Lead Solution Architect

The role 

Position :            Lead Solution Architect  

Contract type :  Permanent / Full Time 

Reporting to :    Head of Systems & Architecture 

Location :           London 

Overview of role

We are looking for a Support Architect responsible for shaping the future-state architecture that enables the organisation to meet its strategic business goals. This role ensures that technology solutions directly support desired business outcomes—such as improved efficiency, customer experience, scalability, and innovation—while maintaining strong architectural integrity. The Support Architect oversees the design of systems and applications across the enterprise and regularly reviews the application portfolio to maximise value, reduce complexity, and ensure agility. 

Key responsibilities and primary deliverables  

Application & Solution Design Oversight 

• Provide architectural oversight on key projects, ensuring solutions are well-designed, secure, maintainable, and aligned with enterprise strategy. 

• Guide the design of applications that deliver tangible business benefits such as improved service delivery, cost reduction, or process automation. 

• Champion standardisation and reuse across the solution landscape to reduce redundancy and increase agility. 

Business-Aligned Architecture Leadership 

• Translate strategic business objectives into scalable, future-ready architectural solutions. 

• Partner with business and product leaders to ensure technology decisions enhance business capability, value delivery, and time-to-market. 

• Identify technology enablers for business innovation, operational excellence, and digital transformation. 

Innovation & Technology Strategy 

• Assess emerging technologies and industry trends for potential business impact. 

• Conduct proofs of concept and pilots where new approaches or tools could unlock business improvements. 

• Promote cloud-native, API-first, and modular architecture practices that support continuous delivery and business responsiveness. 

Business Application Portfolio Governance 

• Support structured reviews of the application landscape to assess business value, performance, cost, and alignment. 

• Collaborate with business stakeholders to identify underused or duplicative applications and recommend consolidation or replacement. 

• Drive rationalisation initiatives to reduce complexity and total cost of ownership, while improving functional coverage and user satisfaction. 

Architecture Governance & Best Practice 

• Define and enforce architectural principles, technology standards, and design patterns that balance innovation with operational integrity. 

• Lead architectural governance forums to review and approve solution designs and ensure architectural consistency across the enterprise. 

• Maintain up-to-date architectural artefacts that clearly link system components to business capabilities. 

Collaboration & Leadership 

• Act as a bridge between technical teams and business stakeholders, ensuring architectural solutions are practical, understandable, and outcome-driven. 

• Work closely with the Manager of Systems & Landscape to balance future-state design with operational stability and system constraints. 

• Mentor and guide developers, engineers, and solution designers to strengthen architectural literacy across delivery teams. 

Skills profile  

Relevant experience & education  

• Extensive experience (typically 7+ years) in solution or enterprise architecture within complex, multi-system environments. 

• Strong experience aligning technology strategies with business objectives in complex, multi-system environments. 

• Expertise in enterprise applications, integration design, and scalable architectures (e.g., microservices, APIs). 

• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and explain complex architectural concepts in business-relevant terms. 

• Deep understanding of application lifecycle, cloud platforms (Azure, AWS), and modern delivery models (Agile, DevOps). 

• Experience contributing to SaaS selection, vendor evaluation, and procurement processes 

• Ability to assess solutions from both technical and commercial perspectives 

• Familiarity with architecture frameworks (TOGAF, ArchiMate) and modelling tools. 

• Relevant certifications (e.g., cloud architecture, enterprise architecture).