Solution Architect › (London)

Solution Architect for Enterprise Technology Services

Reporting to Director of Technology – Group and Client Services

The Solutions Architect proactively and holistically leads and supports EA activities that guide the development and management of a portfolio of solutions. Solutions include projects, systems (including applications, technologies, processes, and information), shared infrastructure services and shared application services.

They understand the concepts of business goals, objectives and business outcomes, business capabilities, value-streams, and business processes and their importance in solution architecture. The solutions architect provides the necessary leadership, analysis and design tasks related to support the development of technology solutions to ensure that solutions meet business needs and align with architectural governance and standards. They create deliverables for managing the organization's portfolio of to be and as is solutions — including systems (applications, processes, information and technology), shared infrastructure services, and shared application services and components to enable and drive targeted business outcomes.

This role will involve designing solutions in the fund administration industry, covering infrastructure and application integration for applications including Salesforce, Workday, Bank Clarity, Swift, Medius, FenX as well as data and integration platforms. There are multiple projects that will cover these areas, so broad experience across infrastructure and applications is essential.

Key responsibilities:

The Solution Architect will demonstrate competencies across four key dimensions:

1 – Interpret Business Needs

• Translates business and technical requirements into an architectural blueprint to achieve business objectives and documents all solution architecture design and analysis work
• Works closely with the product owners and product managers to ensure a robust architectural runway that can support future business requirements throughout the product lifecycle
• Understands business drivers and business capabilities (future and current state) and determines corresponding enterprise solution designs and change requirements to drive the organization's targeted business outcomes

Example deliverables: requirements traceability document, business process/capability impact assessment, business process diagrams

2 – Assess Technology

• Monitors the current-state solution portfolio to identify deficiencies through aging of the technologies used by the application, or misalignment with business requirements / IT Strategy
• Supports product managers in end of life product decisions to maintain, refresh or retire services, or systems, including applications, technologies, processes, and information
• Understands emerging technology trends and disruptions and their practical application to enable new and evolving business and operating models
• Analyses the technology industry, competitors, and market trends, and determines their potential implications for a given solution
• Analyses the business-IT environment to detect critical deficiencies, legacy, and technical debt, and recommends solutions for improvement
• Facilitates the evaluation and selection of software product standards and services, as well as the design of standard and custom software configurations
• Consults with application and infrastructure development projects and products to fit systems or infrastructure to architecture and identify when it is necessary to modify designs to accommodate the solutions architecture

Example deliverables: Current state architecture documentation, vendor assessment for RFP, contribution to cost/benefit analysis, contributions to proof-of-concept implementation

3 – Apply Technology

• Leads evaluation, design and analysis for the implementation of a solutions architecture across a group of specific business applications or technologies based on enterprise business strategy, business capabilities, value-streams, business requirements and enterprise standards
• Manages and develops the architecture for a broader scope of projects or products, working closely with application architects that manage and design architecture for a single project or product or initiative
• Develops a roadmap for the evolution of the enterprise solution portfolio from current to future state, as defined by the solutions architecture
• Acts as a consultant on a broad range of technologies, platforms, and vendor offerings to drive targeted business outcomes
• Creates architectural designs to guide and contextualise solution development across products, services, projects, and systems, including applications, technologies, processes, and information
• Works closely with the program management office (PMO) or project management office to ensure the execution of plans corresponds with what is being promised throughout the project or product lifecycle
• Provides consulting support to application architects within agile teams to ensure the project or product is aligned with the overall enterprise architecture
• Provides deliverables like standard definitions, reference models and architecture designs to support architectural governance to assess the impact of new and ongoing technology investment on the business and IT estate
• Supports a community of practice (CoP), guiding and helping agile teams, product owners to align with the overall enterprise architecture governance and assurance
• Designs and directs the governance activities associated with ensuring solutions architecture assurance and compliance
• Defines the principles, guidelines, standards, and solution patterns to ensure solution decisions are aligned with the enterprise's future-state architecture vision

Skills & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information-technology, engineering, system analysis or a related study, or equivalent experience
• Minimum of five years of experience in at least two IT solution development disciplines, including technical or infrastructure architecture, network management, application development, middleware, database management or cloud development
• Exposure to multiple, diverse technologies, platforms, and processing environments
• Good understanding of strategic and emerging technology trends, and the practical application of existing and emerging technologies to new and evolving business and operating models
• Good understanding of product management, agile principles and development methodologies and capability of supporting agile teams by providing advice and guidance on opportunities, impact, and risks, taking account of technical and architectural debt
• Experience working in a relevant industry is helpful, but not required.
• Experience developing architecture blueprints, strategies, and roadmaps
• Experience delivering presentations to senior-level executives and technical audiences
• Drive, passion, and enthusiasm for success and quality
• Presents a professional image in words, tone, and style
• Able to effectively deal with changing priorities or obstacles and to provide alternative options or solutions
• A team player the job holder will build strong relationships both within Aztec as well as with the suppliers and 3rd parties as required
• Resilience to cope with demands and tight timescales and remain calm under pressure
• Approachable, with ability to operate at all team levels
• Pragmatic, problem solver, willing to solve problems or seek out required resolution
• Initiative and problem solving: identifies problems, provides / facilitates the creation of options and recommendations, and uses initiative to drive solutions in a positive and constructive manner; whilst being able to identify and manages risk.
• Excellent communication: communicates with clarity and confidence at all levels; adapts style and content to the needs of the audience by being inspirational

We will provide the training in house for relevant technical knowledge and soft skills to enhance your professional development. You will need to be quick to learn new systems and great with people, as close working relationships between our colleagues and clients is at the heart of what we do.

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