Solution Architect

Why us?

We are are responsible for website and the Customer Mobile Apps (Apps) channels. Capability is divided into a number of product communities (e.g. Retailing, Customising, Travelling, Help) and a Product Lead is responsible for each of these. For the websitechannel, each Product has an associated IT team(s) to deliver changes but for the Apps channel, there is one IT team who are required to deliver changes to support the Products and to keep the Apps current and secure.

Purpose of the role

Solution Architect role within an Agile Digital Product Team environment
- Responsibility for the solution designs for native Mobile Apps (iOS and Android) with AWS and legacy Java back-ends
- Strong Communicator and leader with the ability to communicate effectively across organisational and technical boundaries
- Ability to influence business and IT stakeholders within and outside of the team
- Experience of working within Agile Digital Product teams
- Problem solving and conflict resolution skills
- Organisational and facilitation skills
- Team collaborator open, flexible and adaptable
- Some knowledge of Programming Languages - Swift, Java, Kotlin, Node.js
- Knowledge of Development and DevOps tools - Jenkins, Crucible, GitHub, Gitlab, Bitrise and App centre

Accountabilities
- Develop Product technical solution roadmap ensuring its alignment with the Technology and Investment roadmaps including gaining agreement of any deviations. The roadmap should include:

- Technical improvement to allow the code to meet current architecture, security and technical standards
- Technical CI changes to ensure the area uses latest standards
- Recommend tools for automation to improve productivity and reduced cycle times
- Manage a backlog of technical debt ensuring the Product Owner understands the implications to enable them to be prioritised appropriately

Technologies:

- Evaluate relevant new technologies
- Evaluate technical options
- Understand impact of changes outside our control to the apps - e.g. new OS, new versions of libraries
- Compliance/Conformance
- Ensure solutions meet the agreed current architecture
- Ensure technical standards are adhered to
- Ensure the solution is secure liaising with Cyber and following agreed processes
- Gain agreement from Principle Solution Architect for changes to architectures & tools

Solutions:

- Agree NFRs for solutions
- Promote standards and technical best practices within the team
- Contribute to requirements, design and review sessions
- Assure that the solution is evolving correctly
- Work with the Business Analyst/Functional Lead to evaluate the technical options and decide the best way to turn the high-level business requirements into a technical solution
- Approve the solution as technically fit for purpose prior to deployment
- Acting as the final arbiter of technical differences between Team members

Product Support:

- Investigate live issues
- Drive the issue through to resolution
- Work with product team and external teams to drive the issue through to resolution

Team:

- Advising on the ideal technical resource
- Interview technical resources to assess suitability to join the team
- Provide feedback to Suppliers regarding the technical resource within the team
- Own and manage access to Apps specific tools and repositories
- Support the team in their understanding of our processes, tools, technologies
- Liaise with external technical teams