Data Architect - SC Cleared £550 p/d Outside IR35Remote, occasional London travelOctober Start - 6 months, extension expected We are recruiting a Data Architect to support a major data modernisation programme within a complex central government environment. The role will focus on data retention and deletion, helping establish the governance, architecture and controls required as the organisation transitions its data estate to a modern cloud-based platform. This position combines data architecture and management expertise with extensive stakeholder engagement across technical, operational, policy and compliance teams. Role responsibilities Define and maintain data architecture principles, standards and guardrails covering data retention, deletion and lifecycle management. Support the development and implementation of global and local data-retention approaches across multiple products and data domains. Contribute to the alpha phase of a data estate modernisation programme, qualifying use cases, validating requirements and testing architectural assumptions. Work with architecture and engineering teams to embed retention and deletion controls across different layers of the target data platform. Advise product and delivery teams on non-compliant datasets, required remediation and appropriate data-management practices. Lead engagement with technical, compliance, policy and operational stakeholders to resolve dependencies and progress decisions. Produce and review architecture ..... full job details .....