Solution Architect

Leonardo is a global industrial group, among the main global players in Aerospace, Defence and Security that realises multi-domain technological capabilities in Helicopters, Aircraft, Aerostructures, Electronics, Cyber Security and Space. With over 60,000 employees worldwide, the company has a solid industrial presence in Italy, the UK, Poland and the US. It also operates in 150 countries through subsidiaries, joint ventures and investments. A key player in major international strategic programmes, it is a technological and industrial partner of governments, defence administrations, institutions and companies. Within the GCAP Joint Venture, in the GCAP Technical Leadership UO, we are looking for a Solution Architect (Technical Services) for GCAP HQ in Reading (UK). Edgewing ( is an international joint venture established by BAE Systems, Leonardo, and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. Ltd. (JAIEC) to lead the development of next-generation defence and aerospace systems. Operating across the UK, Italy, and Japan, Edgewing combines global expertise, trusted partnerships, and technical excellence to pioneer a superior and connected next-generation combat air system under the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).With a foundation built on trust, unity, and innovation, Edgewing is committed to advancing the global defence ecosystem and creating long-term strategic value for its government partners. The Solution Architect (Technical Services) is responsible for designing, building, maintaining, and enhancing Technical Service capabilities (e.g., container orchestration, application management, MBSE infrastructure requirements, PLM infrastructure, Software Factory tooling). Operating under the Product Owner (Technical Services) and in close collaboration with delivery, architecture, and security teams, this role ensures that technical architectures and frameworks for technical services meet both organisational goals and technical needs. The Solution Architect will design and implement technical solutions that ensure the availability, reliability, and performance of technical services that are scalable, secure, and cost-effective, and are aligned with enterprise standards and compliance requirements. Key Capability Accountabilities and Objectives Design and develop scalable, secure, and cost-effective technical architectures for technical services and related infrastructure and applications. Architect technical services that ensure high availability, reliability, and performance of IT systems. Incorporate strong security practices into the design of technical services, such as identity and access management (IAM), encryption, and threat detection. Provide hands-on architectural guidance to engineering and operations teams during design, build, and deployment phases. Act as a key liaison between Product Owners, Technical Leads, Cybersecurity, and Enterprise Architects to ensure technical service solutions address functional and non-functional requirements. Monitor emerging technologies and trends, recommending and implementing innovative solutions to modernise IT systems. Optimize the costs of technical services by selecting cost-effective technologies and managing resource usage. Design technical services with disaster recovery, failover mechanisms, and redundancy to ensure business continuity. Create and maintain documentation for solution designs, technical standards, and best practices to share knowledge with team members and stakeholders. Objectives Manage automatically containerised applications to improve efficiency, reliability, and scalability. Deploy, operate, monitor, and optimize software applications ensure that they meet performance and business requirements. Manage the lifecycle of product from initial concept through design, manufacturing, deployment, maintenance, and end-of-life. Seniority : Senior (5-10 anni). Essential Skills and Experience: 5+ years of experience in solution architecture with a focus on technical services Experience designing and deploying technical services, including cloud infrastructure, network solutions, and IT systems Strong knowledge of cloud-native services, networking, identity, and access management (IAM), and cost optimisation strategies Experience implementing security measures, such as IAM, firewalls, and threat detection systems Experience driving digital transformation initiatives, such as cloud migrations or DevOps adoption Experience managing costs related to IT services, including infrastructure, licensing, and cloud usage Strong understanding of servers, networking, storage, and virtualization technologies Strong verbal and written communication skills High ethical standards when handling confidential information Desiderable Skills and Experience: VMware Certified Professional (VCP) /Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or similar Infrastructure AWS Certified DevOps Engineer / Docker Certified Associate Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) or similar TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework) and related certifications Familiarity with monitoring tools (e.g., Splunk, ELK Stack, Nagios) to track performance and troubleshoot issues Experience working within highly regulated industries (e.g., Aerospace & Defence, Financial Services) Familiarity with legacy system modernization and integration with modern platforms Language Skills: English C1.