Director, Solution Architect in North East

Director, Solution Architect in North East

North East Full-Time 72000 - 88000 £ / year (est.) Hybrid
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At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead solution architecture for major initiatives, ensuring designs meet standards and deliver business outcomes.
  • Company: Join GSK, a global biopharma leader committed to innovative health solutions.
  • Benefits: Enjoy competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and a supportive work environment.
  • Other info: Hybrid role offering flexibility and opportunities for professional growth.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact on global health while advancing your career in tech.
  • Qualifications: 8+ years in technology architecture with strong design and assurance skills.

The predicted salary is between 72000 - 88000 £ per year.

Business Introduction

GSK remains committed to achieving bold commercial ambitions for the future.

By 2031, we aim to deliver £40 billion in annual sales, leveraging our existing strong performance momentum to significantly increase our positive impact on the health of billions of patients globally.

Our Ahead Together strategy is centred on early intervention to prevent and alter the course of disease, thereby protecting people and supporting healthcare systems.

Our diverse portfolio consists of vaccines, specialty medicines, and general medicines.

Through continuous innovation and a dedicated focus on scientific and technical excellence, we strive to develop and launch new, groundbreaking treatments that address critical health challenges.

Position Summary

The Solution Architect provides solution architecture and design assurance for major GSK initiatives, ensuring solutions meet architecture standards, fit the target architecture, and deliver the intended business outcomes.

The role produces solution designs, builds reliability, resilience, and observability in from the start, designs AI-enabled solutions where they accelerate delivery or operations, and works across domains so that end-to-end solutions are coherent rather than locally optimal.

Platform-level reference architectures and standards sit with the Platform Architects and Platform Architecture Directors in each business domain, engineering delivery sits with the platform engineering teams, and enterprise architecture strategy and the architecture team sit with the Head of Solution Architecture and the Enterprise Architects.

Where a design touches platforms, the business-facing domain architect leads and this role assures.

Responsibilities

This role will provide YOU the opportunity to lead key activities to progress YOUR career. These responsibilities include some of the following:

  • Produce solution designs for major DPTF and broader Digital & Tech initiatives, aligned to reference architectures, enterprise standards, and strategy.
  • Build reliability, resilience, and observability into designs from the outset, aware of the SLOs the consuming services commit to.
  • Design AI-enabled solutions where AI genuinely accelerates delivery or operations and state the case rather than including it by default.
  • Provide design assurance and architecture review for initiatives led by others, declining designs that do not meet the standard and saying what would.
  • Balance business outcome, cost, risk, and technical fit in every design.
  • Work across platform domains so that end-to-end solutions are coherent, surfacing conflicts between domain architectures early.
  • Assure the architecture of supplier and managed-service solutions to the same standard as internal designs.
  • Uphold architecture standards and governance, routing genuine exceptions through Enterprise Architecture rather than allowing local workarounds.
  • Ensure designs meet security and compliance requirements, including Gx P where the initiative supports regulated activity.
  • Reduce rework by engaging early in initiative shaping rather than reviewing completed designs, and evidence the reduction.
  • Advise on architectural risk and the consequences of the technical debt being accepted.
  • Hold the boundaries with the Platform Architects on platform-level reference architecture, the Enterprise Architects on enterprise strategy and standards, and the engineering teams on build.

Why You?

This role is a hybrid position based in the United States of America. You will typically work both remotely and on-site as agreed with your manager.

Basic Qualification

We are seeking professionals with the following required skills and qualifications to help us achieve our goals:

  • Bachelors Degree in a technology or engineering discipline, or equivalent practical experience (e. g., Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems).
  • 8+ years in technology architecture or senior engineering, including at least three years producing solution designs for major initiatives.
  • Experience in more than one technology domain, sufficient to design and assure end to end rather than within a specialism.
  • Experience working with and influencing one or more business domain architects (e. g., R&D, Commercial, Global Functions, or Global Supply Chain).
  • Experience running architecture review or design assurance.
  • Experience designing solutions for reliability, resilience, and observability.
  • Experience designing secure and compliant technology solutions.
  • Experience reviewing or assuring supplier or systems integrator designs against established architecture standards.
  • Experience applying AI patterns within solution architecture or technology design.
  • Experience designing solutions across Saa S, Paa S, and Iaa S using Azure and/or GCP.
  • Experience with Modern Engineering workflows, including CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and observability, including AI-assisted or agentic tooling.
  • Experience creating solution architecture documentation and diagrams for technical and business audiences.
  • Experience working across multiple technology domains and communicating architectural decisions and trade-offs to stakeholders.
  • Preferred Qualification

If you have the following characteristics, it would be a plus

  • Architecture certifications, including a recognized cloud, network, or workplace architecture certification.
  • Familiarity with Gx P validation requirements for solution designs, beyond platform standards.
  • Experience producing designs later delivered through third-party systems integrators.
  • Exposure to Fin Ops or cost-to-operate considerations in solution design decisions.
  • Hands-on experience with AI-enabled patterns, including RAG and agentic workflows, as delivery accelerants.
  • Ability to decline a design while clearly explaining what would meet the required standard.
  • Judgement about when an exception is genuinely warranted and when it is convenience.
  • Comfort engaging early in initiative shaping where requirements are still ambiguous.
  • Pragmatism about technical debt, making the cost visible rather than blocking delivery.

Skills

API Management, Application Development, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Architectures, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, Data Architecture Development, Database Management Systems (DBMS), Dev Ops, Microservices Architecture, Network Architecture, Security Architecture Design, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Software Engineering, System Integration, Technical Solution Architecture

Please visit GSK US Benefits Summary to learn more about the comprehensive benefits program GSK offers US employees.

Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive.

We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines.

We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale.

People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most.

Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

If you require an accommodation or other assistance to apply for a job at GSK, please contact the appropriate Recruitment Staff by emailing us at usrecruitment. adjustments@gsk. com.

GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

Important notice to Employment businesses/ Agencies

GSK does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site.

All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact GSK’s commercial and general procurement/human resources department to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to GSK.

The obtaining of prior written authorization is a condition precedent to any agreement (verbal or written) between the employment business/ agency and GSK.

In the absence of such written authorization being obtained any actions undertaken by the employment business/agency shall be deemed to have been performed without the consent or contractual agreement of GSK.

GSK shall therefore not be liable for any fees arising from such actions or any fees arising from any referrals by employment businesses/agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site.

Please note that if you are a US Licensed Healthcare Professional or Healthcare Professional as defined by the laws of the state issuing your license, GSK may be required to capture and report expenses GSK incurs, on your behalf, in the event you are afforded an interview for employment.

This capture of applicable transfers of value is necessary to ensure GSK’s compliance to all federal and state US Transparency requirements.

For more information, please visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website at https://openpaymentsdata. cms. gov/.

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Director, Solution Architect in North East employer: GSK

GSK is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work culture that fosters collaboration and innovation in the heart of Stevenage. With a strong commitment to employee growth, you will have access to extensive development opportunities while working on groundbreaking medicine projects. The hybrid work model and future relocation to Cambridge provide a unique advantage, ensuring a vibrant environment for both personal and professional advancement.

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Contact Details:

GSK Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Director, Solution Architect in North East

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We think you need these skills to ace Director, Solution Architect in North East

Solution Architecture
Design Assurance
AI-enabled Solutions
Reliability Engineering
Resilience Engineering
Observability
Security and Compliance

Some tips for your application 🫡

Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.

Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at GSK.

Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at GSK and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!

Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!

How to prepare for a job interview at GSK

✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills

For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.

✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks

Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If GSK uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.

✨Showcase Your Projects

Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.

✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions

While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.