Information Architect – Operations

Location: Barcelona (on-site).

Our Enterprise Data Office (EDO) is a recently formed central IT function accountable for enterprise strategy and standards in Data. The organization works closely with data delivery teams across Business Technology Group (BTG – Business Unit) IT teams and data governance teams SET Area Data Offices (SEDO), supporting the build of critical applications and/or AstraZeneca data products including Data Mesh, analytical solutions, and with a view to enterprise information architectures and thinking.

Our global Enterprise Information Architecture (EIA) Practice works within the EDO, specializing in Enterprise Information Architecture, Information Architecture, Data Modelling and Data Analysis. We design the key aspects of the data world for AstraZeneca across our global customer businesses, offering critical services focused upon the ingestion, extraction, processing, transformation, transport, storage and representation of knowledge, analysis and modelling of our essential data and facts. We use leading thinking, processes, and methods to achieve enduring outcomes for projects and business-as-usual working, and lead on enterprise-level, cross interpersonal information architecture, for example around the definition and delivery of Data Products and alignment with Data Mesh and Data Platforms and FAIR Data thinking across our businesses.

The EIA practice is seeking an Information Architect, that aligns to the Operations line of business encompassing Global Supply Chain and Manufacturing.

The Operations Information Architecture team supports the following business capability areas:

• Develop:  Development and commercialisation of medicines emerging from R&D
• Plan:  Supply chain planning and optimisation
• Source: Procurement of externally sourced materials and contract manufacturing
• Make: Manufacturing and quality release of medicines in a validated (GMP) environment
• Delivery: the delivery of medicines to patients

The role will focus on the definition and governance of enterprise information architectures, strategies, designs, models and consolidating thinking and artefacts across Operations, one or more projects/programmes, to drive out enterprise thinking and delivery across AstraZeneca IT function. The role will also support the definition of enterprise Data Strategies which may include information and data, regulatory or technical governances in a Data Mesh architecture, data innovation, enterprise architectures, governance policies standards and procedures.

Typical Accountabilities

Enterprise Information Architecture Accountabilities:

• Responsible for defining, leading, and delivering coherent strategic and tactical architectural thinking across information and data architectures, MRDM, data strategies, and information and data governances.
• Responsible for working within the Enterprise Data Architecture Framework and defining, extending, managing, and benchmarking projects against leading practices, models (logical, physical, semantic), standards, frameworks, and the overall Blueprint for a project.
• Support the Head/Lead of Information Architecture for Operations in developing strategy and standard methodology for Information Architecture. Supplies to leaders of the overall Enterprise Data Strategy in partnership the AstraZeneca business functions, solution developments and functional project.
• Responsible for architecture and technology evangelization, architecture roadmap, and alignment.
• Responsible for developing and performing architecture, leading practice, and technology education.
• Responsible for Architectural Governance across architectural disciplines, including developing Architectural. Decisions and progressing work to appropriate governance and assurance forums, boards and councils.

Operationsaligned Accountabilities:

• Deliver and lead Information Architecture (IA), conceptual and logical models, for operational, master and data products including data models, information flows, master/reference data and metadata designs to meet one or more Business Capability requirements. 
• Work with business leaders to evolve IA designs to support business strategy.
• Be responsible for the IA designs of one or more Business capability level IA designs.
• Take on accountability for the IA for projects or programmes impacting Business capability areas within Operations.
• Assure IT change projects in that Business Capability are aligned to IA through either delivering IA blueprint artefacts or assessing designs from Data Modellers/Solution Architects assigned to the project.
• Partner with the Operations Data Office to ensure data governance processes are enabled in all IA designs and provide assurance evidence through standardised metrics: e.g., Master data consumption, data classification metadata application to support access processes.
• Responsible for selecting or defining the correct architecture and patterns to fulfil traditional reporting (management information, business intelligence) and analytics, data science, digital, and operational business use cases. This includes:
  • Providing both strategic and tactical data architecture planning, design expertise and execution application on development projects, from technical designs and technology standards to Models and IA considerations.
  • Providing both strategic and tactical coherent architectural thinking in support of data and other strategies, enterprise data and information architectures.
  • Support the development of Data Integration architecture and overall Data Integration design of a project.
  • Gains approval for the various IA artifacts ensuring enforcement of standard enterprise data element names, abbreviations, characteristics, and domains during the lifecycle of a project.

Essential Skills/Experience:
- Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent number of years of experience in a Computer Science or Data Management related field.
- Experience in leading and delivering enterprise data platform architectural thinking, and its practical application.
- Experience in the use of conceptual and logical data modelling technologies.
- Experience in defining and working with information and data regulatory governances.
- The role holder will possess a blend of data/information architecture, analysis, and engineering skills.
- Experience in known industry IT architectural patterns and IT architecture ways of working/methodologies (e.g. FAIR data principles, Data Mesh).
- Understanding the appropriate data structure and technology based on business use case and completely familiar with data lifecycles.

Desirable Skills/Experience:
- Experience in a data architect role with practical examples of designing and providing data engineering/architectural blueprints that have been implemented. 
- Experience of Information and Data Governance frameworks and their application in a commercial organisation
- Understands Data Platforms concepts and cloud-based containerization strategies for hybrid cloud environments.
- Experience in Agile data definition scrums.
- Experience in the use of tooling, e.g. metadata cataloguing tools, data modelling tools, EA tools 
- Understanding of, or familiarity with, Data Mesh approaches (as distinct from Data Fabric or Data Platform
- Experience working in matrix-based environment with multiple partner groups identifying priorities.
- Experience of working in the Pharmaceutical industry.

At AstraZeneca, we connect the dots across the business to improve the agility and functionality of our processes to accelerate AstraZeneca to the next level. As Architects, we make sure the rest of the business experiences the true benefits of our systems. Uniting diverse areas and simplifying the way we work, changing mentalities and behaviours along the way. Our reach goes beyond technology. We are a collective of technical authorities, bringing deep specialism and forward thinking to resolve complex ideas. We are curious about new ways of doing things to get to better solutions. For the business and our patients.

Are you ready to maximise your impact as an Architect? Join us at AstraZeneca! Apply now!

Where can I find out more?

• Our Social Media, Follow AstraZeneca on LinkedIhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/1603/
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AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorisation and employment eligibility verification requirements.