Solution Architect in Essex, Witham

Solutions Architect (Fixed-term to June 2027, likely to become permanent) — Witham, Essex, hybrid — up to £80,000

A well-established group supplying products and services into professional and healthcare-adjacent markets is bringing in an experienced Solutions Architect for a role they consider pivotal to the technology decisions ahead of them.

This is deliberately not a role for a specialist in one platform.

What matters more here is breadth, practicality and the ability to hold your own in front of senior stakeholders, translating technical trade-offs into commercial and business terms rather than jargon.

You'll report into the IT leadership team and will regularly be in front of the transformation director, so you need to be someone they can trust to break a problem down clearly, whilst thinking with a commercial mindset.

The work itself spans a genuinely varied portfolio.

You'll provide the architectural thinking and governance that keeps a broad set of change initiatives resilient and aligned with a future Group ERP and operating model, moving between modern platforms and long-standing bespoke systems as the work demands.

We're looking for someone with significant, hands-on solution architecture experience across complex, multi-system environments, comfortable stepping into technology they haven't used before rather than needing deep prior expertise in every system.

A background across distribution, warehousing or digital sales environments will suit this better than one built purely in financial services.

Strong integration and data architecture knowledge is essential, along with solid technical governance and the communication skills to work confidently with business stakeholders, suppliers and third parties.

Exposure to platforms such as Dynamics 365, Sage or Net Suite would help, and any background in bespoke or legacy technologies like C#, Delphi or COBOL is advantageous, though not essential.

A relevant degree or equivalent experience is expected, and an architecture certification (TOGAF or similar) would be a plus.

This is a fixed-term PAYE contract paying up to £80,000, running to 30 June 2027 (not an off-payroll engagement, so IR35 doesn't apply).

There's a genuine expectation this becomes a permanent role, though that isn't guaranteed at this stage.

Hybrid working is ideally three days a week from Witham, Essex, with some flexibility on that, plus occasional travel to support the wider group.

Alongside salary, you'll get 33 days' annual leave including bank holidays, an extra day off for your birthday, company pension, dental plan, life assurance, enhanced family leave, an interest-free Smart Pay loan scheme, Cycle2Work, an employee discounts portal, and mental health and virtual GP support.