Pandora
Senior Manager, Solution & Data Architecture
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Reports to: Global Director, Data, AI & Architecture
Team: 4 data, AI and solution architects
Location: London
The role
We are looking for a Senior Manager, Data & AI Architecture to lead a team of four data, AI and solution architects and to act as the design authority for Pandora's data and AI platform. It is a dual role: you will set architectural direction and standards, and you will stay close to the technical work — reviewing and approving the designs that come through them.
Our target architecture is Databricks — Delta Lake, medallion patterns, Unity Catalog — with Azure Synapse and its conformed enterprise models still carrying a significant part of the estate. That estate supports supply chain, commerce, manufacturing, corporate tech and omni-channel. Leading the move onto Databricks, deciding where ownership sits as it goes, and keeping existing solutions coherent and supported while it happens, is the substance of the job.
The split is roughly 60% architecture, 40% leading and developing the team. Both are real; neither is a title.
Scope and authority
- Design authority for Data & Analytics: approves data and AI solution designs, and can require rework, attach conditions to an approval, or withhold approval.
- Chairs the architecture review forum, setting its standards, cadence and quality gates, and deciding what requires review against what is already covered by an approved pattern.
- Resolves conflicting design positions across architects, lead engineers and delivery teams.
- Owns reference architectures, solution patterns, data contracts and architecture decision records — accountable for their adoption, not just their publication.
- Owns the team's roadmap, capacity allocation across workstreams, and budget, including engagement of external consulting resources.
- Translates and enforces the Data & AI architecture strategy set by the Global Director, and informs how it evolves.
Accountabilities
Architecture
- Set and enforce the standards for what is built on Databricks as the target architecture, what remains on Synapse for now, and what is retired — and on what evidence.
- Decide how data products are aligned: source-aligned versus domain-aligned versus consumer-aligned, where ownership and stewardship sit, and where a conformed enterprise model (CDM/RDM) serves better than distributed ownership.
- Review technical designs from solution architects and lead engineers against platform standards; give feedback that changes the design, not just documents it.
- Define and evolve reference architectures, solution patterns and data contracts so that quality is built in rather than inspected in.
- Lead design sessions with architects, engineering and business stakeholders on complex or contested problems.
- Oversee transitional architectures through to legacy decommission, maintaining business continuity and closing the parallel run.
AI architecture
- Set and enforce architecture standards for agentic systems: orchestration, tool and data access boundaries, evaluation, guardrails and observability.
- Set and enforce architecture standards for ML systems: feature reuse, training and serving topology, model lifecycle, and monitoring for drift.
- Approve AI solution designs with enough depth to arbitrate them on the technical merits, and in line with AI policy and applicable regulation.
Governance and regulation
- Embed privacy-by-design and personal data handling requirements into platform patterns, particularly across commerce and omni-channel.
- Maintain computational governance: data quality frameworks, contracts and lineage as platform capability rather than project effort.
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Team leadership
- Line management for four architects: coaching, performance, career development, hiring.
- Establish ways of working — review process, documentation standards, quality gates — and hold the team to them.
- Represent architecture in leadership forums, steering committees and cross-functional planning.
- Keep architects hands-on and embedded with engineering teams; architecture produced at a distance from delivery does not land.
What you will have done by month 12
- A published and adopted standard for what is built on Databricks, with evidence of designs changed by it.
- A clear model for data product alignment and ownership, applied on live work rather than documented in isolation.
- An architecture review forum running to a predictable cadence, with a visible ADR record and a known path for challenging a decision.
- Approved agentic and ML reference patterns in use.
- At least one legacy component fully decommissioned, not just superseded.
- A development plan in place for each of the four architects, and any open roles filled.
Essential experience
- 5+ years designing and delivering production data platform solutions at enterprise scale, hands-on.
- At least 2 years line-managing technical specialists, including performance management, career development and hiring.
- Has held a design approval or architecture governance mandate, including declining designs and making that decision hold.
- Has led a platform migration or a parallel-run estate through to legacy decommission.
