Solutions Architect in Birmingham

Ampa (home of Shakespeare Martineau, Mayo Wynne Baxter, Marrons and further brands) are looking to add an exceptional Solutions Architect (particular focus on Power Platform, Dynamics 365 and Azure) to their growing Apps & Development division. This role is part of the maturing of our IT Organisation, adding specialisation and technical knowledge into the Applications and Development team to help us support our IT project portfolio, current and future technologies.

What you will be doing:

• Ensures the effective design & delivery of solutions and systems both on-prem and in the cloud, ensuring high-level analysis of requirements and existing solutions.
• Working closely with Enterprise Architecture and technical SME, the Solutions Architect stays informed of current and emerging technologies ensuring innovative solutions.
• The Technology Solutions Architect will form part of a wider architecture landscape working collaboratively with teams across Technology, Data, Security and Business domains.
• Owning the Solutions roadmap, the Solutions Architect is pivotal in supporting change initiatives and plays a key role as part of the Technical Design Authority.
• This role is responsible for the assurance of and where necessary the production of solution design documentation whether this be internal or through partner suppliers.

Key Accountabilities:

• Having responsibility for the architecture of all solutions delivered to the business, both from internal and external suppliers.
• Facilitating the handover from development and pilot into supported production, ensuring that appropriate documentation and support models are in place.
• Own architectural blueprint for our solutions.
• Defining and monitoring solutions to ensure benefits are realised.
• Having responsibility for leading key strategic changes and influencing the business.
• Being a champion for innovation, analysing new technology solutions that could bring significant benefit to the business.
• Driving continuous architecture improvement across the business and into the supporting Service Lines, with the objectives of increasing business productivity, efficiency and helping to deliver service improvement at reduced costs.
• Represent Applications and Development Function at Technical Design Authority and drive the architecture process maturity across the group.

Role Priorities:

• Lead planning & design activities in support of a number of strategic objectives.
• Debtrak application deployment in AMPA Azure Microsoft 365 Dynamics and Power Platform Implementation.
• Application consolidation programme.
• Cloud Readiness Assessment.
• Support Applications and Development Roadmap Development.
• Support TDA and architecture process maturity across the group.

What you will need:

• A minimum of 3 years demonstrable track record of successful solution design and delivery of complex technical and service solutions.
• Experience of solutions architecture is essential.
• Certified in and experienced with one or more Architecture Frameworks.
• Evaluating technical opportunities and providing innovative solutions.
• A demonstrable track record in the successful design and delivery of complex solutions.
• Working with various roles, capabilities and skills within an organisation providing the delivery capability needed to ensure successful business outcomes.
• The ability to drive through innovations and best practices from concept to implementation.
• Development techniques; Domain-driven design, Scrum/Agile, API Design Principles.
• Legal industry experience would be beneficial but not essential.

You will need to have significant previous experience with the below tech stack:

• Microsoft Power Platform.
• Microsoft 365 Dynamics, desirable experience with Peppermints Legal Solution offering.
• Azure Cloud Architecture and technologies.
• Experience of Microsoft architectural blueprints and transitioning on premise applications to the cloud.
• Azure DevOps.
• Experience of C#, .Net, ASP.Net, Python, Javascript, Blazor and NServiceBus.
• MS SQL Server, SSIS, SSRS, T-SQL, Azure SQL Server, SQL managed instances, Azure Database Migration Services.
• Data Engineering using Data Lakes, Data Fabric, ETL techniques, Synapse and PowerBI.
• AI + Machine Learning.

Benefits, Agile Working and Additional information:

We embrace agile working and offer a blended approach to where and how we work. We appreciate that people have different needs and preferences and we’re keen to be flexible, after all, we value what you do, not where you do it. We have the following hubs across the UK: Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester, Lincoln, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Solihull, Stratford upon Avon, Sheffield and in the South; Crawley, East Grinstead, Lewes, Brighton, Eastbourne, Seaford, Peacehaven, Storrington, Chichester & Southampton as well as our Scotland office located in Edinburgh.

Equal opportunities: Ampa Group is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.