Job Description

Solution Architects will be the driving force behind all of technology change. Their knowledge will cover the entire enterprise and they will apply strategic thinking to ensure that our portfolio of change both delivers effectively and takes us towards our strategic goals, both business and technology.

The Digital Solutions Architect role will be accountable for:

• Providing thought leadership throughout the analysis of complex business functional changes
• Providing specialist technical definition to deliver complex business functional changes
• Serve as an expert to provide technical guidance and leadership on all aspects of digital architecture
• Lead the provision of advice and architectural consultancy
• Input into the AUK Digital Target Architecture
• Review with a view to improving the performance of existing digital technology capabilities and processes
• Managing the team and resources to production of a Business Case to support a recommended solution
• Manage strategic relationships with key business stakeholders
• Interface with third party providers and assist in the selection of vendors
• Lead the provision of advice and architectural consultancy to representatives of the UK business and IT function proposing changes to a functional application processes for which they are the nominated primary owner and technical lead digital based solutions.
• Control the investigation of high level customer requirements & analysis of customer information.
• Evaluate potential Business Application and processes
• Propose and evaluate innovative used of digital technology to deliver business value
• Review with a view to improving the performance of existing Business applications and processes
• The development and maintenance of one or more the digital functional area within one of the existing Business Applications and processes within the UK
• Lead and oversee the creation and maintenance of Business Application and Process documentation describing the functional process/ area for which they are the nominated implementation of digital technologies primary owner and guiding others, such as Solutions Analysts and other technical leads
• Review overall project solutions to ensure consistency with function standards and documented business and IT strategy
• Lead the support of Project Managers in the delivery of projects from a Solutions Architecture perspective
• Implement best practices for digital engineering taking into account latest industry best practices and new/emerging technologies

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Proactively provides expert specialist business process and/ or specialist technical systems advice and consultancy to representatives of the business and other areas of IT in line with the demands of the Strategic Portfolio
• Deploys strong leadership skills in managing others in the delivery of Business Cases, ensuring own work remains on track
• Relationship Management skills ability to manage senior stakeholders up to and including Executive level to build relationships that engender confidence in the BUILD functions technical delivery capabilities
• Effective Professional Communication skills. Ability to interact and communicate with senior management and IT technical colleagues for the planning, execution, and operational aspects of solutions architecture environments.
• Decision making and Business influencing skills. Ability to support vendor and service provider management, including negotiations, contract terms and conditions, competitive bidding processes.
• Analytical Thinking: systematic, disciplined and analytical approach to problem solving, familiar with the software engineering life cycle for development and the concepts and practices required to implement effective information systems. Has a broad understanding of all stages of systems development and service delivery and appreciates the importance of commercial constraints.
• Up-to-date knowledge of digital technologies and best practices
• Familiar with digital architectural patterns and best practice
• Broad and working knowledge of IT applications, with specific knowledge of how the digital domain architecture relates to other areas of IT and how it impacts on other business functions.
• Planning and Organisation skills
• Adaptability and Resilience skills
• Team working skills
• Large scale, Multi-tenancy n-tier web application design, build and test
• Legacy and Modern systems integration design, build and test