Junior Solution Architect
£competitive
CR3
Full time: 35 hours
Open for remote working/Manchester office base
Who we are
Formed in 1872 in Victorian Rochdale, our bank was built on co-operative values that still stand today. A lot has happened in 150 years, and we’ve been there through it all. Not just helping people with their money, but helping people fight for justice and the causes they care about. We are the only UK high street bank with a customer-led Ethical Policy; one of the main reasons our customers choose to bank with us.
We are excited to announce a brand new opportunity for a Junior Solution Architect. This role is responsible for defining the change needed to meet stated business outcomes aligning to the banks IT strategy with SME. You will get the opportunity to get involved in project designs decisions, roadmaps and technology selection and experience the power of putting ethics and values first!
What will this role involve?
* Understand the current IT estate and business domain
* Be an active member of the banks architecture community participating in design review and governance processes
* Make key architectural decisions impacting individual designs, the wider portfolio or the longer term strategy
* Translate business requirements and strategy into designs and roadmaps which align to the bank’s standard and principles
* Select and propose suitable technologies and manage their approval through bank governance processes
* Collaborate across change verticals to further the architecture of the bank and deliver the IT strategy
* Maintain internal knowledge repositories including application and data catalogues and risks relating to technical debt
Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required:
* Experience/understanding of working within a regulated industry
* Strong consulting and influencing skills, including excellent presentation skills
* Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively at senior levels, both written and oral, within the business and IT strategy areas.
* An understanding of architecture frameworks and models (e.g. Systems Engineering, TOGAF)
* Experience of projects with integration challenges
* Experience of at least one technical architecture discipline (application, data or infrastructure), some knowledge of others
* Experience in roles on major application development, systems integration or infrastructure projects (e.g. lead designer, lead developer)
* Experience of developing software and/or building infrastructure components on medium to large-scale distributed projects
* Experience of reviewing 3rd party activities and outputs
Technical Capabilities:
* Technical Literacy – the ability to understand key technologies and be able to explain how they can best be used across the bank
* Analytical Assessment – the ability to analyse the current estate, the bank’s strategy, requirements, proposed solutions and produce informed decisions, designs and recommendations
* Communication – the ability to communicate complex issues in a simple way to a broad range of stakeholders using a range of medium (verbal, written, diagrams)
* Influencing – the ability to make other stakeholders understand architectural priorities in order to make a balanced decision for the bank
* Issue resolution – the ability to provide a balance between architectural purity, benefit delivery and alignment to strategy in order to solve problems to the benefit of all stakeholders
* Customer (end user) focus – the ability to understand and express the customer (end user) impact throughout the design process
What can you expect from us?
* Flexible and remote working
* 27 days holiday, plus opportunity to buy 5 extra days
Competitive pension / income protection / life assurance
Positive, friendly work culture that promotes work life balance
Commitment from employers on continued learning & development
Wellbeing support ‘Help@Hand’ offers mental health support, physiotherapy, GP’s for both you and your family.
2 paid days for volunteering per year
‘MyReward’ corporate discount for over 800 retailers and Cycle to Work Scheme.
Family friendly policies and supportive working environment
Recognition scheme and a culture in which we celebrate success
Colleague network groups committed to inclusion and diversity within our Bank.
This role won’t be around for long, so we would advise to get your application to us as soon as possible by applying today. Unfortunately, we can only consider candidates with the right to work in the UK at this time.
Our Bank is committed to continuing to create a diverse workforce and an inclusive environment where all colleagues can fulfil their potential. We welcome applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and lifestyles who can work with us in maintaining a culture of belonging, where people are valued and respected. If you have a disability as defined by the 2010 equality act please let us know on your application.
As a reputable employer regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, all offers of employment for this role are subject to a series of background checks, including criminal (DBS) and financial checks.
Please note we may withdraw this vacancy once sufficient applications have been reached.