform components, working closely with Data Architecture, Enterprise Architecture and Solution Architecture teams.
- Hands‑on experience with Confluent (Kafka), Azure Data Lake, Snowflake, and FiveTran, including data ingestion, storage, processing and consumption patterns.
- Strong understanding of data governance, security and compliance frameworks, enabling resilient, scalable and cost‑efficient platforms.
Technical Skills
- Strong expertise in data platform architecture and cloud-based data solutions.
- Hands-on experience with Confluent (Kafka), Azure Data Lake, Snowflake, and FiveTran.
- Good expertise in Data Visualisation tools such as Power BI.
- Proficiency in data integration, ETL/ELT pipelines, and streaming data solutions.
- Solid understanding of data governance, security, and compliance frameworks.
Leadership & Soft Skills
- Proven ability to lead technical teams and influence stakeholders across the organisation.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with cross-functional teams.
- Strategic thinker with strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
- Ability to balance innovation with operational stability and cost optimisation.
Preferred Experience
- Experience in financial services or regulated industries.
- Familiarity with DevOps, CI/CD, and Infrastructure-as-Code practices.
- Knowledge of data modelling, analytics, and BI tools.
Aptitude and Disposition
- Reliable – do what you say you will do, be a person that others can depend on & don’t let the team down.
- Enthusiastic – we want people who are passionate about their work & always show a ‘can do’ attitude.
- Communicator – work as a team and share ideas, risks & issues in a constructive and professional manner; ensure that decisions are auditable & clear.
- Respectful – consider other people’s opinions, engage in constructive conversation and show unshakeable professionalism.
Education and Qualifications
- Degree-level education or equivalent commercial experience.
Competencies
At Beazley IT we focus on our “Future Selves”. These competencies & capabilities include:
- Business Acumen
- Adaptable yet Challenging
- Stakeholder Partnership
- Collaborative
- Engineering Mindset
- Data Driven
