Data Platform & Analytics Lead (Microsoft Fabric / AI Enablement)

Data Platform & Analytics Lead (Microsoft Fabric / AI Enablement)

Company: BCN
Location: Manchester or Leeds (Hybrid)
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Salary: Competitive + benefits

About BCN

BCN unites people and technology to enable organizations to achieve their full potential. We are a leading managed IT services provider and technology consultant, specializing in delivering transformative technology solutions with industry-leading client experience. Guided by our values of building relationships, customer success, and passion and dedication, we aim to be the most trusted tech partner in the UK.

Focus of the Role

The Data & Analytics Lead will own BCN’s enterprise data platform, ensuring it supports analytics, AI, and machine learning use cases in a structured, governed, and scalable manner. This role encompasses end-to-end accountability for data ingestion, transformation, lakehouse design, semantic modeling, and the development of reliable data products. You will ensure business data is accessible, consistent, and trusted, enabling high-quality analysis and decision-making. A key objective is to establish a strong platform foundation that accelerates AI and advanced analytics adoption while maintaining governance, performance, and control.

Responsibilities

1. Data Platform & Lakehouse Architecture

• Own the design and operation of BCN’s data platform within Microsoft Fabric.
• Define and implement lakehouse architecture patterns, including data layering, structure, storage, and organization.
• Manage ingestion, transformation, and storage of data across the platform.
• Ensure the platform supports both analytical and AI/ML workloads.

2. Data Modelling & Semantic Layer

• Define and maintain core business metrics and calculations.
• Ensure consistent definitions across all datasets and outputs.
• Develop and manage semantic models used by the business.
• Ensure data structures are suitable for both analytics and machine learning use.

3. Data Products & Analytics

• Deliver structured datasets and analytical outputs aligned to business requirements.
• Maintain and enhance existing reporting and analytics solutions.
• Ensure outputs are aligned to operational processes and clearly understood.
• Reduce duplication and fragmentation of data across the organization.

4. AI & Machine Learning Enablement

• Define how AI and machine learning will operate on BCN’s data platform.
• Ensure data is structured, accessible, and governed to support AI/ML use cases.
• Identify and develop repeatable patterns for applying AI/ML to business data.
• Enable integration of AI outputs into existing data products and workflows.
• Ensure AI/ML outputs are traceable, controlled, and aligned with defined metrics.

5. Delivery Ownership & Roadmap

• Take ownership of the current data platform implementation.
• Assess current architecture, datasets, and capabilities.
• Maintain and prioritize the existing backlog, incorporating new requirements.
• Define and maintain a forward-looking roadmap for data platform and AI capability.
• Establish a structured delivery approach aligned with business priorities.

6. Governance & Control

• Implement data ownership, stewardship, and access controls.
• Ensure documentation, version control, and change management are maintained.
• Maintain auditability and traceability of data, calculations, and AI outputs.
• Ensure appropriate control frameworks are applied to AI and machine learning usage.

7. Stakeholder Engagement

• Work with business stakeholders to define data and AI requirements.
• Translate requirements into structured data and platform capabilities.
• Ensure outputs are aligned to business processes and decision-making needs.

Person, Skills & Experience

• Strong experience with Power BI, including data modeling, DAX, and semantic model design.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Fabric, particularly lakehouse architecture, notebooks, and data pipelines.
• Strong understanding of Apache Spark / PySpark and large-scale data processing.
• Experience designing and operating modern data platforms.
• Experience developing or enabling AI and machine learning capabilities using business data.
• Strong understanding of data preparation, feature engineering, and model evaluation.
• Experience with Python-based data and ML tooling (e.g., Pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn).
• Experience with ML tooling within Microsoft Fabric or Azure (e.g., MLflow, notebooks, SynapseML or equivalent).
• Ability to structure data for AI/ML use and integrate outputs into business processes.
• Proven ability to assess, design, and evolve data platforms in a structured manner.

Nice to Haves

• Experience with Azure OpenAI or adjacent AI services used within governed enterprise environments.
• Experience productionizing ML solutions, including monitoring and lifecycle management.
• Experience working with unstructured or semi-structured data in a lakehouse context.
• Experience defining standards for reusable data products and AI-ready datasets.

Why BCN?

• Industry-leading training and development via BCN Academy.
• Competitive salary with progression opportunities.
• 23 days' holiday allowance (increasing with service) plus bank holidays, birthday off, and option to buy more.
• Company pension scheme.
• 2 paid leave days per year for community volunteering.
• Health cash plan with Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
• Life assurance.
• Cycle to work scheme, electric vehicle scheme, home and tech scheme, and retail discounts.
• Free on-site gym at Manchester and Leeds locations.
• Long service recognition.
• Social events, dress-down days, and end-of-month gatherings.