Enterprise Architect in London

Who are we? Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries. People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It's what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities - work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering - you'll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

What is the role? As Enterprise Architect for the Digital Backbone, you will provide architectural leadership and strategic direction for Howden Group's core integration and technology platform. You will shape and govern the architecture of the Digital Backbone – the foundational layer that connects systems, data, and services across the enterprise – while driving adoption of API-first principles, integration best practices, and enterprise-wide governance. The Digital Backbone is Howden Group's foundational technology and integration layer, designed to eliminate fragmented systems and manual processes, and to enable digital product delivery and innovation at scale.

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?

• Architecture Leadership & Design
  • Define, own, and communicate the enterprise architecture of the Digital Backbone, establishing it as the strategic integration platform across Howden Group.
  • Architect and lead the design, development, and deployment of APIs and integrations, ensuring alignment with enterprise-wide standards and the Digital Backbone's strategic goals.
  • Drive adoption of API-first design principles and the APIOps methodology across the integration lifecycle, including automation of API deployment and governance.
  • Develop, maintain, and communicate key architecture artefacts including policies, standards, principles, patterns, templates, and capability models.
  • Manage Group Enterprise Architecture assets – including application and technology catalogues, roadmaps, and capability models – within the EA management repository.
• Governance & Standards
  • Define and enforce architectural standards and best practices for integration and API design, development, and management, working within the Digital Backbone Technical Design Authority.
  • Chair and run architecture governance forums on behalf of Group IT leadership, including developing decision-making frameworks, running regular meetings, and reporting on governance metrics and outcomes.
  • Conduct architectural reviews and provide guidance to development teams on integration patterns, best practices, and compliance requirements.
  • Identify and mitigate technical risks, ensuring alignment with security, compliance, and regulatory requirements.
  • Undertake due diligence of vendor systems and solutions to ensure alignment with Group IT policies and standards.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Evangelism
  • Evangelise the Digital Backbone architecture and technology stack through documentation, internal communications, and stakeholder engagement at all levels.
  • Attend key change programme, project, and business stakeholder meetings to provide Group IT Enterprise Architecture guidance and direction.
  • Undertake consultative engagements with teams across the wider business as a subject matter expert in integration architecture and Digital Backbone capabilities.
  • Collaborate with enterprise architects, platform leads, and business stakeholders to align integration solutions with strategic goals.
• Continuous Improvement
  • Continuous assessment and optimisation of integration solutions and tooling for performance, scalability, maintainability, observability, and self-service capability.
  • Lead technical discussions, mentor team members, and foster a culture of innovation, engineering excellence, and continuous improvement.
  • Work in an agile, collaborative manner and adapt to evolving business needs and technology trends, constructively challenging ideas and remaining open to feedback.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

Essential Skills & Experience: Strong enterprise architecture skills and experience, specifically running pragmatic, guidance-oriented, and outcomes-focused architecture governance at group or global scale. Excellent knowledge of enterprise integration patterns and their application, with demonstrated expertise in API lifecycle management and governance. Experience designing and implementing enterprise-scale API platforms using Azure technologies, including Azure API Management, Logic Apps, and Service Bus.