Principal Enterprise Architect (Data)

Job summary

Join Companies House as a Principal Enterprise Architect (Data), a leading role within our Enterprise Architecture team at the heart of a nationally significant organisation.

This is a high‑impact, senior technical role where you will shape the data architecture underpinning services used at scale by millions of users. Companies House handles around 14 million search requests daily, supporting members of the public, businesses, law enforcement and government organisations. The decisions you make will directly influence how trusted data is designed, governed and reused across the organisation.

This role offers the opportunity to work with modern cloud technologies, microservice architectures and complex legacy environments, while setting the technical direction for enterprise‑level data architecture. You will act as a technical leader, guiding delivery teams, influencing strategic decisions and ensuring data is treated as a critical enterprise asset.

At Companies House, our aim is to be the best Registry of Companies in the world. We achieve this through brilliant people, using brilliant systems, to deliver brilliant services.

If you are an experienced data architect looking for a role where your expertise can make a visible, national impact, this is an opportunity to lead, influence and shape the future of data at scale.

Watch this video to find out more about working in Digital at Companies House

Why choose Companies House?

At Companies House we take a proactive approach to wellbeing by promoting a welcoming culture, healthy work life balance and supporting colleagues to be their best in work because we know people are the key to our success.

Our benefits include:

• Flexible working with no core hours (6am – 8pm flexible options)
• 30 days annual leave
• 8 bank holidays & 1 privilege day
• Enrolment into Civil Service Pension scheme average 28.97%

Find out more about what a great place Companies House is to work

Please note:

• Companies House cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign.
• Security Clearance is an essential requirement for this campaign. You'll need to have been in the UK for at least 3 out of the last 5 years to be eligible to apply for SC.

• You will be based at either our Cardiff or Edinburgh office, where you will be expected to attend on a regular basis. Remote contracts may be considered as an exception whereby commuting to the office location of your team is not reasonably practicable.

Job description

The Principal Enterprise Architect (Data) is a senior technical leadership role responsible for defining, governing and evolving the organisation’s enterprise data architecture. The post holder will ensure that data architecture supports Companies House’s strategic priorities, enables secure and trusted use of data, and strengthens interoperability across legacy, modern and third‑party systems.

You will join a small, high‑performing and collaborative team that values open thinking, professional challenge and continuous improvement. Working closely with colleagues across the Digital and Data directorates, as well as senior business stakeholders, you will help design and assure robust, secure and resilient data solutions that support organisational priorities and long‑term transformation.

• You will act as the authoritative voice on enterprise data architecture, providing clear direction, assurance and guidance across programmes and projects. You will treat data as a managed enterprise asset with clear ownership, robust lifecycle controls and measurable business value.
• This is a highly collaborative role, working with senior stakeholders, architects, delivery teams and governance forums to reduce risk, improve data quality and enable scalable, reusable data solutions.

Key responsibilities

Strategy and architecture

• Lead the development and maintenance of the enterprise data architecture and roadmap, aligned to organisational strategy and change portfolios.
• Define and maintain enterprise‑level data models (conceptual and logical, and where appropriate physical).
• Establish canonical data definitions, domain boundaries and integration patterns to support reuse and interoperability.
• Provide architectural assurance to ensure solutions align with agreed data architecture principles.
• Support the identification, valuation and prioritisation of critical data assets to maximise value and return on investment.

Standards, governance and assurance

• Create, publish and maintain enterprise data standards, patterns and guidelines.
• Chair or contribute to data governance forums and architecture review boards.
• Approve, manage or escalate deviations from agreed data standards.
• Ensure data governance policies (including classification, access and retention) are embedded in delivery.
• Identify data‑related risks and compliance impacts and support appropriate mitigation.

Data quality and management

• Promote strong data quality, metadata and master data management practices.
• Define data quality indicators and frameworks for measurement and improvement.
• Drive adoption of data ownership and stewardship across the organisation.
• Ensure effective data lifecycle management from creation through to archival.

