Consulting Principal - Programme Architceture

About Cognizant Consulting

Cognizant Consulting is a global community of 6,000+ experts helping clients reimagine their business. We blend industry and technology advisory capability to create innovative business solutions for Fortune 500 clients.

About the Role

As a Programme Architect, you will provide senior leadership across a high-profile public sector data modernization engagement. You will be a valued member of the team and work collaboratively with the engagement lead, primary teams, and client stakeholders.

In this role, you will:

• Provide senior architectural oversight across the full programme, ensuring the Data Platform and Data Products workstreams are architecturally coherent and delivering towards a unified target operating model.
• Own the programme-level architecture documentation, including the overarching solution architecture, integration model, and architectural decision log.
• Lead programme-level planning, ensuring workstreams have clear, realistic, and coordinated delivery roadmaps with well-defined milestones and dependencies.
• Define, document, and socialise the critical success factors for the programme, ensuring all team members, stakeholders, and partners have a shared and consistent understanding of what success looks like.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior client stakeholders, acting as a trusted point of contact for programme status, direction, and assurance.

Work Model

We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring presence in London and remote work. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our wellbeing programs.

What you must have to be considered

• Minimum seven years of experience in architecture, programme leadership, or senior delivery roles, with a track record of successfully leading complex data or technology transformation programmes.
• Strong understanding of data platform and data product concepts, with sufficient technical depth to engage credibly with architects and engineers across both workstreams.
• Proven experience leading programme-level planning, dependency management, and governance in a complex multi-workstream environment.
• Demonstrable experience defining and tracking critical success factors and benefits realisation in technology change programmes.
• Experience working within UK public sector organisations, with a clear understanding of governance, assurance, and stakeholder complexities.

These will help you succeed

• Experience as a programme or solution architect on a Databricks or cloud data platform programme.
• Familiarity with data quality frameworks and tooling (such as Great Expectations, dbt tests, or Databricks Lakehouse Monitoring) and the ability to ensure these are prioritised and embedded within the delivery plan.
• Familiarity with TOGAF or equivalent architecture frameworks; comfortable working within an Agile delivery environment using JIRA for planning, backlog management, and progress tracking.
• Experience working in a consulting or systems integrator environment, managing both client relationships and internal delivery teams.
• Previous experience delivering operating model transformation alongside a technology programme.

We’re excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Don’t hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum requirements listed. Think about your transferable experiences and unique skills that make you stand out as someone who can bring new and exciting things to this role.