The Solution Architect will report to the either the Principal Architect or Service Architect Lead and will create the overall technical vision for a specific solution to a business problem. You will translate underlying needs to business analysts and developers; oversee timely delivery of a technically coherent and valuable solution, the handover effectively to release and deployment.
In essence, the Architect will design, describe, and manage the solution. You will thrive on being a central figure for a the Engineering function and will be responsible for, establishing and enhancing the business and technical roadmaps, plans, patterns, policies, process, procedures, standards, guidelines, implementation patterns. The role holder will rely on their exceptional relationship skills to create business buy in and bring together architecture expertise from across the Group to create a community that can deliver results in line with the strategic priorities.
What you'll be doing:
- Own and deliver end-to-end solutions which will involve engagement at the conception of a project through Design, Build and Testing to support Operational Acceptance/Live Service Criteria.
- Uses analysis skills to probe underlying business needs for application development
- Act as the gateway and authority for the solution designs.
- Review the broad business and technical impacts of any proposals to modify the solution.
- Challenge peers constructively, where proposals risk compromising the solution.
- Confirm and explain how the delivered solution sufficiently meets with business value expressed by the Product Owner and how it meets the overarching technical strategy.
- Handover effectively to colleagues for release, deployment, and operational management.
- Responsible for the improvement of maturity of the team processes and templated outputs.
- Determine and develop against a sustainable Service Operating Model.
- Lead on programmes and projects of work, acting as a Subject Matter Expert and ensuring the solution delivers the best option for the customer.
- Interpret, qualify and where necessary improve service requirements.
- Manage Plans & RAID for the Enterprise Service & Process Design workstreams.
- Develop and maintain templates and standards for all team output.
- Engage with the Service Architecture and Strategic Architecture communities
- Champion new technologies and ways of working being developed to the wider business.
- Maintain awareness of GDPR, technology best-practice and emerging global technology trends, to inform the solution design and discussions with technical peers.
- Foster strong working relationships with colleagues across multiple teams (e.g., other solution architects, specialist technical architects, developers, testers, product owners / Tech Leads, business analysts)
- Participate in Agile SCRUM events, ensuring those working on detailed user stories do so within the wider context of the overall envisaged solution.
What we're looking for:
- Extensive experience in designing end-2-end solutions, in a technologically diverse environment.
- Ability to stand back, look at the bigger picture and understand what needs to be delivered to protect and/or support the business.
- Customer focused with ability to identify and understand and deliver to the (internal and/or external) customer's needs.
- Strong stakeholder management and communication skills; able to effectively communicate to technical and non-technical audiences.
- Displays a high degree of knowledge relating to service management and ITSM toolsets.
- Strong vendor management experience and understanding 3rd party support contracts, proven ability to manage ambiguity, conflict, and prioritisation.
- Responsible for the continuous improvement of the function through ensuring adherence to processes but also through review and improvement.
- Creative problem solving and analysis skills with an ability to identify service gaps and develop and implement solutions meeting the needs of the business.
- Able to think laterally to consider options which will optimise the service to meet the needs of the business.
- Ability to work at pace in a complex, multifaceted ecosystem
- Strong background in the Design of Managed Services and Enterprise solution technology and services
- Able to convey complex messages and concepts to a broad audience of nontechnical and technical groups.
- Skilled in all domains of change, particularly Process, Data, Technology and Applications.
- Experience of the full software delivery lifecycle for both Agile and Waterfall approaches We would love you to have…
- Broad, proven industrial experience of Change, Road mapping, Capability definition the creation of Value Chains and an aptitude to work in a fast-paced organisation, experience of aaS consumption and Cloud operating models.
- Experience using iServer in complex multifaced ecosystems
