Lead Data Architect

Are you passionate about turning data into a strategic asset that drives real-world impact Do you thrive at the intersection of business strategy, cutting-edge technology, and architectural innovation If so, this is your opportunity to shape the data foundations of one of the world's leading reinsurance organisations - and help make the world more resilient.

About the Role

As a Lead Data Architect at Swiss Re, you will be at the heart of our Data Analytics Solutions - guiding end-to-end data architecture and serving as the critical bridge between business stakeholders and engineering teams. Your work will directly influence how data, analytics, and AI create value for our clients and partners. This is a high-impact, high-visibility role where architectural excellence meets strategic purpose.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate across boundaries - Partner with P&C Reinsurance business and IT teams, as well as the broader Swiss Re organisation, to translate complex business requirements into clear, actionable data architecture designs.

• Design with purpose - Create logical data models and end-to-end data flows that are scalable, reliable, and tightly aligned with evolving business needs.

• Lead and enable - Guide and mentor data engineers in implementing physical data models, data flows, and data access controls, fostering a culture of architectural excellence and continuous improvement.

• Empower through clarity - Own and evolve data product definitions, data catalogues, data models, and other design artefacts that empower data consumers across the organisation.

• Embrace innovation - Leverage AI tools and techniques within the data architecture function to drive efficiency, accelerate delivery, and unlock new possibilities.

• Ensure compliance and trust - Uphold alignment with Swiss Re's data governance standards and security requirements, ensuring data is managed as a trusted, high-quality asset across its full lifecycle.

About the Team

At Swiss Re, our mission is to make the world more resilient. The P&C Re Architecture team plays a pivotal role in advancing that mission - shaping the data, technology, and architectural foundations that enable better risk understanding, stronger decisions, and trusted analytics across the reinsurance business.

We are a collaborative, forward-thinking team that works closely with colleagues across business and IT to build the infrastructure that powers trusted data, advanced analytics, and AI-driven insights. Our work supports better decisions, strengthens resilience, and creates lasting value for our clients around the globe. If you are energised by solving complex data challenges at enterprise scale and want your work to have a meaningful real-world impact, you will feel right at home here.

About You

You understand that data is a strategic asset and take pride in building solutions and establishing processes that make it trustworthy, accessible, and impactful. You bring a collaborative spirit, a curious mind, and the confidence to communicate complex architectural concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences. You are comfortable leading others, navigating ambiguity, and working across cultures and time zones to deliver meaningful outcomes.

We Are Looking for Candidates Who Meet These Requirements:

• Strong data modelling expertise - Proven, hands-on experience with both 3NF and dimensional modelling approaches, with the ability to design models that serve diverse analytical needs across the enterprise.

• Data architecture experience - Solid working knowledge of data warehousing, data lake, and data mesh architectures in complex, enterprise-scale environments.

• Data management proficiency - Practical experience enabling data analytics professionals through data sourcing, data profiling, data transformation, data quality management, master/reference data management, data cataloguing, data lifecycle management, and access management.

• Architectural leadership - Demonstrated experience providing architectural guidance to teams of data engineers, with a track record of translating strategy into execution and driving engineering best practices.

• Communication and stakeholder management - Strong written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to engage effectively with multicultural, globally distributed teams and translate business needs into well-structured, data-centric solutions.

These Are Additional Nice to Haves:

• Re/Insurance industry knowledge - Familiarity with the Property & Casualty (P&C) domain, including an understanding of how data supports risk assessment and decision-making across the end-to-end reinsurance value chain.

• Experience working with AI/ML-driven data platforms and integrating AI capabilities into data architecture practices.

• Exposure to cloud-native data platforms (e.g., Azure, AWS, GCP) and modern data stack tooling.

• Experience working in globally distributed, cross-functional teams across multiple time zones.

• Familiarity with data mesh principles and experience driving decentralised data ownership models.