Lead Data Architect

Mars Petcare consists of five Divisions: Pet Nutrition, Royal Canin, Mars Veterinary Health & Diagnostics and Kinship. The Pet Nutrition division is currently embarking on a 3-year Digital Transformational program that aims to digitise Mars irreversibly.

As part of our Pet Nutrition digital first strategy, our purpose is to establish strong Digital & Data Foundations (DDF) for PN products through transversal foundational technology & data capabilities that enable the creation of scalable fit-for-purpose solutions, deliver superior propositions and fuel integrated supply chain, with Increased agility and reduced cost. Some of the key deliverables we will look to unlock are:

• From siloed, small-scale product performance evaluation to a fully Integrated, data driven performance assessment through real-time predictive solutions; maximising capability and reducing evaluation time & cost by building confidence to drive superior propositions across the portfolio.
• From traditional Innovation and scale-up protocols to innovative digital modelling which enables rapid scenario evaluation, accelerated development and scale-up, with increased agility and reduced costs/resources.
• From dispersed physical quality records to digitalised quality standards, capturing of data and trend predictions, which can be leveraged in order to proactively mitigate emerging risks and avoid non-quality Impacts.
• From fragmented legacy IT systems holding unreliable data to an integrated R&D and SUPPLY digital & data ecosystem with respective sub-domains to enact step-change operational efficiency and maximize business value by confidently utilising trustworthy data.

• Previous experience as a Senior Data Architect essential
• Proven experience as a senior data architect, or similar leadership role in data strategy.
• Strong background in data modelling, architecture frameworks, and modern data integration methods.
• Deep understanding of cloud-based data platforms, analytics solutions, and enterprise data governance.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence and align across business and technology functions.
• Experience building and evolving data architectures that scale and adapt to changing business needs.
• Passion for coaching and enabling others with a collaborative leadership approach.
• Knowledge of data security, regulatory compliance, and GDPR best practices
• Previous experience in CPG industry would be ideal

As a Data Architecture Lead in the DDF team, your key responsibilities are as follows:

1. Technical Proficiency:

• Act as a thought leader and trusted advisor, supporting teams in understanding business objectives, data requirements, processes, and enabling technologies.
• Lead the definition and execution of data architecture strategies across multiple business domains and data platforms.
• Drive the development of scalable, integrated data models and architectures across raw, trusted, and harmonized zones.
• Define and execute the data product strategy for assigned business areas in collaboration with analytics and business teams.
• Proactively identify opportunities where data can drive business change and communicate them persuasively to stakeholders.
• Ensure all data architecture efforts are aligned with the broader business vision and strategic priorities and provide architectural oversight across delivery initiatives.
• Collaborate with other data architects to ensure consistent and integrated use of data assets across the organization.
• Identify cross-portfolio data dependencies or issues and lead resolution efforts.
• Provide strategic guidance on data domains, process analysis, data analysis, and modeling techniques.
• Develop and maintain current and future state data architectures, models, and roadmaps.
• Continuously monitor data models to ensure they remain relevant and actionable, adapting as business needs evolve.
• Promote awareness and understanding of data architectures across the organization.
• Mentor and coach solution / data product architects and modelers to build internal data architecture capability.
• Advocate for best practices, tools, and methods related to data architecture.
• Ensure compliance with data protection, security policies, and GDPR.

Key Deliverables Involvement:

• Canonical Models: Define and validate domain-wide data structures and models
• Reference Architectures: Own and maintain reusable architectural patterns
• High-Level Designs (HLDs): Review and approve HLDs from Solution Architects
• Key Design Decisions (KDDs): Own and govern major architectural decisions for alignment and bring it up to the Architecture Review Board and beyond (which I would like to setup going forward)
• Architecture Option Assessments: Lead decisioning on tooling, modelling, and patterns

Tool Responsibilities:

• Define modelling standards and templates within Erwin
• Review and validate high-level models and reference architecture libraries
• Approve changes to shared or enterprise-wide canonical models

2. Learning and Growth; Contribution to Solutions:

• Collaborate with the team to learn and apply the best practices in data architecture.
• Actively participate in projects, gaining experience in developing high-quality, scalable, and sustainable data solutions.
• Stay updated with emerging technologies and trends in data architecture, contributing to the team's knowledge base by sharing insights and ideas.
• Assist in the development of data solutions within the Pet Nutrition data platform, working on challenging aspects under the guidance of senior team members.
• Contribute to the management of data from various divisions to generate valuable data assets related to pets and pet owners.
• Support the maintenance of a semantic and intelligent data layer to contribute to the comprehensive leadership of the data solution within the environment.

3. Collaboration and Communication:

• Collaborate closely with analysts, data scientists, and other team members to understand their requirements and assist in translating them into actionable data solutions.
• Maintain effective communication with the Director of Data Architecture, actively participating in team discussions and sharing ideas to improve platform excellence.

• Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.
• Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
• Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
• An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.

#TBDDT