Senior Solution Architect (AI) in Bristol

Salary Range: £92,701 - £109,060

We support flexible working – click here for more information on flexible working options.

Flexible Working Options: Hybrid Working

About this opportunity… Here at Lloyds Banking Group, we put our customers at the heart of everything we do, and every colleague has an important part to play. We're the Customer Experience & Analytics Lab, an integral part of the amazing Analytics & AI Platform. As a member of the Conversational Experience & Analytics Lab, you'll play a vital role in our efforts to build a forward-thinking Chatbot as a Service platform. You'll collaborate on innovative solutions that incorporate Large Language Models and Agentic AI within a well-established cloud-based ecosystem.

You’ll be involved in coaching, continually challenging, motivating, mentoring, and supporting colleagues in the Lab. Specialising in design and architecture, this role will be instrumental in delivering the Group’s agenda for change in a coherent, innovative, and collaborative manner.

We're a diverse group of people. Software Engineers, Robotics Specialists, Cognitive Developers, Data Scientists, Conversation Designers, Natural Language Engineers and many more. We come from a variety of backgrounds across the globe, but we all share in the vision of the untapped potential of human and machine intelligence. We're seeking an ambitious and proven Senior Solution Architect to join our dynamic team. This role offers the chance to influence the way we design and build using the latest cloud technology.

What you’ll do…

• Solution Design and System Integration: Lead the design and development of robust software solutions using modern engineering techniques across GCP and Microsoft Azure stacks, aligned with Enterprise Architecture and Business Design strategy.
• Thought Leadership: A trusted advisor to a network of colleagues and professionals within and outside the Organisation. Uses experience to provide valuable insights, strategic thoughts and encourage problem-solving.
• Manage a complex set of constraints and opportunities: Creating and maintaining a blueprint for organising and communicating the Lab technology change agenda.
• Promote Adoption of Modern Software Engineering Practices: Including DevOps, CI/CD, Cloud computing.
• Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams to shape high-quality and innovative products, ensuring alignment with business goals. Acting as an advocate for technology design and robust solution governance across the Lab.
• Delivering Design Outputs: Such as Minimum Viable Designs and architecture decisions via formal governance processes.
• Agile Methodologies: Champion agile development practices, including continuous integration and test automation.

About you… We're looking for an experienced individual who can thrive in a fast-paced environment and is eager to learn new skills and technologies. The ideal candidate will possess:

• Professional Experience: 5+ years in either Software Engineering design, or Solution Design/Architecture. Experience in shaping and executing design change across complex operational and technology environments.
• Technical Expertise: Extensive understanding of software development principles with experience of designing highly observable and scalable solutions. Proficient in Node.js, React, Next.js and experience of Python. Knowledge of API development, automation, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools (e.g. Terraform). Experience of Cyber Security and techniques to ensure resilient applications.
• Source Code Management: Deep understanding of Git and managing change within a source code management system.
• Integration Tools and Cloud Infrastructure: Significant experience with integration tools and cloud infrastructure (ideally GCP). Hands-on experience with cloud-native architecture and containerisation technologies (e.g. Kubernetes, Docker) - knowledge & experience of Helm is an additional advantage. An understanding of networking – preferably including a mixture of public cloud and on-premise infrastructure.
• Agile Development: Strong knowledge of agile development practices, continuous integration and test automation. Experience of timely delivery by managing tasks and priorities effectively.

About working for us… Like the modern Britain we serve, we’re evolving. Investing billions in our people, data and tech to transform the way we meet the ever-changing needs of our 26 million customers. We’re growing with purpose. Join us on our journey and you will too.

Our focus is to ensure we're inclusive every day, building an organisation that reflects modern society and celebrates diversity in all its forms. We want our people to feel that they belong and can be their best, regardless of background, identity or culture. We were one of the first major organisations to set goals on diversity in senior roles, create a menopause health package, and a dedicated Working with Cancer initiative. And it’s why we especially welcome applications from under-represented groups. We’re disability confident. So if you’d like reasonable adjustments to be made to our recruitment processes, just let us know.

We also offer a wide-ranging benefits package, which includes:

• A generous pension contribution of up to 15%
• An annual performance-related bonus
• Share schemes including free shares
• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping, cycle to work…
• 30 days’ holiday, with bank holidays on top
• A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies

Ready to start growing with purpose? Apply today. At Lloyds Banking Group, we're driven by a clear purpose; to help Britain prosper. Across the Group, our colleagues are focused on making a difference to customers, businesses and communities. With us you'll have a key role to play in shaping the financial services of the future, whilst the scale and reach of our Group means you'll have many opportunities to learn, grow and develop.

We keep your data safe. So, we'll only ever ask you to provide confidential or sensitive information once you have formally been invited along to an interview or accepted a verbal offer to join us which is when we run our background checks. We'll always explain what we need and why, with any request coming from a trusted Lloyds Banking Group person. We're focused on creating a values-led culture and are committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the customers and communities we serve. Together we’re building a truly inclusive workplace where all of our colleagues have the opportunity to make a real difference.