Senior Solutions Architect

Key Responsibilities

• Design end-to-end solution architectures aligned to business outcomes, considering application, data, integration, cloud and security perspectives.
• Translate business and user needs into pragmatic, scalable and supportable solution designs.
• Work across delivery phases from discovery and shaping through to implementation and transition.
• Provide design leadership and assurance to delivery teams, ensuring solutions are coherent and achievable in practice.
• Engage business and technology stakeholders to understand organisational challenges and shape solution direction.
• Explain architecture options, trade-offs and risks clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders and guide decision-making in complex environments.
• Operate effectively within large organisations, including public sector bodies, where governance, assurance and change management are critical.
• Support early-stage client engagements by shaping solution options, architecture approaches and delivery considerations.
• Contribute to proposals, bids, RFP responses and presentations, helping articulate business value as well as technical fit.
• Work with account and delivery teams to identify where architecture can help clients solve complex business and technology challenges.
• Bring a practical consulting mindset that balances ambition with delivery realism.
• Contribute to or lead architecture governance activities, including design authorities and assurance reviews.
• Ensure solutions align with enterprise principles, security requirements, regulatory expectations and delivery standards.
• Apply structured thinking across business, application, data and technology domains to maintain alignment and manage complexity.
• Support good architectural practice by defining or applying principles, patterns and guardrails.
• Develop and enhance solution architecture methods, tools and reusable assets.
• Mentor consultants and architects internally and within client teams, supporting growth in architectural capability.
• Contribute to the development of architecture-related consulting offerings and ways of working.
• Lead or contribute to internal knowledge-sharing, communities of practice and continuous improvement activities.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

• Experience in solution architecture, enterprise architecture or related technology leadership roles within complex environments.
• Proven ability to align technology decisions with business strategy and delivery objectives across large organisations.
• Broad understanding across architecture domains including business, data, application, technology, infrastructure and security.
• Working knowledge of cloud platforms, security and compliance considerations, integration approaches and enterprise technology landscapes.
• Experience of architecture governance and assurance, including participation in or leadership of Technical Design Authorities or equivalent forums.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills, including the ability to work with senior client audiences.
• Experience building organisational maturity in architecture practice and supporting delivery from discovery through implementation.
• Consulting experience or a strong consulting mindset, with an ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, multi-stakeholder environments.
• Understanding of standards and frameworks such as ISO27001, ITIL V4, Cyber Essentials+ and, where relevant, public sector expectations such as the GDS Service Standard.
• A growth mindset
• AI curious and ready to embrace opportunities