Job Description

Pearson is the world’s leading learning company, helping people of all ages make progress in their lives through education. We deliver high-quality content, assessments, and digital services to learners, educators, and institutions globally.

Our Team is responsible for the delivery of nearly 4 million examination results per annum, including A-Level, GCSE, BTEC and T-levels for students in UK and International centres. Our in-house systems process every learner from registration to marking and certification, in a highly regulated business. We currently operate a hybrid estate of predominantly bespoke systems, with an ongoing strategic transformation programme to migrate from on-prem to cloud based, cost effective, scalable, and resilient services.

About the job

As a Lead Specialist, Data Architect at Pearson, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the future of data across the Pearson Qualifications (PQ) enterprise. You will define and govern the enterprise data architecture for a portfolio of net-new transformation systems, ensuring coherence from source through integration and operational use.

You’ll lead the creation of enterprise data models and standards that underpin new digital services and platforms. By designing consistent structures, vocabularies, and data flows from the ground up, you will enable scalable, interoperable systems that support PQ’s future operating model.

Key Responsibilities:

• Define, own, and evolve the enterprise data architecture vision, principles, and standards for new transformation platforms.

• Act as design authority for enterprise data models, data flows, and integration patterns across net-new systems.

• Ensure alignment between business strategy, target operating model, and data architecture.

• Lead the design and governance of conceptual, logical, and physical data models and enterprise vocabulary for new domains and services.

• Establish and enforce modelling standards, reviewing and approving domain and solution data models for transformation initiatives.

• Provide architectural assurance for new systems, vendors, and delivery partners, identifying risks and defining mitigation strategies.

• Define target-state data structures and integration patterns that enable scalable, interoperable platforms.

• Partner with business and technology stakeholders to translate complex requirements into clear, reusable data models and standards.

• Guide platform and tooling decisions to ensure interoperability and consistency across new services.

• Monitor emerging technologies and architectural patterns to inform future-ready data design.

• Ensure data architecture supports data sovereignty, residency, and regulatory requirements across jurisdictions.

Required Skills and Competencies:

• Proven ability to define and govern data architecture across complex, multi-system environments.
• Able to work effectively with senior stakeholders and delivery teams to align on architecture and standards.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, translating complex data structures into clear, actionable designs.
• Expertise in conceptual, logical, and physical data modelling for large-scale, integrated systems built from first principles.
• Strong ability to define, implement, and enforce data standards, semantics, and governance controls.
• Experience designing data models and integration patterns for new platforms, products, or digital services.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and shaping data structures in evolving transformation programmes.

Experience Required:

• Proven track record leading data architecture for large-scale transformation programmes delivering net-new platforms or services.
• Demonstrated experience defining enterprise data models, standards, and integration patterns adopted across multiple domains.
• Extensive experience designing end-to-end data structures and flows for new systems, ensuring interoperability and scalability.
• Significant experience operating within architectural governance frameworks and influencing senior stakeholders, vendors, and delivery partners.