Operational and delivery support

• Support programmes and projects to translate business needs into robust and compliant data designs.
• Provide specialist data architecture advice to solution architects and development teams.
• Assist with complex data migrations, legacy transformations and API‑based integration approaches.
• Support data platform and tooling decisions, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards.

Security, compliance and collaboration

• Ensure data architecture supports the secure handling of personal, sensitive and restricted data.
• Align data designs with legal, regulatory and policy requirements, including data protection legislation.
• Work closely with security architecture colleagues to ensure secure data flows and access controls.
• Advocate data‑driven decision making and provide mentoring and guidance to colleagues across the organisation.

You can read more about a career in Digital and Data within the Civil Service in the Government Digital and Data Candidate Information Pack.

Person specification

We’re looking for the following skills:

Technical expertise

• Significant experience working as an enterprise or senior data architect within complex organisations.
• Strong experience in enterprise data modelling, data governance and data architecture design.
• Experience working within large‑scale, hybrid environments, including legacy systems, cloud platforms and third‑party services.
• Demonstrable experience designing and assuring data integration solutions, including APIs and distributed services.
• Knowledge of data quality, metadata management, master data management and data taxonomy approaches.
• Experience working with data standards and structured reporting formats (for example XBRL, iXBRL, JSON Schema or OpenAPI).
• Strong understanding of data security, privacy and risk, including secure handling of personal and sensitive data.
• Professional certifications or qualifications in architecture or data disciplines (for example TOGAF, DAMA, CDMP).
• Cloud platform data certifications (for example AWS, Azure or Google Cloud).
• Experience with modern data platforms, analytics ecosystems and data tooling.

Leadership and ways of working

• Proven ability to engage, influence and challenge a wide range of stakeholders, including at senior levels.
• Ability to balance immediate delivery needs with longer‑term strategic architectural vision.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving capability, with the confidence to make and defend architectural decisions.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non‑technical audiences.
• Experience working collaboratively across organisational and disciplinary boundaries.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Data Architecture

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,531, Companies House contributes £16,956 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We believe that our success is driven by the well-being and satisfaction of our team members at all levels of the organisation. At Companies House we’re committed to providing a comprehensive benefits package that goes beyond the ordinary, ensuring your career journey with us is not only fulfilling, but also rewarding. We pride ourselves on offering a quality work-life balance with our employee wellbeing being central to our working practices.

Head to Our benefits - Working for us - Recruitment (companieshouse.gov.uk) to find out more about the fantastic benefits package we have at Companies House.

We celebrate diversity...

As an equal opportunity employer, we celebrate diversity, being committed to ensuring we’re representative of the citizens we serve and creating an inclusive environment. Everyone in Companies House brings something different, and so will you. To fulfil our commitment to recruiting and attracting diverse talent we welcome applications from underrepresented groups. We also welcome applications from Welsh speakers.

We are proud to be a disability confident leader. Our recruitment process is fully inclusive and we can make adjustments as needed through our process. These could include having an interview buddy, extra time at interviews/assessments and receiving interview questions in advance, to name a few.

If you require any reasonable adjustments at application stage, or if you'd like to discuss any person-centred adjustments, please contact us by emailing recruitmentCH@companieshouse.gov.uk.

Read our 'Applying under the Disability Confidence Scheme (DCS)' guide to find out how to successfully complete an application under the Disability Confidence Scheme (DCS).

Where will you be working?

• We are currently using a hybrid approach to the way we work which provides opportunities for you to be adaptable in the way you work so that you can achieve a healthy balance between your work and home life. The degree of choice you have will depend on your role and your day-to-day work activities.
• Your manager will agree regular patterns of attendance with you; however, you may be required to make yourself available to attend the office more frequently when required to meet business needs.
• You could be based at either our Cardiff or Edinburgh office, and a hybrid employment contract will be provided as the standard offering. However, remote contracts may be considered as an exception whereby commuting to the office location of your team is not reasonably practicable.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

What will the process look like?

