At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead and define architecture for Hotels & Restaurants, ensuring alignment and governance.
- Company: Join Whitbread, a leader in hospitality with a focus on innovation.
- Benefits: Enjoy family healthcare, generous discounts, and an annual bonus of up to 30%.
- Other info: Hybrid working model with opportunities for career growth in a dynamic environment.
- Why this job: Shape the future of hospitality technology while making a real impact.
- Qualifications: Proven experience in solution architecture and strong stakeholder collaboration skills.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
Here at Whitbread, we are seeking an experienced Principal Architect to join our Hotels & Restaurants technology team to own end-to-end Architecture for the domain, making sure that solution designs are sustainable and aligned to both team and department strategies, whilst following Architecture Principles.
As our Principal Architect, you will lead and assure architecture governance, ensuring requirements, scope changes and designs are reviewed, decisions recorded, and outcomes aligned to EA standards, policies, and guardrails.
Role:
- Contract Type: Full time, Permanent
- Location: Whitbread Court, Dunstable (Hybrid working, 3 days per week in office)
Why You’ll Love It Here:
- Healthcare: Family BUPA healthcare
- 10% matched pension
- Discounts: Up to 60% discount on Premier Inn stays and 25% discount on our Restaurant brand
- Annual Incentive of up to 30% Bonus
Benefits:
As the Principal Architect, you will define and evolve our Hotels & Restaurants teams domain architecture, ensuring end-to-end alignment across products, platforms, and suppliers. Alongside this, you will own the architecture artefact set for the team as well as setting and enforcing domain design principles and guardrails, govern design trade-offs and escalate cross-portfolio conflicts and exceptions through the agreed architecture governance model.
You will also lead architecture governance forums, ensuring decisions, approvals, exceptions, and actions are documented, communicated, and progressed. As well as the above, you ensure solutions comply with Enterprise Architecture and Technology standards and relevant security, integration, and data policies; proactively identify non-compliance and drive remediation or formal exception management.
What you’ll need:
- Significant proven experience owning end-to-end solution and domain architecture in complex, multi-team environments.
- Strong working knowledge of enterprise architecture operating models and governance (principles, standards, patterns, review/approval), with ability to lead design authority discussions.
- Strong understanding of integration, security, privacy, and data expectations, with ability to shape and assure non-functional requirements and manage architecture risks.
- Experience collaborating with senior stakeholders across different domains within a business, tailoring communication style depending on the audience.
- Demonstrable experience engaging vendors and partners in a multi-supplier ecosystem.
Be part of our Technology Team at Whitbread. Through collaboration, passion and hiring the smartest minds, our Technology team builds products and services that are used by 38,000 of us at Whitbread and millions of guests. Everything from an eCommerce website that handles £2 billion in transactions per year, applications that are scalable across our 1,200 hotel and restaurants, devices that enable our teams and guests to have a seamless experience, all whilst keeping data secure. Together we’re building the hotel of the future.
Principal Architect in London employer: Whitbread PLC
Contact Detail:
Whitbread PLC Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Principal Architect in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in the industry, attend meetups, and connect with people on LinkedIn. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can put in a good word for you.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by researching the company and its culture. Understand their products and services, especially in the Hotels & Restaurants domain. This will help you tailor your answers and show that you're genuinely interested in joining the team.
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your pitch! Be ready to explain your experience and how it aligns with the Principal Architect role. Highlight your skills in architecture governance and collaboration with stakeholders to demonstrate your fit for the position.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re serious about wanting to be part of the Whitbread family.
We think you need these skills to ace Principal Architect in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV speaks directly to the Principal Architect role. Highlight your experience with end-to-end architecture and governance, and don’t forget to mention any relevant projects that showcase your skills in a multi-team environment.
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to tell us why you’re the perfect fit for our Hotels & Restaurants technology team. Be specific about how your background aligns with our needs and show your passion for architecture.
Showcase Your Collaboration Skills: We love a team player! In your application, emphasise your experience working with senior stakeholders and vendors. Share examples of how you’ve tailored your communication style to different audiences – it’ll make you stand out!
Apply Through Our Website: Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets into the right hands. Plus, it shows us you’re serious about joining our team at Whitbread.
How to prepare for a job interview at Whitbread PLC
✨Know Your Architecture Principles
Make sure you’re well-versed in the architecture principles that Whitbread follows. Brush up on their governance models and be ready to discuss how your experience aligns with these standards. This shows you’re not just a fit for the role, but also for the company’s culture.
✨Prepare for Stakeholder Engagement
Since the role involves collaborating with senior stakeholders, think about examples from your past where you’ve tailored your communication style to different audiences. Be prepared to share these experiences during the interview to demonstrate your adaptability and interpersonal skills.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Be ready to discuss specific challenges you’ve faced in previous roles, especially regarding architecture governance and design trade-offs. Highlight how you identified issues, drove remediation, and ensured compliance with enterprise architecture standards. This will illustrate your proactive approach.
✨Understand the Multi-Supplier Ecosystem
Whitbread operates within a multi-supplier ecosystem, so it’s crucial to show your understanding of how to engage vendors and partners effectively. Prepare examples of how you’ve successfully navigated similar environments, focusing on collaboration and conflict resolution.