Solution Architect - £75 - 95k - Slough

Location: Slough, London (up to 50% remote)

The Opportunity

Exalto Consulting is proud to be partnering with a leading software company in the food manufacturing sector to appoint a Solution Architect. Our client works with food manufacturers to improve efficiency, strengthen compliance and make better use of existing resources through thoughtfully designed software. Their systems sit close to the factory floor, connecting production, quality and data. The work is practical, complex and meaningful. This role carries significant responsibility.

As Solution Architect, you will shape the technical direction of the organisation and ensure that every solution is robust, secure and aligned with real business needs. Your decisions will directly influence product performance, scalability and long-term value for customers.

The Context

Food manufacturing is evolving quickly. Manufacturers face increasing pressure around traceability, compliance, operational efficiency and data visibility. Technology must integrate seamlessly with production environments, third-party equipment and analytical platforms. Our client is investing in its architecture to support this growth. The business needs an experienced architect who can bring clarity, structure and leadership. Ideally you should be someone who understands both product development and industrial environments, and who can translate strategy into working systems.

Your Impact

• Design scalable, secure, and high-performing end-to-end solutions.
• Take ownership of architectural standards and technical decision-making.
• Ensure analytical data tools (data lakes, warehouses, BI platforms, analytics engines) are embedded effectively to support data-driven decision-making.
• Lead product architecture from concept through to deployment.
• Oversee cloud-native design (Azure preferred) with a strong focus on performance and cost control.
• Guide integration with third-party systems and industrial equipment.
• Champion DevOps practices, automation, and structured development processes.
• Embed security and compliance principles throughout the software lifecycle.
• Provide clear technical leadership to engineering teams.
• Communicate architectural decisions confidently to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

This is not a purely advisory role. It requires hands-on architectural authority and accountability.

What You Bring

We are seeking an experienced technology leader with:

• 15+ years in software engineering, including significant experience in architecture roles.
• Proven involvement in full-cycle product development.
• Strong background in industrial, manufacturing, or automation environments.
• Experience designing solutions that incorporate analytical data platforms.
• Advanced cloud experience (Azure preferred; AWS or GCP also considered).
• Deep understanding of integration patterns, APIs, microservices, and event-driven architectures.
• Practical experience with DevOps, CI/CD, containerisation, and Infrastructure as Code.
• A structured approach to cost analysis, scalability, and long-term maintainability.
• A strong grounding in software security principles.

Technically, you are comfortable working with modern .NET environments (C#, .NET Core), SQL and NoSQL databases, messaging frameworks, REST/gRPC APIs and containerised deployments. You understand protocols such as TCP/IP, OPC UA, and Modbus, particularly within industrial settings.

Just as importantly, you are:

• Clear and pragmatic in decision-making.
• Comfortable taking accountability.
• Able to balance long-term strategy with delivery realities.
• Respectful and collaborative in how you lead teams.

Why This Role Matters

This position reports directly to the Managing Director and works closely with product, AI and data teams, DevOps, security and engineering. Your architecture will influence:

• System reliability and uptime.
• Performance and scalability.
• Security posture and compliance.
• Cost efficiency and return on investment.
• The quality and clarity of data available to customers.

In short, your work will shape the company's ability to deliver consistent value to food manufacturers operating in demanding environments.

What You Can Expect

• A leadership role with genuine authority and responsibility.
• Complex technical challenges in a real-world industrial context.
• A collaborative, technically focused environment.
• Hybrid working (up to 50% remote).
• The opportunity to shape long-term architectural direction.

Our Approach

At Exalto Consulting, we believe senior roles deserve thoughtful conversations, not transactional recruitment. We are committed to transparent dialogue about expectations, challenges, and fit — for both sides. If this opportunity aligns with your experience and you are motivated by building systems that have tangible operational impact, we would welcome a confidential discussion.