Junior Solutions Architect

Job Description

As the Junior Solutions Architect you will work with the Digital Leadership and the wider delivery team to design, build and integrate solutions to meet our clients needs at a time of significant strategic change, transformation, and growth.This role will be crucial in influencing and promoting the use our of technology and working with our programme and development teams to deliver enhancements as well as new capability to the business. This role will also support the continuous enhancement ofour development processes as well as partnerships with technology providers.Junior Solutions ArchitectLeeds, London or Milton Keynes - Hybrid (2 days in, 3 home)Up to 55K + 11% bonus + other benefitsRole responsibilities

• Contributes to the development of solution architectures in specific business, infrastructure, or functional areas, using appropriate tools and methods.
• Supports a change programme or project through the preparation of technical plans and application of design principles that comply with enterprise and solution architecture standards (including security).
• Identifies and evaluates alternative architectures and the trade-offs in cost, performance, and scalability.
• Understanding business purpose, processes, offering, strategic direction and roadmap and translating into technical solutions.
• Oversight of solution design and development covering all business areas.
• Ensuring architectural alignment of solutions and integrations – ensuring design principles are clear and adhered to.
• Analyse and find any impacts that technical changes will have on existing solutions and the business.
• Produce clear documentation for all solutions which is maintained fully and can be shared with 3rd parties and developers where necessary to understand impacts of changes or new solutions.
• Conducting regular evaluations of the system architecture and collaborating with project management teams to improve the design.
• Evaluating any project constraints and devising alternatives to reduce risks, whilst performing process re-engineering.
• Working within change methodology to deliver solutions to meet the needs of the business and the projects delivering them.
• Supervision of our 3rd party development team for in-house development or changes.
• Performing continuous research on emerging technologies to stay updated with the best alternatives and to improve the existing architecture where necessary.
• Managing stakeholders ensuring that updates are clear and allow for wider communications to be made regards the impact of solutions on business processes.

Essential skills/experience

• Proficient in the IT environment relating to own sphere of work (own organisation and/or closely associated organisations, such as customers, suppliers, partners), in particular own organisations technical platforms and those that interface to them, includingthose in closely related organisations.
• Familiar with technical or functional understanding of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) applications and/or other bespoke software deployed within the organisation to provide system configuration, audit, technical, and/or functional support.
• Knowledge of the IT/IS infrastructure and the IT applications and service processes used within own organisation, including those associated with sustainability and efficiency.
• Familiar with software which forms part of the operating platform infrastructure.
• Knowledge and understanding of infrastructure configurations.
• Knowledge of applied Cloud Architecture and Principles
• Aware of the principles and application of cloud/ virtualisation (including ownership, responsibilities, and security implications). Use of tools and systems to manage virtualised environments.
• Relevant degree (ideally Computer Science, Business Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Software development or similar) and /or evidence of continuous professional development in an IT role for at least 10 years or BCS Intermediate Certificate inEnterprise and Solution Architecture.
• Significant experience and involvement in projects and change programmes– large and small.
• Familiarity with various methodologies including Agile
• Product management experience.
• IT infrastructure and cloud development knowledge.
• Software architecture design.
• SOA webservices, APIs and microservices design and delivery
• Management of development / engineering teams of 3rd parties.
• Background including data platforms, CRM, telephony, and online solutions.