Senior Solutions Architect

Department: Technology: Architecture, Strategy, Testing & Dev Ops

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: London or Manchester UK

Key Responsibilities

• Solution Architecture & Delivery: Design end-to-end solution architectures aligned to business outcomes, considering application, data, integration, cloud and security perspectives. Translate business and user needs into pragmatic, scalable and supportable solution designs. Work across delivery phases from discovery and shaping through to implementation and transition. Provide design leadership and assurance to delivery teams, ensuring solutions are coherent and achievable in practice.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Advisory: Engage business and technology stakeholders to understand organisational challenges and shape solution direction. Explain architecture options, trade-offs and risks clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences. Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders and guide decision-making in complex environments. Operate effectively within large organisations, including public sector bodies, where governance, assurance and change management are critical.
• Sales Support: Support early-stage client engagements by shaping solution options, architecture approaches and delivery considerations. Contribute to proposals, bids, RFP responses and presentations, helping articulate business value as well as technical fit. Work with account and delivery teams to identify where architecture can help clients solve complex business and technology challenges. Bring a practical consulting mindset that balances ambition with delivery realism.
• Governance, Standards & Assurance: Contribute to or lead architecture governance activities, including design authorities and assurance reviews. Ensure solutions align with enterprise principles, security requirements, regulatory expectations and delivery standards. Apply structured thinking across business, application, data and technology domains to maintain alignment and manage complexity. Support good architectural practice by defining or applying principles, patterns and guardrails.
• Internal Capability Creation and Enhancement: Develop and enhance solution architecture methods, tools and reusable assets. Mentor consultants and architects internally and within client teams, supporting growth in architectural capability. Contribute to the development of architecture-related consulting offerings and ways of working. Lead or contribute to internal knowledge-sharing, communities of practice and continuous improvement activities.

Senior and Principal Expectations

• Senior Solution Architect: Own the end-to-end solution architecture for projects or major workstreams, ensuring designs are robust, pragmatic and aligned to client outcomes. Operate independently in complex delivery environments, making sound trade-offs across business needs, technical constraints and delivery realities. Bring broad knowledge across cloud, security, integration and enterprise delivery patterns, with depth in one or more areas but without relying on narrow product specialism. Engage confidently with senior stakeholders, contribute to pre-sales activity and support less experienced architects and consultants.
• Principal Solution Architect: Lead architecture direction across programmes, accounts or significant client opportunities, connecting business strategy to solution design and delivery. Act as a trusted advisor to senior and executive stakeholders, influencing decisions across business, technology and operating model change. Drive growth in architecture services through solution shaping, sales support, proposition development and leadership of complex client engagements. Set the standard for architectural practice, mentor senior architects and help build Transform's internal capability and reputation in the market.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

• Experience in solution architecture, enterprise architecture or related technology leadership roles within complex environments.
• Proven ability to align technology decisions with business strategy and delivery objectives across large organisations.
• Broad understanding across architecture domains including business, data, application, technology, infrastructure and security.
• Working knowledge of cloud platforms, security and compliance considerations, integration approaches and enterprise technology landscapes.
• Experience of architecture governance and assurance, including participation in or leadership of Technical Design Authorities or equivalent forums.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills, including the ability to work with senior client audiences.
• Experience building organisational maturity in architecture practice and supporting delivery from discovery through implementation.
• Consulting experience or a strong consulting mindset, with an ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, multi-stakeholder environments.
• Understanding of standards and frameworks such as ISO27001, ITIL V4, Cyber Essentials+ and, where relevant, public sector expectations such as the GDS Service Standard.
• A growth mindset AI curious and ready to embrace opportunities.

Desirable skills/experience

• Familiarity with architecture frameworks and methods such as TOGAF, DAMA or equivalent recognised approaches.
• Experience with architecture modelling or repository tools such as Bizzdesign, Sparx EA or similar.
• Industry experience in one or more sectors such as public sector, healthcare, utilities or regulated enterprise environments.
• Certifications such as TOGAF, AWS, Azure or other relevant cloud, security or architecture qualifications.
• Experience leading or supporting transformation initiatives involving cloud migration, data strategy, operating model redesign or modernisation of legacy estates.
• Experience working across adjacent disciplines such as Agile delivery, product management, DevOps, cyber security, user-centred design or service design.

Job Benefits

• Holiday entitlement, 28 days with the option to buy/sell up to 5 days (note that 3 days are held for Christmas holidays).
• Day off (on or in the week of) your birthday.
• Pension eligibility, up to 5% matched contributions.
• Private healthcare.
• Life assurance.
• Enhanced maternity and enhanced paternity and shared parental leave.
• Cycle to work schemes.
• Gym & retail discounts.
• Regular social events/activities.
• A range of other benefits from our flexible benefits package.

We’re committed to equality of opportunity for all, and we actively seek applications from all ethnicities, orientations, beliefs, gender identities + those with neurodiverse traits and disabilities. We want you to have the best opportunity to show us who you are and what you can do. Please do let us know if you need any adjustments now or at any point in the recruitment process.