Solutions Architect

Job Title: Solutions Architect

Department: Public Sector Services

Management Responsibility for: No

Travel Required: Yes

Salary: £60,000 – £80,000 depending on experience

Reports to: SVP Business Development

Location: Home Based / On-site as required

Contract Type: Permanent

Job Summary / Overview

Working as part of the Public Sector Business Development Team, the role is to be a Solutions Architect/Lead on Public Sector new bids and strategic retenders. As TP expands its service reach you will be responsible for working hand in glove with the Business Development Leads/SVPs with responsibility to orchestrate and work closely with subject matter experts in each business area to design and shape compelling solutions for some of the largest and strategically important public sector contracts. You will have responsibility for identifying all of the components and associated costs needed to deliver the overall solution and work with our operational teams to agree and ensure practical and deliverable implementation plans.

You will be responsible for the development and documentation of compelling, differentiated and commercially attractive solutions in response to identified client requirements. You will identify and quantify the transformational outcomes that our solutions can deliver to clients through the integration of technology, analytics, processes, people and customer experiences.

You will be regularly engaging with the wider TP Transformation and Innovation (T&I) team, partners and third-party supplier base, as well as drawing on our relevant global capabilities, to identify the optimum tools and solutions that TP have access to.

You will be required to play a leading role in working with the Public Sector SVPs of Business Development and the Client Services team to actively lead and support market engagement activities and engage directly with clients on service innovation and solutions support for new and existing services.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

• Visioning and crafting digital business solutions for Public Sector opportunities – this isn’t about the technical architecture but more about being able to develop & design a solution vision to meet a client’s requirements and then developing a practical and compelling means to knit a winning solution together.
• Writing detailed and compliant solution content in response to the relevant stage of the procurement process
• Participation on pre-tender market engagement activity
• Presenting solutions to clients both formally as part of a bid process and informally in discovery/consultative conversations and as part of market engagement activities
• Working with and advising our finance team to ensure solutions are properly costed/priced and costs are correctly captured in client financial models and templates.
• Working closely with our WFM teams to ensure they accurately size and forecast /model the levels of resource required. Focus to include optimal productivity of service solution and ensuring maximum efficiency of solution.
• Working with the SVP of Business Development to secure executive sign off for proposed solutions/prices as part of the formal bid process

Communication:

• Ability to put complex ideas across simply in written, visual (slides) and verbal forms
• Ensuring that current Government policy and compliance requirements are understood and are reflected in all solutions created
• Responsibility for actively supporting Public Sector growth strategy in the development and identification of potential new market opportunities and solutions / product design as a ‘go to market’ approach

Influencing and networking:

• Ability to operate effectively within a B2B client/service provider environment
• Ability to deliver through others within a project/virtual team environment
• Ability to build and maintain effective networks – internally and externally

Solutions design:

• Ability to identify client needs and requirements and design solutions that address them
• Ability to identify opportunities for transformation through innovation, analytics and technology and to incorporate these into client proposals
• Ability to capture and document solution requirements and specifications for the purposes of pricing and delivery planning aligned to client requirements and evaluation criterion
• Demonstrable knowledge and success of how to structure a solution for customer management services and operations
• Demonstrable knowledge of formal bid procurement processes and vendor responses e.g. RFI/ITT/ITN/RFP/BAFO
• Understanding of how AI can be utilised to shape commercially attractive solutions
• Knowledge of project management principles and how these apply to delivery of solution design
• Ensuring that all aspects of the solution influencing cost, price and margin are fully understood and incorporated into tender responses

Experience:

• Experience of working on solution design and bids in a BPO/BPS environment, specifically with experience of working on Public Sector bid responses
• Experience of working with data and customer insight
• Experience of undertaking due diligence analysis of customer provided data and insights to deliver a compliant solution to meet customer needs and to assess level of risk in solution design
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills with evidence of having authored and presented detailed proposals to clients
• A creative problem solver, able to look at a situation and generate imaginative but realistic and compliant solutions.

Competencies and Specific Skills:

• Takes ownership and accountability
• Commercially minded
• People focused
• Achievement driven
• Superior analytical ability
• Superior communication skills
• Robust and commercially balanced decision-making
• Flexibility
• Excellent reasoning & judgement
• Leadership skills
• Self-motivated and can motivate others
• Strategic and commercial thinker
• Superior facilitation & presentation skills
• Continuous improvement mindset
• Team player and able to work within close knit team environment