Principal Solutions Architect

IntaPeople are proud and excited to be appointed to recruit a Lead and Principal Solutions Architect for a Welsh-based gov sector client on an exclusive venture. This is a very exciting opportunity to join their fast-growing IT team in this newly created position. The Solution Architect will have the opportunity to shape the role around their strengths whilst supporting the cross-platform digital estate. Connecting through modern integration practices you will have access to the right suite of tools to communicate effectively with their key users.

You will lead a team of talented Solution Architects which will involve providing coaching and support to upskill their technical capabilities and ensuring your team design and deliver efficient and maintainable solutions. The organisations Solution Architects ensure that they have the right suite of tools, connected through modern integration standards to engage, and communicate effectively with our key audiences.

Knowledge and Skills (not limited to):

• Strong experience designing high-performing and scalable digital architect designs and patterns
• Significant experience in designing and implementing complex technical solutions, documenting deigns using the appropriate architecture modelling tools and frameworks e.g., TOGAF, UML etc, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and compliance with industry standards.
• Proven ability to develop and communicate a clear architectural vision that supports the strategic objectives of the organization, in particular digital transformation projects; involving modernising legacy systems and delivering complex, nuanced API integrations.
• Strong skills in engaging with and influencing senior stakeholders, ensuring their needs and concerns are addressed in the architectural solutions.
• Experience working across multiple projects
• Experience in leading and mentoring a team of architects and technical specialists, fostering a collaborative and innovative environment.
• Experience working with cloud-based technologies such as Azure

Responsibilities (but not limited to):

• Lead and develop a team of Solution Architects, through providing guidance from both a technical and governance perspective, and defining architectural best practices, to solidify and grow the capabilities of your team.
• Ensure the efficiency of team productivity and capacity through following Scrum methodologies to identify priorities and capacity issues and implement the required changes during planning sessions.
• You will work within the Solution Architecture team to deliver the architecture design of new and existing technology platforms by defining solutions and creating design patterns to ensure consistent delivery across web, mobile, and physical systems at bus/rail stations and onboard transportation vehicles.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders via meetings and workshops to understand business plans and strategies to ensure the architecture for the digital solutions landscape enables improvements within business performance and delivers customer satisfaction.
• Continuously develop defined principles and design patterns to ensure that these remain relevant, up to date, and are fit for purpose to deliver the capabilities we need to hit their strategic goals.
• Produce technical integration designs and accompanying architectural models using the appropriate business tooling to ensure adherence to the core IT strategy and design principles – documenting transitional state and to-be architectures for both the replacement of existing systems and the introduction of greenfield systems.
• Provide architectural guidance to the IT leadership team, senior stakeholders, and other colleagues through attending relevant steering/working groups to maximise the value of solution architecture
• Chair the Architecture Design Authority to govern digital solution proposals at project stage gates, reviewing proposals against agreed standards and suggesting remedial direction where standards are not met, to ensure consistency for across internally and externally delivered projects.

Reporting directly to the Head of Architecture and IT Director, you will be responsible for a wide range of projects with a range of internal and external suppliers, with annual budgets of up to £3M. Working within a team of 4-5 architects but supporting a wider engineering team of 20, you\’ll typically plan 12-18months in advance depending on the project requirements and size.

What you’ll get in return (at a glance)

• A salary of circa £70,000 DOE
• 28 days annual leave + public bank holidays
• A flexible working environment
• Competitive Legal and General pension Scheme (8% contribution)
• 4 x Death in service
• Free Rail travel throughout Wales
• The opportunity to work on modern and industry changing projects
• Salary sacrifice scheme such as – cycle to work, electric vehicle
• To be based in their brand new, modern offices 2-3 days per week with the wider team in Pontypridd
• A chance to truly contribute to large scale digitalisation projects within Wales

For more information click APPLY now or for a confidential chat call Nathan Handley (Recruitment Manager) on 02920 252 500.

This role is commutable from Swansea, Bridgend, Cardiff and Newport.