Solution Lead in City of London

The CLIENT has embarked on a large transformation programme focused on redefining and reshaping its key capabilities and strategic technologies. A Solution Lead supporting this programme will analyse, develop, and help deliver its objectives as part of a specialist team. They are responsible for the alignment and delivery of their area in line with the business's requirements and the CLIENT's technology strategy.

As a subject matter specialist in their field, they will have current practical and specialist expertise in secure web gateway (SWG), cloud access security broker (CASB), and zero trust network access (ZTNA) services delivered in the cloud. They will provide knowledge and guidance to multiple business and IT stakeholders and have an appreciation of how modern industry solutions can be used to deliver secure and reliable SSE solutions.

Key responsibilities and accountabilities:

• Analysing existing contract and capabilities to define a service improvement and transition plan.
• Responsible for the development and delivery of a roadmap for this specific area of the CLIENT's technology estate, meeting the business's requirements and in line with the CLIENT's technology strategy.
• Works in partnership with the business, establishing and prioritising requirements, inputs into budget forecasting and management.
• Has a high level of expertise in their particular area, confident in explaining the benefits and trade-offs of technology choices, and has a good appreciation of the wider CLIENT technology landscape and priorities.
• Works collaboratively with other leads and stakeholders to integrate the roadmap for their area with priorities and strategies in other areas, looking to reuse common components and simplify and standardise workflows.
• Adopts a flexible approach, balancing buy, build, and integration, as is most appropriate in the circumstances, working always to maximise the value returned from the investment, to provide consistency and simplicity, and to minimise duplication and inefficiency.
• Ensures that solutions are governed, supportable, and fully costed in line with defined processes and principles.
• Responsible as the technology and solution lead for the design and delivery of projects relating to their area. Works with assigned project delivery specialists and external parties to ensure that projects are delivered on time and in budget, and that risks, dependencies, and issues are well managed.
• Manages systems engineers, specialists, and business analysts who are directly related to their particular area, working with senior managers to create an ambitious, inclusive, diverse, and welcoming environment, so that everybody feels supported to be their authentic self and to perform to the best of their ability.
• Works within agile delivery teams as required, working with delivery managers, engineering, and user experience to deliver internal products to deadlines.
• Responsible for sound financial planning and forecasting in their area.
• Develop relationships with pan-CLIENT and external stakeholders, delivery partners and suppliers as well as with colleagues and senior internal stakeholders.
• Responsible for the day-to-day management of contracts with vendors, ensuring that the CLIENT receives the services required and achieves best value.

Knowledge, skills, training and experience

Essential:

• Practical expertise in security service edge technology, with specific experience of Zscaler ZIA and ZPA.
• Understanding and ability to apply knowledge and understanding of technologies, workflows, and interfaces to the development and transformation of an existing service provision.
• Significant experience in delivering, or of playing a major part in delivering, solutions or products in the specified area in organisations of similar scope, complexity, and operations as the CLIENT.
• Experience of providing technical and solution leadership to projects and working with professional project delivery resources, both internally and externally provided.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills sufficient to establish effective working relationships and credibility with a wide range of internal and external contacts and key stakeholders.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills, particularly the ability to present technical, complex initiatives, strategies and systems in a manner that can be simply and clearly understood by non-technical colleagues.
• Aware of financial and business implications of architecture choices and alternatives.
• Negotiating and conflict-handling skills to ensure the best outcome for the CLIENT in the face of complexity and uncertainty.

Desirable:

• Good understanding of software-defined network and security services.
• Practical experience of other Zscaler products such as ZDX, Cloud & Branch Connector, Risk360.
• Knowledge and understanding of Identity & Access Management services and understanding of identity-based, adaptive trust architectures for securing access to services.

Job Impact

Decision making:

• Advise on and be responsible for decisions which have a substantial impact on the strategic delivery of services.
• Leads roadmap development and prioritisation, is responsible for solution designs, and is responsible for user/business acceptance processes.
• Highly collaborative, taking ownership and responsibility as required; works with others from across the group and the business to make aligned decisions.

Scope:

• Directs ad-hoc multifunctional delivery teams drawn from professional capabilities.
• Management of multi-year roadmaps, setting the direction and development of a core area of the CLIENT's technology estate.
• Responsible for stakeholder management of peers and senior leaders in content divisions.