Solutions Architect in Bristol

Salary Range: £70,000 - £84,955. Leonardo UK operates a grade-based salary framework with broad bands. The salary range shown reflects the approved grade band for this role, or a narrower hiring range published within that band, and is benchmarked against the external market. Exceptions above the standard range are managed through governance controls to protect internal equity.

Your impact: Are you ready to shape and lead solution designs that underpin the UK’s most critical missions? At Leonardo, our Solutions Architects are trusted experts who provide technical leadership across programmes, influence roadmaps, and ensure solutions are secure, resilient, and future-ready. Your work at Leonardo UK will see you take the lead in solving customer problems in an agile, innovative and team-centric manner. The role may involve a blended hybrid working model, with a mixture of working from home and working on site at one of our Leonardo offices to ensure close collaboration with the wider team and with our customers.

What you will do as a Solutions Architect:

• Act as the technical authority for solution design across large-scale or multi-project programmes.
• Define and evolve architectures that balance customer needs, enterprise principles, and secure-by-design standards.
• Contribute to divisional and line-of-business roadmaps, identifying opportunities for technology insertion and innovation.
• Lead technical reviews, trade-off studies, and risk assessments for major design decisions.
• Mentor and coach Solutions Architects and Engineers, raising capability across the community.
• Represent Leonardo at senior customer forums, technical boards, and industry events.
• Support business winning, including solution strategy, bids, and proposal development.
• Champion best practice, reuse, and model-based design approaches across the architecture community.

What you’ll bring:

• Extensive technical expertise with a proven track record of designing secure, integrated solutions within defence, aerospace, or other highly regulated, mission-critical environments.
• Ability to influence technical strategy and act as a recognised authority within your domain, particularly in security-sensitive or government-led programmes.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to engage effectively with senior stakeholders.

Core areas (must have):

• Proven experience working within the defence, aerospace, or national security sector.
• Proven experience in solution architecture across multiple domains (infrastructure, applications, data, networking, cloud).
• Strong knowledge of enterprise and solution architecture frameworks (e.g. TOGAF, MODAF, NAF).
• Advanced understanding of secure system design principles and cyber security standards.
• Experience shaping architectures within Agile or SAFe delivery environments.
• Ability to mentor, coach, and provide thought leadership within a technical community.

Desirable:

• Industry certifications (TOGAF, AWS/Azure Architect, ArchiMate).
• Experience contributing to technology roadmaps and enterprise strategy.
• Familiarity with service design, operational transformation, and digital modernisation.
• Exposure to cloud-native, DevSecOps, and automation approaches.
• Experience presenting at technical boards, customer forums, or industry conferences.

This is not an exhaustive list, and we are keen to hear from you even if you might not have experience in all the above. The most important skill is a good attitude and willingness to learn.

Security Clearance: This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV) may apply, this could include meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV).

Location: This role can be based at one of our UK sites, typically Bristol, with hybrid/custom working options where appropriate. Customer is based in Reading.

Why join us: At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.

• Time to Recharge: Enjoy generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi-days each year.
• Secure your Future: Benefit from our award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.
• Your Wellbeing Matters: Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity.
• Rewarding Performance: All employees at management level and below are eligible for our bonus scheme.
• Never Stop Learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
• Refer a friend: Receive a financial reward through our referral programme.
• Tailored Perks: Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.
• Flexible working: Flexible hours with hybrid working options. For part time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

For a full list of our company benefits please visit our website. Leonardo is a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security. Headquartered in Italy, we employ over 53,000 people worldwide including 8,500 across 9 sites in the UK. Our employees are not just part of a team—they are key contributors to shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety.

At Leonardo we are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace. We believe that a diverse workforce sparks creativity, drives innovation, and leads to better outcomes for our people and our customers. If you have any accessibility requirements to support you during the recruitment process, just let us know.

Be part of something bigger - apply now!