Job Description
At Aberdeen, our ambition is to be the UK’s leading Wealth & Investments group.
Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry’s best talent.
Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders, and society.
We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service, supported by leading technology and talent.
Aberdeen comprises three businesses, interactive investor (ii), Investments, and Adviser, each of which focuses on meeting and adapting to our clients’ evolving needs:
interactive investor, the UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, enables individuals in the UK to plan, save, and invest in the way that works for them.
Our Adviser business provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers, enabling them to create value for their customers.
Our Investments business is a specialist asset manager that focuses on areas where we have both strength and scale to capitalise on the key themes shaping the market, through either public markets or alternative asset classes.
About the department
The Adviser business provides support, expertise and technology for financial advisers in the UK to bring value for their businesses and their clients.
The ambition of the Adviser business is to be the easiest partner that advisers will do business with, and our purpose is to help advisory businesses thrive, so they can help their customers prosper. We will achieve our ambition by focusing on three things: helping advisers do business their way, making it easy and putting our strength to work for them.
About the Team
We’re committed to a product operating model where teams are empowered, autonomous, and accountable, giving you the freedom to innovate and own solutions from concept to delivery.
Join a forward-thinking team at the heart of Aberdeen Adviser business, where we lead the end-to-end design, discovery, and delivery of cutting-edge digital products and services for Financial Advice firms.
If you’re passionate about delivering real impact, our focus on customer and business outcomes will give you the opportunity to make a tangible difference.
You’ll be part of a team that values collaboration, autonomy, and a growth mindset, helping us stay at the forefront of the market as we design digital experiences that supercharge advice firms to delight their clients.
About the role
We are looking for an exceptionally talented and knowledgeable Principal Data Architect to deliver best practice data architecture for the Adviser business, and to help integrate data with our clients. They will own the technical design and delivery of data and software architecture, whilst embracing the latest technology. This opportunity is perfect for someone who wants a senior “hands on” technical role with senior stakeholder interaction.
This role will play a critical part in driving data-driven decision-making and innovation within the company. It requires someone who can blend a mix of consultancy with advanced technical skills to work with C-suite stakeholders, within Aberdeen and our clients. You will need to be a team player and collaborator, working across multi-discipline teams and mentoring other technical specialists.
As Principal Data Architect, you will be the strategic authority on data architecture across the organisation. You will define and evolve the enterprise-wide architecture that underpins analytics, reporting, and operational systems, ensuring it is future-ready, resilient, and aligned with business strategy. You will set the vision for how data is structured, integrated, and governed, and lead the development of architectural standards, patterns, and principles that guide technical delivery across teams. Collaborating with engineering, analytics, software development, and governance functions, you will ensure the data platform is scalable, secure, and adaptable to emerging technologies.
Your leadership will enable the organisation to maximise the value of data as a strategic asset, driving innovation, regulatory compliance, and long-term growth.
Key Responsibilities
Lead the design and implementation of scalable data and software architectures across cloud and hybrid environments.
Architect and optimize modern data warehousing solutions, with a preference for Microsoft Fabric and other cloud-native platforms.
Develop and maintain robust data models (conceptual, logical, physical) across relational, dimensional, and NoSQL paradigms.
Write and optimize complex SQL queries and Python scripts for data processing, transformation, and analysis.
Apply data architecture frameworks such as TOGAF and DAMA-DMBOK to guide enterprise data strategy and governance.
Design and implement data integration pipelines using ETL/ELT methodologies and API-driven architectures.
Oversee data governance initiatives including metadata management, data quality, and master data management (MDM).
Evaluate and integrate big data technologies and streaming platforms such as Apache Kafka and Apache Spark.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align data architecture with business goals and technical requirements.
About the candidate
Exceptional stakeholder engagement, communication, and organisational skills.
Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving capabilities.
Advocate for continuous learning and professional development.
Experienced in mentoring and managing data professionals.
Extensive track record of delivering high-impact data architecture solutions.
Proven success implementing robust data architectures across multiple organisations.
Financial services experience, with domain knowledge considered desirable
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.
Our benefits
There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.
When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefits here.
Our business
Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients’ changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.
An inclusive way of working
Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we’d like to hear from you.
At Aberdeen we’ve adopted a ‘blended working’ approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.
An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.
We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.
