Solution Architect

**Company Description**

**Solution Architect**

**_Salary: _**_£65,000 - £75,000 plus benefits & bonus_

**We are Together** -Proud to be a Financial Services success story based in South Manchester. Established in 1974, we employ over 700 colleagues.

A specialist lender offering a range of mortgage and secured loan products to individuals and businesses, who are typically underserved by mainstream lenders. We play our part to turn challenges into opportunities which make our customers' financial ambitionsaccessible.

Over 50 years of successful trading has positioned **Together**as a market leader, thanks to a common-sense approach to lending.

**Job Details**

The Solution Architect / Senior Technologist is responsible for supplying thought leadership and guidance to projects and programs within Together Money. The architect will be responsible for the creation and maintenance of the technical roadmaps in relationto your aligned business area. Supporting the Head of Architecture in the development of the overarching IT Strategy.

The role is to provide thought leadership across the business and promote new technology adoption where technology is the right answer. The Solution Architect / Senior Technologist will lead assigned innovation proof of concepts, develop design patterns,drive adoption of standards and technology prototypes.

**Key accountabilities**:

- Creation of Solution design documentation inc Application Design
- Promote innovation in the use of technology to add business value where applicable
- Provide Solution assurance across all projects within the aligned business area
- Work with colleagues across the group to ensure solutions designed are scalable, adaptable and support growth
- Support the definition of technical design and standards enabling successful project delivery
- Contribute to problem resolution for complex or critical Incidents and Problems
- Work with key business stakeholders, understanding requirements, review current capabilities that could meet them or help them look at new capabilities building roadmaps for services
- Responsible for the creation or helping shape with the wider business RFP’s and RFI’s through writing them and reviewing feedback
- Review current processes and look where technology could be used to improve them.
- Designing solutions that meet RTO, RPO objectives and SLA’s
- Provision of End to End architecture services for Together Money
- Contribute to the definition of Group Technology strategies for aligned business area / agile train

**Leadership**:

- Training and mentoring of technical staff
- Role model and set standards aligned to the company vision
- Thought Leadership for a portion of the business
- Stakeholder Management

**Qualifications**

**Essential skills & experience**
- Strong Architecture background
- Strategic thinker, capable of balancing long-term and immediate business requirements
- Balanced business and technical understanding
- Experience of project governance against an Enterprise Architecture framework
- Strong influencing skills to Executive level
- Proactive self-starter comfortable with working as a small team shaping a strategic agenda
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Cloud Services
- Knowledge or understanding of various Architecture methods (SOA, Event Driven, Micro services)
- Knowledge of Integration methods API’s, Point to Point, Service Bus
- Knowledge of Cloud and on premise Infrastructure services
- An understanding of SaaS services the value they bring and what moving to SaaS means organisationally
- Extensive.Net background, with strong skills in developing in these technologies
- Lo Code Technologies
- SQL server
- DevOps and Agile delivery Methodologies
- Extensive experience of deploying digital technologies to maximise business benefit
- Creating design patterns and reference architectures

**Desirable skills & experience**
- Microsoft Technologies
- Core Colleague Experience Technologies (Office 365, Exchange, Telephony etc)
- Understanding of main corporate systems (Finance/HR/Colleague Systems)
- Dynamics
- Azure DevOps or Jira skills
- Azure Cloud
- Financial Services experience
- Leadership skills
- Architecture Tooling and frameworks (eg Archimate)
- TOGAF certification
- Working within SAFe Agile
- A degree or equivalent qualification in a computing-based discipline

**Additional Information**

**Benefits working at Together**
- 27 days holiday (increasing with service), plus bank holidays
- Buy & sell holidays
- Discretionary annual bonus
- Matched pension contribution
- Life assurance
- Critical illness cover
- Health cash plan
- Private medical insurance
- Free access to company holiday homes
- Travel season ticket loans
- Ride to work scheme
- Free local gym access
- Local bar / restaurant discounts

Together Money embraces diversity and inclusion, and are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Not only do we welcome difference - we celebrate it, support it and really value our colleagues for who they are. We are committed to building a team thatrepresents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills.

**_Please note that all successful applicants will undergo relevant employment reference, financial and criminal record checks._