Lead Solution Architect

The role

Position : Lead Solution Architect

Contract type : Permanent / Full Time

Reporting to :Head of Systems & Architecture

Location : London

Overview ofrole

We are looking for a Support Architect responsible for shaping the future-state architecture that enables the organisation to meet its strategic business goals. This role ensures that technology solutions directly support desired business outcomes—such as improved efficiency, customer experience, scalability, and innovation—while maintaining strong architectural integrity. The Support Architect oversees the design of systems and applications across the enterprise and regularly reviews the application portfolio to maximise value, reduce complexity, and ensure agility.

Key responsibilities and primary deliverables

Application & Solution Design Oversight

• Provide architectural oversight on key projects, ensuring solutions are well-designed, secure, maintainable, and aligned with enterprise strategy.

• Guide the design of applications that deliver tangible business benefits such as improved service delivery, cost reduction, or process automation.

• Champion standardisation and reuse across the solution landscape to reduce redundancy and increase agility.

Business-Aligned Architecture Leadership

• Translate strategic businessobjectivesinto scalable, future-ready architectural solutions.

• Partner with business and product leaders to ensure technology decisions enhance business capability, value delivery, and time-to-market.

• Identifytechnology enablers for business innovation, operational excellence, and digital transformation.

Innovation & Technology Strategy

• Assess emerging technologies and industry trends for potential business impact.

• Conduct proofs of concept and pilots wherenew approachesor tools could unlock business improvements.

• Promote cloud-native, API-first, and modular architecture practices that support continuous delivery and business responsiveness.

Business Application Portfolio Governance

• Supportstructured reviews of the application landscape to assess business value, performance, cost, and alignment.

• Collaborate with business stakeholders toidentifyunderused or duplicative applications and recommend consolidation or replacement.

• Drive rationalisation initiatives to reduce complexity and total cost of ownership, while improving functional coverage and user satisfaction.

Architecture Governance & Best Practice

• Define and enforce architectural principles, technology standards, and design patterns that balance innovation with operational integrity.

• Lead architectural governance forums to review and approve solution designs and ensure architectural consistency across the enterprise.

• Maintain up-to-date architectural artefacts that clearly link system components to business capabilities.

Collaboration & Leadership

• Act as a bridge between technical teams and business stakeholders, ensuring architectural solutions are practical, understandable, andoutcome-driven.

• Work closely with the Manager of Systems & Landscape to balance future-state design with operational stability and system constraints.

• Mentor and guide developers, engineers, and solution designers to strengthen architectural literacy across delivery teams.

Skillsprofile

Relevant experience & education

• Extensive experience (typically 7+ years) in solution or enterprise architecture within complex, multi-system environments.

• Strong experience aligning technology strategies with businessobjectivesin complex, multi-system environments.

• Expertisein enterprise applications, integration design, and scalable architectures (e.g., microservices, APIs).

• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and explain complex architectural concepts in business-relevant terms.

• Deep understanding of application lifecycle, cloud platforms (Azure, AWS), and modern delivery models (Agile, DevOps).

• Experience contributing to SaaS selection, vendor evaluation, and procurement processes

• Ability to assess solutions from both technical and commercial perspectives

• Familiarity with architecture frameworks (TOGAF, ArchiMate) and modelling tools.

• Relevant certifications (e.g., cloud architecture, enterprise architecture).