Solutions Architect

Role Overview

This role converts business problems and opportunities into practical technical solutions, balancing what the solution must do with how well it must perform, scale, integrate, and operate within the organisation's existing technology estate. The person leads the technical direction on major system initiatives, turning new business requirements or capability gaps into clear proposals, designs, and delivery approaches. The position matters because it connects business intent to implementable technology choices, reducing delivery risk and ensuring solutions fit the wider application, data, infrastructure, and cloud landscape.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as technical lead on large system projects, owning solution direction from problem definition through design, delivery, and transition into operation.
• Translate business requirements and identified functionality gaps into technical proposals, options, and recommendations that account for both functional and non-functional needs.
• Define and document solution characteristics such as performance, scalability, security, availability, maintainability, integration, and operational support requirements.
• Assess how existing databases, applications, infrastructure, and cloud services can be reused or extended before recommending new technology investment.
• Guide delivery teams through the software development lifecycle using waterfall, agile, and hybrid approaches as appropriate to the project context.
• Champion DevOps, Agile working practices, and CI/CD so that designs can move efficiently from build through test and release.
• Communicate technical direction to business and technology stakeholders, building alignment in situations where decision rights are shared and formal authority is limited.
• Break complex initiatives into actionable components, plans, and workstreams, then track technical dependencies and risks across the delivery.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, or another relevant discipline from a recognised university.
• At least one certification such as CBAP, TOGAF, ITIL Foundation, or Design Thinking and Innovation.
• Minimum of three years' experience in software development, with exposure to databases, applications, infrastructure, and cloud technologies.
• Hands-on understanding of software development lifecycle management across waterfall, agile, and hybrid delivery models.
• Demonstrated success designing and implementing complex, high-volume, consumer-facing projects within the financial services industry.
• Ability to influence and communicate effectively in ambiguous situations, including when no direct reporting line exists.
• Familiarity with DevOps, Agile working, and CI/CD practices.
• Strong planning and organisational skills, with a proven ability to decompose complex problems into actionable elements.