Stage 1 – Sift

An initial sift of applications will be carried out to create a shortlist. This will be based on the evidence provided for the following Success Profile elements: Experience

In your application form we’d like you to:

Write a CV: tell us about your employment history, including key responsibilities and achievements, that you believe align with this vacancy role.

Write a Personal Statement of 1000 words: tell us, using examples, how you meet the following criteria:

• Significant experience working as an enterprise or senior data architect within complex organisations.
• Strong experience in enterprise data modelling, data governance and data architecture design.
• Experience working within large‑scale, hybrid environments, including legacy systems, cloud platforms and third‑party services.
• Proven ability to engage, influence and challenge a wide range of stakeholders, including at senior levels.

We'd encourage you to break down your statement into clearly defined paragraphs that address each point above, use the full word count, and give us clear examples and evidence of the essential criteria listed.

We’re committed to being diverse and inclusive, so please make your application anonymous by removing all identifying personal information (such as your name and age) from your personal statement.

Please note: In the case of a large number of applications, before conducting a full sift as described above, the panel may conduct a pre-sift assessing all applications against the following Experience:

• Significant experience working as an enterprise or senior data architect within complex organisations.

Once the advert has closed, we will sift applications - this involves reading through them all, please bear with us as this can take some time.

We may raise the score required if we receive a high number of applications.

At sift we may choose to take through the highest performing candidates to the next stage. If, after the final stage is completed and roles are unfilled, we will proceed to invite lower scoring candidates to interview.

Stage 2 - Interview

Companies House uses a blended interview technique, allowing us to find out more about you. We use the Success Profile framework and at interview we will use Success Profiles assessing the Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills listed in the advert.

Candidates invited to interview will be asked to prepare a presentation, which will be assessing Experience:

• Significant experience working as an enterprise or senior data architect within complex organisations.

The presentation will be at the beginning of the interview, followed by Behaviour and Technical Skills questions. Full details of the presentation topic will be sent in the interview confirmation email.

The lead criteria to distinguish between tied candidates will be the presentation, which is assessing Experience: Significant experience working as an enterprise or senior data architect within complex organisations.

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles.

If after the interview you are not found appointable at the advertised grade, you may be offered the lower grade role if you are considered to meet the skills, experience and behaviours for the lower level. The benchmark for appointing to the lower grade is set at the start of each campaign.

All offers will be made in merit order.

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of recruitment based on fair and open competition with decisions made on the basis of merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles.

Dates (dates are indicative only and could be subject to change)

• Closing date: 17th May 2026 at 23:55
• Sifting: w/c 18th May 2026
• Interview: w/c 1st and 8th June 2026

Sponsorship

Companies House cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. Companies House holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles, and this campaign does not qualify. Should you apply for this role and require sponsorship, your application may be rejected, and any provisional offers of employment withdrawn.

Security Clearance

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements for Security Check (SC) before they can be appointed.

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

Further information on National Security Vetting

Pre-Employment Checking

In line with Government guidance, successfully appointed candidates will need to provide documents for our Right to Work checks.

From June 2026, applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). Your personal details (name, National Insurance number, and date of birth) will be checked against the Civil Service Resourcing Extract IFD.

This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued.

If your details appear on this database, you will not be offered employment unless you can demonstrate exceptional circumstances. Companies House, acting on behalf of the vacancy holder, will inform you if your application is refused for this reason.

Please note: You are not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Saskia Aubrey
• Email : saubrey@companieshouse.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitmentch@companieshouse.gov.uk

Further information

We welcome applications in Welsh / Rydym yn croesawi ceisiadau yn y Gymraeg. Selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. In accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles, our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of appointment on the basis of merit by fair and open competition. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact infopoint@companieshouse.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission .

info@csc.gov.uk

Civil Service Commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road SW1A 2HQ