Solutions Architect

The Company
We're delighted to be supporting a fantastic charity in their search for an experienced Solutions Architect. The role will be part of a well established IT team, forming part of their technical design authority, and helping to design a technology strategy that will allow the organisation to continue the important work they're doing in the UK.

The Role
In this role, you'll be a key driver in shaping the technology landscape. You'll lead the design of our products and system components, translating complex technical solutions into clear, understandable terms for all stakeholders, both within the DDAT team and across the wider business. You'll also craft and own the short and long-term strategy for solutions, product enhancements, and overall technical growth.
You'll be instrumental in ensuring our technical architecture seamlessly translates into successful program delivery, particularly for technology-heavy projects. This includes actively supporting the rollout of new technology solutions and changes, consulting with stakeholders, and clearly communicating impacts to all affected parties.
Key Responsibilities:
• Lead product and system design, ensuring stakeholders grasp solution intricacies and clearly communicating technical decisions across DDAT and to business teams.
• Develop and maintain the strategic roadmap for solutions, product enhancements, and technical growth.
• Ensure technical architecture drives program delivery, especially for projects with significant technology elements.
• Support new technology rollouts, engaging stakeholders and communicating changes effectively.
• Participate in technology selection, evaluating external suppliers and their offerings for technical suitability and budgetary alignment.
• Adopt a pragmatic approach to delivery, contributing across the full development lifecycle from requirements gathering and estimation to ongoing support. You'll constantly identify and implement improvements to boost pace, quality, and efficiency.
• Collaborate closely with Product Owners to gain a deep understanding of each product being delivered.
• Act as a technical leader, leveraging your expertise in languages, patterns, and practices to swiftly resolve any roadblocks in delivery.
• Document system designs thoroughly, communicating them effectively to the DDAT team and other stakeholders. Your designs will consider security, scalability, compatibility, and maintainability.
• Keep the enterprise architecture model up-to-date, projecting changes based on roadmap and ongoing projects.
• Research and lead the implementation of new technologies and approaches, championing best practices within the team.
• Create solution prototypes, actively participate in solution development, and support project management in defining decisions and outcomes.
• Lead the technical aspects of building sound business cases, demonstrating ROI (financial, charitable output, or quality-focused) for new technology solutions that will benefit the organisation.

The Person
Candidates will need to demonstrate experience of leading decisions on systems, integration and architecture, ideally showing an awareness of enterprise level planning.
Previous exposure to SaaS, PaaS and IaaS solutions in addition to Azure devops, PowerApps, M365 and D365, with TOGAF, or similar, qualifications would be beneficial.
You'll also need excellent interpersonal and communication skills in addition to a good level of technical knowledge.

The salary on offer is up to £61,000 and the role will come with a generous benefits package and option to work remotely although you would be expected to attend meetings at head office (London) when required (probably once a month)