Lead Technical Architect

Welcome to KFC

Take one man with a big idea, add 11 herbs and spices, grit, ambition, and buckets of heart – you’ve got KFC.

Since 1939, we’ve been bringing finger lickin’ good chicken to the world, and today we’re proud to be in over 1000 communities across the UK & Ireland. But without our people, none of it would be possible. Just like our recipe, they’re all original.

Join us. Bring it. And together, we can be part of something truly extraordinary.

Bringing it to the role.

Lead technical architect responsible for creating the direction for the company's architectural systems. The individual will oversee the life cycle development of software and technology solutions, ensuring they are designed and built to an extremely high standard while meeting the user needs. Responsible for driving best practices, leading the team of technical architects and engineers, and overseeing the development of high-quality, scalable, and reliable technology solutions.  

You will be responsible for creating the company's tech roadmap in full partnership with the lead solution architect. They need to be a hands-on, results-driven leader who is passionate about innovation and technology and has excellent communication skills with the ability to work collaboratively with different teams leading on the solutions. Responsible for co-creating, and driving the architecture strategy across all technology departments (Digital, Restaurant, Support, Infrastructure and Data Analytics) 

What you’ll do

• Leadership – Provide leadership to a team of technical Architects and engineers with the support of the Director of architecture & engineering driving technical excellence through mentoring, coaching and goal setting. 
• Strategy – Create and implement the long-term technology strategy that aligns with the company’s business objectives and long-term goals of the teams 
• Innovation – Stay up to date with emerging technologies and trends to identify opportunities for innovation and continuous improvement of the products we use continuously pushing them forward while looking at new and upcoming trends that can improve, distinguish and be financially savvy. 
• Quality – Ensure that our applications are developed to a high quality, meets industry standards and is highly scalable, available and maintainable. 
• Technical Expertise – Maintain technical expertise and leverage your knowledge to guide and be hands on with the team in solving problems, providing solutions and supporting in the development of all applications. 
• Collaboration – Be the architecture authority across other departments within and outside the organization providing direction decisions on different technical solutions. Be the champion of architecture across the whole business. 
• Budgeting – Monitor application spend and assist Budget owners to report and optimise costs to keep within department budgets 
• Team – Define what and how the technical Architecture and engineering teams operate. Create with the team the roadmap, technical direction, strategy and provide the prioritisation of what needs to be done, what good looks like and how we implement the strategy. 

What we’d love from you

EXPERIENCE:

• Direct responsibility for the following areas: Technical Architecture; Engineering 
• Direct responsibility supporting across tech in the following areas: Technical Architecture; Engineering 
• Own the technical evaluation of tools, software solutions and technologies used  
• Promoting the local and global standards for technology, software products and architecture practices throughout the organisation  
• Own design patterns and engineering principles 
• Continually researching current, emerging technologies, and proposing changes were needed or ways to improve them 
• Direct line management of the other Technical Architects and Engineers 
• Provide direction and technology standards for how all of KFC’s technology products are built, technologies used and future thinking direction including the use of any third-party web-based platforms 
• Responsible for collaborating, collating and co-creating with the other leaders of tech to create the overall technology strategy and future thinking of our restaurants & how we leverage technology. 
• Supporting other areas of the KFC business to provide strategic technical direction 
• Own and lead the Technical Architecture Guild 
• Own the Engineering Guild 
• Own the strategy for testing from both at a code level to the end-to-end  testing process. 
• Own, define and document best practices for platform and brand engineering teams, working with those teams to define preferred tools and technologies and then promoting their standard use throughout the organisation 

ABOUT YOU:

• 8+ years’ experience as a Technical Architect or Engineering lead within the technology space 
• Experience managing, mentoring, and leading a team in a fast-paced, agile environment. 
• Experience with cloud computing, SaaS, and PaaS technologies 
• Good technical skills including DevOps tools, principles, and technologies especially within AWS, and with knowledge around Serverless  
• Experience in designing and implementing complex technology solutions, such as cloud-based systems, microservices, or distributed architectures. 
• Experience of defining and building architectural patterns including microservice architectures, API development, streaming architectures etc. 
• Software engineering experience across the stack including familiarity with both modern front-end frameworks and backend technologies 
• Experience with agile development methodologies. 
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders. 
• Strong leadership skills, with the ability to motivate and inspire a team. 
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify and resolve complex technical issues. 
• Strong leadership and mentoring skills, with a proven ability to manage and develop a high-performing team. 

Be Original.

At KFC, everyone gets a seat at our table. Since we landed in the UK in 1965, we’ve fed our people’s potential – to be their best selves, make a difference and have fun.

Because it’s not just what you do at KFC. It’s the way you do it. Unapologetically you, undeniably original.

You’ll work with colleagues who all bring their originality to the table: their energy, spirit and sizzle and make every day high flyin’ and high fryin’.

As a multi-billion-pound business with over 1000 restaurants, we take ambition seriously. You’ll be treated with respect and supported in everything you do as you roll up your sleeves and play your part in bringing finger lickin’ good chicken to our customers. And whatever your journey looks like, we’ll help you get there. From flexible working to the chance to earn qualifications, we got you. There are all kinds of opportunities at KFC.

Buckets of Benefits

A career with KFC offers much more than just fantastic earning potential. We reward achievement with amazing incentives and benefits, including:

• Flexible, hybrid working with our Restaurant Support Centre located in Woking, Surrey – a 24-minute train ride from London Waterloo. Depending on job requirement, travel across the UK & Ireland may be required.
• Generous pension with up to 11% company contribution.
• ‘Fri-Yay’ time – finish up at 1pm every Friday, all year round.
• Live Well Days - 5 days per year to disconnect from our day-to-day (in addition to 25 days annual leave and bank holidays).
• You can buy or sell up to 5 extra days of your core annual leave allowance each year.
• After 5 years’ service, annual holiday allowance increases to 30 days.
• Bonus – We work hard and do our best work to succeed together. When the company and individual goals are reached, you’ll be rewarded through our bonus scheme.
• Wellness– We want you to be your best self, so you’ll have access to lots of wellbeing initiatives and programmes, including Telus Health, and 1:1 Mental Health coaching sessions with our partner Sanctus.
• Private healthcare, including access to Digital GP, with the option to increase to include family cover.

Flexible and Voluntary benefits including Dental Insurance, Health Screening and Gym Discounts.

• Insurances – All colleagues are covered by our life and income protection insurance which provides protection and peace of mind.
• Study Support may be available for job-related qualifications.
• Parental Leave – We offer enhanced paid leave and flexible return to work options for those important times.
• Colleague Discount – If you love KFC as much as we do, you’ll received a 25% discount.

Our Commitment to You

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do our teams. We value, support, and celebrate the things that make Team KFC authentic and original and all candidates – regardless of age, background, ethnicity, gender, ability, religion, or sexual orientation.

We welcome applications from underrepresented groups in our industry such as women, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

To make your journey with us accessible and tailored to your needs, we encourage you to let us know if you'd like any additional support with your application, have a disability or condition that may affect your performance during your recruitment process, or any other requirements.

Neurodiverse? Our accessibility toolbar can support you when you apply.

Ready to apply?

If you are ready to bring your passion, skills, and dedication to KFC, we encourage you to apply now. We look forward to welcoming you to our team and embarking on this extraordinary journey together. Bring it.

Don’t tick all the boxes? Don’t worry. If you don’t match all the criteria for the role and still think you’d be a great fit, we’d love to hear from you.