- Deep working knowledge of Databricks (Delta Lake, medallion, Unity Catalog) as a target architecture, plus enough Azure Synapse (star schemas, conformed models, dedicated pools) to govern what remains there, and pipeline orchestration with ADF or Databricks Workflows.
- Has designed source-aligned, domain-aligned and consumer-aligned data products, with a clear view of where distributed domain ownership beats a conformed enterprise model (CDM/RDM) and where it does not.
- Has implemented or governed a domain ownership model — data mesh or similar — including the federated governance and stewardship that makes it work.
- Has architected agentic and ML systems: orchestration, tool and data access boundaries, evaluation and guardrails; feature and model lifecycle, serving, and monitoring for drift.
- Has set architecture standards that others adopted — solution patterns, reference architectures and architecture decision records.
- Has implemented data quality frameworks, data contracts or computational governance in production.
- Holds an architectural position under delivery pressure, and judges well when to concede.
- Communicates architecture clearly to technical and business audiences, including solution designs, ADRs and data flow diagrams.
- Understanding of retail, manufacturing, finance or supply chain business processes and how data flows through a business.
Desirable
- Familiarity with EU AI Act obligations and enterprise AI governance.
Craft Your Future with Pandora: A Career Built Around You
At Pandora, your career is a journey of growth, development, and limitless potential. We believe in empowering you to shape your own path and craft your own incredible.
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What We Offer
Our focus is on offering you a career that’s as unique as you are. We provide the tools, opportunities, and support you need to thrive:
- Career Development & Growth: Be at the forefront of an inspiring journey with tailored development plans, mentorship, and regular reviews to ensure you’re on track to achieving your goals.
- Competitive Salary & Regular Reviews: We make sure your efforts are rewarded fairly, with regular opportunities to review your progress and success.
- Generous Bonus Scheme: Your hard work doesn’t go unnoticed, with opportunities to earn performance-related bonuses.
- Hybrid Working Flexibility: Strike the perfect balance between collaboration and focus.
- Early Finish Fridays: Start your weekends early by finishing work at 3 PM every Friday.
- Private Healthcare: Your wellbeing is our priority, with access to private healthcare that keeps you covered.
- Employee Discounts & Perks: Enjoy 55% off Pandora products and exclusive access to discounted brands, cinema tickets, gym memberships, holidays, and more.
- Annual Leave & Flexibility: 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with the option to buy or sell leave, and your birthday off to celebrate YOU!
- Wellness Hub & Support: Access to wellness resources and a dedicated Employee Assistance Programme offering free, confidential support 24/7.
- Recognition & Celebrations: Your achievements are our success. With a recognition programme and regular celebrations, we ensure every success is shared and appreciated.
At Pandora, we believe in creating not just a job, but a journey of fulfillment, growth, and success. If you’re ready to take the next step in crafting your incredible career, join us and let’s build something extraordinary together.
Your future is waiting – craft the incredible with Pandora!
Please understand that due to the large number of applications, we regret that only online applications can be considered. Please click apply to submit your application.
Pandora’s recruitment procedures are designed to be transparent and clear for all candidates. This helps us ensure that applicants are provided with a fair and equal opportunity to demonstrate their competencies and skills by removing blocking factors, possible biases, and risks of discrimination. We encourage everyone applying to our vacancies to refrain from adding identity-related elements such as a photo, marital status and age.
If you require reasonable adjustments in place during your interview(s), please make us aware as soon as possible.
About Pandora
Pandora is the world's largest jewellery brand, specialising in the design, crafting and marketing of accessible luxury jewellery made from high-quality materials. Each piece is created to inspire self-expression, allowing people to share their stories and passions through meaningful jewellery. Pandora jewellery is sold in more than 100 countries through 7,000 points of sale, including more than 2,800 concept stores.
Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Pandora employs around 39,000 people worldwide and crafts its jewellery with 100% recycled silver and gold. Pandora is committed to leadership in sustainability and has set out to halve greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain by 2030. Pandora is listed on the Nasdaq Copenhagen stock exchange and generated revenue of DKK 32.5 billion (EUR 4.4 billion) in 2025.
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