BizApps Data/AI Lead Architect

Why this role matters Every Dynamics 365 programme creates a wealth of financial, supply chain and customer data. The organisations that win are the ones that turn that data into trusted insight and, increasingly, into AI that acts on it. Our clients' leaders want to know what their data can tell them, whether they can trust it and how AI can make their business faster and smarter. They need someone who understands Dynamics 365 data inside out and can answer those questions with clarity and credibility. Come join us As Lead Data & AI Architect in our global ERP Centre of Excellence, you will be the link between Avanade's Business Applications and Data & AI Solution Areas. Avanade has a large, dedicated Data & AI practice with its own strategies, platforms and offerings. Your role is not to reinvent those within Business Applications, but to bring them to Dynamics 365: aligning, adapting and applying them so our clients get one joined-up approach. You will lead our global Dynamics 365 Data & AI Community of Practice, support our project teams as their senior data and AI expert, and be the person executives call when they want to understand what their ERP and CRM data can do for them. How you will work This role supports both solutioning (presales) and delivery. When a strategic programme needs it, you may be assigned to a single project as its lead data and AI architect for a longer period. However, our preferred way of working is different: your greatest impact comes from working across our whole portfolio as the senior data and AI expert our own project teams can rely on. In practice, that means: • Acting as the go-to data and AI expert for our Dynamics 365 project teams across all regions, available for design reviews, second opinions and advice on reporting, analytics and AI questions. • Running quality assurance on the data, reporting and AI elements of in-flight programmes, with reviews at key moments so that risks are spotted and addressed early. • Stepping in for short, focused engagements to help solve complex problems, from Fabric and Power BI performance issues to data integration and AI solution challenges. • Leading recovery activities when the analytics or AI part of a programme is in trouble: stabilising the solution, restoring client confidence and handing back a healthy project. • Overseeing the work of the data and BI architects on our Dynamics 365 projects, reviewing their key decisions, coaching them and keeping their approaches aligned with Avanade's Data & AI standards. • Shaping the data, analytics and AI elements of major pursuits together with the Data & AI practice, including solution design, estimates and risks, so that what we sell is what we can deliver. What you will do Be the bridge between Business Applications and Data & AI • Act as the link between Avanade's Business Applications and Data & AI Solution Areas, the person who makes the two practices work as one for Dynamics 365 clients. • Take Avanade's Data & AI strategies, offerings and reference architectures as the starting point, and align and adjust them for Dynamics 365 rather than inventing separate approaches within Business Applications. • Bring Dynamics 365 knowledge into the Data & AI practice, so that its architects understand ERP and CRM data, Dataverse and the AI capabilities built into Dynamics 365. • Bring the right Data & AI experts into Dynamics 365 pursuits and programmes, and make sure joint solutioning and delivery run smoothly. Architect data and analytics for Dynamics 365 • Own the data and analytics architecture for Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management and Customer Engagement solutions, building on Avanade's Data & AI reference architectures and adapting them to the Dynamics 365 data model. • Design modern analytics platforms on Microsoft Fabric (OneLake, Lakehouse, Warehouse, Data Factory and Real-Time Intelligence), connected to Dynamics 365 through Fabric Link, Synapse Link for Dataverse and the Dataverse data platform. • Lead the design of Power BI solutions: semantic models, DAX, embedded analytics in Dynamics 365, financial and operational reporting, and performance tuning for enterprise scale. • Make sure Dynamics 365 data is fit for analytics and AI, with clear ownership, data quality rules and well-defined business semantics. • Put governance, security and lineage at the centre of every design, using Microsoft Purview, row-level security and sensible capacity and cost management. • Modernise legacy reporting estates, such as BYOD, entity store and older BI platforms, into a Fabric-first architecture. Turn data into AI that delivers value • Identify and shape AI use cases across finance, supply chain and customer processes, from forecasting and anomaly detection to Copilot experiences and autonomous agents. • Design solutions with Copilot in Dynamics 365 and Power BI, Copilot Studio, Fabric data agents, Microsoft Foundry and Azure OpenAI, grounded in trusted, well-governed business data. • Make client data AI-ready, with the right models, semantics and controls so that AI answers can be trusted and explained. • Embed responsible AI, privacy and compliance in every solution, and help clients set up governance that keeps pace with innovation. Be the trusted data and AI voice at C-level • Engage CFOs, COOs, CIOs and chief data officers on data strategy, analytics roadmaps and AI investment decisions. • Translate complex data and AI topics into clear, concise updates and stories that show business value, risks and next steps, and that build lasting trust. • Help leadership teams define the KPIs and insights that matter, and show them how a modern data platform will deliver them. • Act as senior escalation point and adviser to Avanade leadership for data and analytics on critical programmes. Lead the Dynamics 365 Data & AI Community of Practice • Lead the global Dynamics 365 Data & AI Community of Practice, whose purpose is to align Dynamics 365 data an