About the RoleThe Frontline Group are looking for a Lead Data Solutions Architect. This great role will allow you to design and build solutions — bringing together products, data platforms, pipelines, orchestration, and applied intelligence in a way that is practical, scalable, and genuinely useful. This is a hands-on solution architecture role for someone who enjoys designing and building real systems, not operating at arm’s length.
Job OpportunityAs Lead Data Solutions Architect, you will shape how Frontline’s products use data end to end — from how information is captured, through how it flows via pipelines and orchestration, to how it supports insight, automation, and decision-making in live products.Data and analytics are central to the role, but it is not a narrow “data-only” position. You will design complete solutions, thinking across products, integrations, data platforms, and intelligent workflows.You will report directly to the Technology Director and work closely with the Head of Engineering & Platform. Engineering owns delivery and runtime behaviour; you own solution design, data architecture, orchestration patterns, and applied intelligence, staying close enough to the build to ensure designs work in practice. As our Lead Data Architect, you will be expected to design, build, and iterate.You’ll be responsible for• Designing end-to-end data-led and intelligence-driven solutions across Frontline’s products, from application data capture through pipelines, orchestration, analytics, and downstream actions.• Hands-on design and build of data pipelines, including ingestion, transformation, modelling, and consumption, ensuring data is reliable, well-structured, and usable in live systems.• Designing and implementing data orchestration and workflow patterns that coordinate pipelines, services, analytics, and automated actions reliably in production.• Building and evolving agent-style, workflow-driven solutions where data, rules, models, and services work together to automate decisions or guide users inside products, with a strong focus on control, explain ability, and robustness.• Shaping solution designs that bring together applications, data platforms, analytics, orchestration, and integrations, rather than treating intelligence as a separate layer.• Producing clear, lightweight solution designs that describe data flow, storage choices, analytics patterns, orchestration logic, and integration points, with a focus on simplicity and long-term maintainability.• Working directly with modern data platforms, including Snowflake and Microsoft Fabric (or equivalent), and SQL-based data stores, to prototype, implement, and evolve data and analytics solutions.• Helping teams make pragmatic design decisions around performance, scalability, reliability, and cost, based on how products are actually used in production.• Defining and promoting practical data quality, modelling, and orchestration practices, ensuring solutions are trusted and reusable without introducing heavy governance.• Working closely with engineers and product-minded teams to translate business problems into buildable pipelines, orchestrations, and intelligent behaviours.• Designing integration patterns where data and decisions need to flow cleanly between products, supporting platforms, and external systems.• Supporting other engineers through hands-on collaboration, review, and problem-solving, rather than architecture boards or document-heavy processes.The technology environmentFrontline operates in a .NET-based environment, with cloud-hosted platforms and modern DevOps tooling.On the data side, we use modern data platform architectures, including:• cloud data warehouses and lakehouse-style approaches• platforms such as Snowflake and Microsoft Fabric• SQL-based data modelling• orchestrated pipelines and workflows embedded directly into productsYou don’t need to be a specialist in every tool, but you do need to be comfortable building and owning data pipelines, orchestration logic, and intelligent workflows that can run confidently in production.
Essential SkillsSkills and experience we’re looking for• Hands-on experience designing and building modern data architectures, including data warehouse, lakehouse, and end-to-end data platform patterns.• Strong experience with cloud-based analytical platforms such as Snowflake or equivalent modern data platforms (e.g. Fabric, Databricks), and understanding where they fit within a wider solution.• Practical experience designing and implementing data pipelines, covering ingestion, transformation, modelling, and consumption using SQL-first and cloud-native approaches.• Experience designing lakehouse-style architectures, with clear separation between raw, refined, and curated data layers.• Understanding of data orchestration and workflow patterns, and how pipelines, analytics, and downstream actions are coordinated reliably.• Experience embedding analytics and data-driven behaviour into products, not just producing standalone dashboards.• Familiarity with agentic or workflow-driven intelligent systems, applied pragmatically within production environments.• Strong grasp of integration patterns between applications, data platforms, and external systems.• Comfortable working hands-on alongside engineers in product-led teams with end-to-end ownership.Frontline is at a point where the way we design data platforms, pipelines, orchestration, and intelligent behaviour will shape how effective and scalable our products become. There is real opportunity to simplify existing approaches, modernise how decisions and workflows are automated, and build foundations that allow products to become smarter over time without becoming fragile or over-engineered.This role gives you direct influence over that direction, with real hands-on impact.This role is for someone who:• enjoys designing and building data platforms, pipelines, and orchestrated solutions• wants to work hands-on with intelligent, agent-style workflows• thinks in products first, not tools• wants influence without layers of process
About CompanyJoin the Frontline Group — Making the Complex Simple Frontline Group is made up of three dynamic business units—Frontline Distribution Solutions, Frontline Retail Solutions, and Gold Key Media—supported by key enabling functions. United by our mission to ‘Make the Complex Simple’, we’re the UK’s leading retail sales, marketing, and distribution company, with a strong presence in publishing and home entertainment. Who We Work With We partner with iconic UK magazine publishers, representing titles like Radio Times, Good Housekeeping, TV Choice, Heat, Top Gear, Grazia, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Empire, National Geographic, and many more. We also work with major film studios to manage DVD distribution in grocery retail: and run the book category for retailers such as Morrisons and Waitrose. We are currently expanding into additional categories such as music, collectables and other exciting products. At Gold Key Media we work closely with key venues such as four and five star hotels, airport lounges and world famous events internationally. What We Do We collaborate with UK and international retailers, wholesalers, and supply chain partners to deliver on our clients’ commercial goals with the vision to be the most valued Distribution and Retail solutions partner. Through Gold Key Media, we also manage premium brand placements across global events, travel hubs, and hospitality venues. Who We Are Jointly owned by Bauer Media and Immediate Media Company (Hubert Burda Media), Frontline Group offers career opportunities across a wide range of business areas. We’re passionate about developing talent and have a strong track record of helping our people grow and thrive. Our Culture Our teams are made up of trusted industry professionals. We celebrate diversity and ensure everyone feels welcomed, valued, and empowered to be their authentic selves. Our I ACT values—Impact, Ambition, Collaboration, and Trust—drive sustainable performance, business growth, continuous innovation, and a happy work environment.
DE&IBring ‘You’ to the interview Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of everything we do. We want to make sure that our selection processes are transparent and fair, providing a level playing field for anyone who wants to come and work with us. Therefore, if you require any adjustments to an interview process, please feel free to get in touch with the Hiring Manager who will be happy to discuss your needs in complete confidence. Curious what it’s like to work here? Visit our Frontline Group website to hear directly from our people. Please also review our Candidate Privacy Policy available on our site.
BenefitsBenefits That Work for You We offer a comprehensive benefits package to support your wellbeing and lifestyle, including: 28 days holiday plus bank holidays (pro rata) Contributory pension, life assurance, and income protection Learning and development opportunitiesExecutive coaching and mentoring available to all Informal hybrid working Additional leave: volunteering, family-friendly, and loyalty schemes Wellbeing support, including our Employee Assistance Programme On-site gym and parking at Stuart House,
PeterboroughReward Gateway scheme – Smart Spending AppPlus flexible, salary-sacrifice options:Private medical insurance Car scheme Holiday purchase scheme
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