Solution Architect

Job Description

Role - Solution ArchitectDuration - 6 monthsLocation - Manchester (Remote working)Purpose Defines the change needed (in the form of design decisions, project designs, roadmaps and/or technology selection) to meet stated business outcomes and align to the banks IT strategyKey Accountabilities:

• Understand the current IT estate and business domain
• Be an active member of the banks architecture community participating in design review and governance processes
• Make key architectural decisions impacting individual designs, the wider portfolio or the longer term strategy
• Translate business requirements and strategy into designs and roadmaps which align to the banks standard and principles
• Co-ordinate and direct all IT design activity to ensure the solution is coherent and deliverable
• Lead resources involved in design elements including 3rd parties and other internal bank resources
• Select and propose suitable technologies and manage their approval through bank governance processes
• Support and mentor other members of the team and the wider bank change community
• Collaborate across change verticals to further the architecture of the bank and deliver the IT strategy
• Maintain internal knowledge repositories including application and data catalogues and risks relating to technical debt
• Based on the needs of the vertical as directed by the Principle Architect or the Head of Architecture & Design potentially:
• Become the key point of contact for a set of applications or technical / business domains
• Lead the architecture effort for a set of initiatives or part of the portfolio
• Set the strategy and roadmap for bank wide capabilities (e.g. channels or data)
• Work with the Head of IT Strategy to update the wider IT strategy for their area
• Support risk control testing activity as needed

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES:

• Technical Literacy - the ability to understand key technologies and be able to explain how they can best be used across the bank
• Analytical Assessment - the ability to analyse the current estate, the banks strategy, requirements, proposed solutions and produce informed decisions, designs and recommendations
• Communication - the ability to communicate complex issues in a simple way to a broad range of stakeholders using a range of medium (verbal, written, diagrams)
• Influencing - the ability to make other stakeholders understand architectural priorities in order to make a balanced decision for the bank
• Issue resolution - the ability to provide a balance between architectural purity, benefit delivery and alignment to strategy in order to solve problems to the benefit of all stakeholders

Customer (end user) focus - the ability to understand and express the customer (end user) impact throughout the design processKNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Strong Mainframe Environment experience
• Mortgage Platform knowledge
• IBM infrastructure
• Experience of working within a regulated industry
• Strong consulting and influencing skills, including excellent presentation skills
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively at senior levels, both written and oral, within the business and IT strategy areas.
• A good working knowledge of architecture frameworks and models (e.g. Systems Engineering, TOGAF)
• Experience of projects with significant integration challenges. Deep understanding of integration approaches and technologies
• Extensive experience of at least one technical architecture discipline (application, data or infrastructure), some knowledge of others
• Considerable experience in senior roles on major application development, systems integration or infrastructure projects (e.g. application architect, technical architect, lead designer, lead developer)
• Extensive experience of developing software and/or building infrastructure components on medium to large-scale distributed projects
• Experience of managing and reviewing 3rd party activities and outputs

**Candidates will ideally show evidence of the above in their CV in order to be considered.

• Please be advised if you havent heard from us within 48 hours then unfortunately your application has not been successful on this occasion, we may however keep your details on file for any suitable future vacancies and contact you accordingly.
• Pontoon is an employment consultancy and operates as an equal opportunities employer