Head of Data

ShareForce is partnering with a leading UK wealth management organisation undertaking a major AI and data transformation. We are looking for a Head of Data to define the strategy, architecture and governance behind its production-grade AI capability.

Sitting within a specialist AI Pod and reporting directly to the CITO / Transformation Director, you will take ownership of the data foundations supporting regulated, AI-enabled adviser journeys. This is a senior, high-impact role combining strategic leadership with hands-on architecture and engineering. You will build modern data platforms, establish robust governance and ensure the information powering AI workflows is accurate, secure and fit for purpose.

The Opportunity You will:

• Own and deliver the enterprise AI data strategy and target data architecture.
• Design end-to-end solutions spanning Microsoft Fabric, OneLake, Azure AI Foundry, Dataverse and third-party platforms.
• Build and optimise cloud-native pipelines that provide trusted, production-ready data for AI consumption.
• Develop scalable transformation, cleansing and enrichment processes across structured and unstructured datasets.
• Implement data quality frameworks, validation controls and correction-in-flight capabilities.
• Design transcript and AI data pipelines supporting adviser workflows and intelligent automation.
• Lead data migration quality assurance across major CRM transformation programmes.
• Establish governance covering lineage, ownership, classification, access control and auditability.
• Ensure platforms meet FCA expectations, UK GDPR requirements and internal security standards.
• Produce architecture documentation, data models and governance artefacts suitable for executive and regulatory audiences.
• Partner with AI, engineering, IT, Transformation and business teams to shape the long-term evolution of the data estate.
• Act as the organisation's senior data authority, advising leadership on architecture, risk and delivery priorities., * Own the data platform and define the enterprise architecture from the ground up.
• Influence AI, data and technology strategy at the highest level.
• Enable production AI solutions used within live, regulated adviser journeys.
• Work on a significant transformation programme at the intersection of AI, cloud engineering and financial regulation.
• Report directly to senior technology and transformation leadership.
• Benefit from flexible remote working with access to regional UK offices.

• A strong track record of designing and delivering enterprise data platforms and cloud-native engineering solutions.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Lake or comparable modern data platforms.
• Expertise in production data pipelines, transformation frameworks and scalable data modelling.
• Strong SQL and Python skills, including Pandas, PySpark or equivalent technologies.
• Experience designing data architectures for AI, machine learning or intelligent automation.
• Deep knowledge of data quality engineering, validation, monitoring and automated remediation.
• Experience integrating Azure data services, REST APIs and enterprise systems.
• The ability to operate at strategic level while remaining close to architecture and engineering delivery.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, including executive-level technical documentation.
• Experience in a regulated environment where data governance and quality are business-critical.

Highly Desirable:

• Microsoft Dataverse and Dynamics 365 experience.
• Knowledge of UK financial services, wealth management or FCA-regulated environments.
• Understanding of Consumer Duty and modern data governance practices.
• Experience supporting LLM and AI workloads, including RAG, embeddings and AI data preparation.
• Enterprise CRM migration or large-scale data transformation experience.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Purview, Azure Data Factory, Synapse or related technologies.
• Familiarity with wealth management platforms such as CashCalc or Oxford Risk.