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Lead Architect, Data & AI Platforms

wppmedia
Contract type
Ongoing
Work mode
Remote
Experience
Lead / principal · Not stated

Level inferred from job title

Job description

Lead Architect for Choreograph Consulting at WPP Media, owning the technical design of Azure-first data and AI platforms. The role is engineering-first, defining reusable patterns and reference architectures and proving them in code, with some client-facing advisory.

At a glance

Work mode
Remote

What you'll do

  • Architect and implement Azure data platforms for clients, including landing zones, networking, identity, and data platform services (Azure Data Lake Storage, Synapse, Databricks), extending patterns to AWS or GCP where a client estate requires it
  • Design and implement key data ingress patterns across data platforms, focusing on Azure Data Factory pipelines and data flows for ingestion, transformation, and orchestration; establish patterns for parameterization, retries, and error handling to meet pipeline SLAs, then work with the Data Engineering team to scale those patterns into production delivery
  • Deliver infrastructure-as-code using Terraform; create reusable modules and policy-as-code guardrails; establish repo strategies, branching, pull requests, multi-stage pipelines, approvals, and automated promotion gates
  • Turn proven designs into packaged, deployable assets (Terraform modules, pipeline templates, reference implementations and accelerators) with documentation and worked examples delivery teams need to reuse them across clients
  • Introduce DataOps practices (automated unit/integration testing, data quality checks) and build the AI layer on top of it: vector search, RAG workflows and agentic capabilities
  • Build working prototypes of new data and AI concepts (RAG, agentic workflows, streaming and real-time patterns) and demonstrate them to clients to shape demand, test feasibility and de-risk delivery
  • Own the technical relationship with client and agency stakeholders; run discovery and design workshops, present at design authorities, and translate commercial objectives into phased roadmaps, costs and trade-offs
  • Codify private endpoints, managed identities, Key Vault-backed secrets, RBAC, network isolation, data encryption and Purview cataloging/lineage as reusable modules
  • Optimize compute and storage across Spark clusters, autoscaling, partitioning, and serverless options; track, report, and drive cloud cost savings
  • Build monitoring into pipelines and platforms using Azure Monitor and Log Analytics, and define the SLOs and alerting the owning engineering team runs against
  • Lead streaming and micro-batch patterns (Event Hubs, Kafka on Azure, Structured Streaming) where required by client use cases
  • Mentor engineers, review pull requests/IaC, and hand over patterns and accelerators in a state the Data Engineering team can run with

What we're looking for

  • Proven track record in cloud platform and data engineering, with deep expertise in Microsoft Azure and hands-on exposure to AWS and/or Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
  • Strong proficiency in Terraform applied with a software engineering mindset (reusable modules, testing, modular code structures)
  • Hands-on experience with Azure Data Factory, Synapse Analytics, and Azure Databricks (Spark)
  • Strong CI/CD experience using GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps for both IaC and data workloads
  • Solid coding capability in Python and SQL; performance tuning for Spark/Databricks; data modelling for analytical and AI workloads
  • Able to walk through data platform code, Terraform modules or pipelines personally authored; shortlisted candidates will be asked to talk through their own code and design decisions at interview
  • Examples of reference architectures, reusable modules or accelerators designed, packaged and adopted by teams other than your own
  • Demonstrated ability to consult directly with senior client and agency stakeholders, including non-technical business audiences, present pragmatic technical solutions, and lead architectural workshops unaided
  • Ability to implement VNets, private endpoints, managed identities, Key Vault, RBAC and governance patterns as Terraform, rather than through portal configuration or change-request processes
  • A hands-on builder who sets reference architectures and patterns, leading by example through direct code contributions and rigorous code/IaC reviews
  • Strong scripting/programming skills (Python, SQL, Terraform); automates everything possible via IaC and CI/CD
  • Expert on Azure and comfortable across AWS and GCP, designing for operability, security, and cost while preparing platforms for emerging AI architectures
  • Able to facilitate client workshops, write concise design docs/runbooks, align cross-functional teams, and mentor engineers
  • Measures success with deployment frequency, lead time for changes, data pipeline SLAs, cost efficiency, and platform reliability metrics

Nice to have

  • Production experience shipping RAG or agentic AI workloads to live users (vector databases, LLM orchestration frameworks)
  • Event-driven architectures with Event Hubs, Kafka, Stream Analytics, or Functions; CDC patterns
  • Lakehouse/Delta patterns on Databricks; MLflow and feature store awareness
  • Data quality tooling and frameworks

Your team

Choreograph Consulting

Choreograph is WPP's global data products and technology company, delivering through the Open Media Studio, an AI-enabled media and data platform; over 1,000 people across 20 markets.

How to get hired

  1. 1Shortlisted candidates will be asked to talk through their own code and design decisions at interview

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About WPP Media

The trusted growth partner for the world's leading brands

WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale, connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence. Choreograph is WPP's global data products and technology company, delivering through the Open Media Studio, an AI-enabled media and data platform.

Mission

Transform marketing by building the fastest, most connected data platform that bridges marketing strategy to scaled activation.

Key facts

  • over 1,000 (Choreograph), across 20 markets
  • Media, data and technology
  • WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit
  • Choreograph is a leading WPP Media brand and WPP's global data products and technology company
  • Choreograph team is over 1,000 strong across 20 markets around the world
  • Delivers through the Open Media Studio, an AI-enabled media and data platform

What they value

  • Be Extraordinary by Leading Collectively to Inspire transformational Creativity
  • Create an Open environment by Balancing People and Client Experiences by Cultivating Trust
  • Lead Optimistically by Championing Growth and Development to Mobilize the Enterprise