Senior Lead Architect

Join us as a Senior Lead Solutions Architect and help shape Skipton’s future through leading the design and implementation of large-scale projects across our Application, Data and Dynamics domains. Skipton is currently undertaking some exciting transformational technology programmes, so if you have a passion for technology, a growth mindset and enjoy working in an agile environment then this could be the job for you!

Who Are We? Not just another building society. Not just another job. We’re the fourth biggest building society in the UK and what makes us a bit different is that we’re a mutual organisation. We don’t have shareholders; we’re owned by our members. Our colleagues say Skipton's a great place to work, and you could be one of them, bringing with you new ideas on how we can keep customers at the heart of what we do. Whatever your background, and whatever your goals, we’ll help you take the next step towards a better future.

You’ll be joining the growing IS Design team of 10 Solutions Architects. Sitting within Skipton’s Engineering function (responsible for systems development and data), you’ll work together with business and technology leaders, project managers, business analysts and engineering teams to plan, design, and deliver our Project Portfolio. You will provide governance and technical leadership to ensure the projects are delivered in line with our Architectural Principles and Target Architectures.

What’s In It For You? Skipton values work/life balance and we are proud to support hybrid and flexible working, where possible. We have a newly refurbished head office which offers a vibrant and collaborative working space. We have a range of other benefits available to you including:

• Annual discretionary bonus scheme
• 25 days standard annual leave + bank holidays + rising 1 day per year of service to a maximum of 30 days
• Holiday trading scheme allowing the ability to buy and sell additional annual leave days
• Matching employer pension contribution (up to 10% per annum)
• A commitment to training and development
• Private medical insurance for all our colleagues
• Salary Sacrifice Electric/ Hybrid Car Scheme
• Diverse and inclusive colleague networks available for you to join including our Carers and Pride Alliance groups
• We care about your health and wellbeing – we provide a range of benefits that support this including cycle to work initiative and discounted gym membership

What Will You Be Doing? We have an exciting and transformational portfolio of work here at Skipton that we’d love you to get involved in! You’ll be:

• Working with senior stakeholders, translating business requirements into high level designs for technology solutions across our application and data domains.
• Serving as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders such as the GCIO and senior management teams, helping to support technology strategy decisions.
• Leading complex architecture deliveries from design through to implementation that span multiple architectural domains.
• Leading cross-functional teams, ensuring architectural decisions align with business goals.
• Working closely with delivery and technical leads, project managers and development & engineering teams to provide technical guidance and decision making.
• Providing architectural governance and assurance throughout the project process.
• Bridging the gap between the technical and non-technical.
• Speaking on behalf of technical teams and facilitating relationships with stakeholders.

What Do We Need From You? We’re looking for people with a strong Application Architecture and development background. Whilst we’d love to find someone who ticks all the boxes, we strongly believe in having a growth mindset in the team. We commit to learning and development time every month (2 days), with access to tools such as Microsoft Enterprise Skills Initiative and LinkedIn learning to support this. We need people to have:

• Previously operated in a senior technical role such as an Application Architect or Senior/ Lead Architect and have delivered complex and large-scale enterprise solutions using Microsoft Azure technologies.
• A strong knowledge of cloud security, governance, and compliance ideally (but not essentially) within a financial services domain.
• Solid experience of working with agile methodologies and DevOps tools (such as Azure DevOps, Git, etc.)
• Proven experience designing and delivering modern architectures such as event-driven platforms, CQRS and micro services.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence and negotiate with stakeholders at all levels are essential to the role.
• Relevant certifications or qualifications in cloud architecture (such as TOGAF or Azure Solutions Architect Expert).
• Extensive experience with Azure’s application and integration technologies such as API Management (APIM), App Service, Functions, Service Bus, and Event Hubs.

Diversity and inclusion are a priority for us as we continue to support our members and represent the communities we serve. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, neurodiversity, age, family or parental status, beliefs, nationalities and religions - supporting an inclusive environment for all our colleagues to bring their true selves to Skipton.

If you have a disability, or if you have a condition that you believe may affect your performance during our selection process, we’ll be happy to discuss making reasonable adjustments to our processes for you. Please contact our Talent Acquisition team at talentacquisition@skipton.co.uk.